I posted this photo on my facebook page yesterday without even realizing the amount of “salvage” captured in this one simple snap-shot of my workshop.
To have a fancy workshop with all the shiny new things would probably be pretty darn cool, but I honestly really like mine and all its weirdness. The miss-mash of things accumulated over the years makes it feel more comfortable and more inspiring. It’s as if just being surrounded by my strange little set up, helps me come up with even more crazy ideas. I rearrange and change things out once in a while as I figure out better ways to set things up or if I have to make room for my ever growing tool collection but I really like the uniqueness of my little set up.
The counter (you can see a bit of the green paint in the lower right corner) was from my Mom & Dad’s restaurant before it closed to make way for my store. This particular spot was where the cash register sat for almost 12 years. My daughter and my niece (they were then 12 & 9 years old – this month they turn 24 and 21!) are the ones who painted it green all those years ago.
The cubby shelves on the wall in the background are from the parts centre of the dealership that in 1950, was the original purpose for the building that now houses my store. Once full of bearings and other small bits, they now help me organize some of my stains and paints.
The little bandsaw that has worked very, very hard these past 4 years cutting out all the fun shaped, seasonal decor items and of course, corbels, I bought used from a pawn shop in a neighbouring town. I remember being pretty darn excited when I brought it home, not even really having a clue about how valuable this little saw would be for me. I used it to make most of the little decor items over the years and it also was the saw of choice to cut out all of the letters for my trade show sign which is now mounted on the wall in my store.
The scroll saw is brand spanking new! A surprise gift from my Mom & Dad. I had bought one used at the same time I bought the bandsaw but I could never get it to work without snapping blades. Trying out the new one and comparing the two we realized what was wrong with the old one and now it works too – so now I can have some help when I have a bunch of cutting to do getting double the amount of work done!
The light fixture above the scroll saw spent hours and hours shining light over my clients hands when in a previous life, I did gel nails. I learnt how to do nails when my son was a baby but it wasn’t until he was almost in jr high that I decided to go for it as an actual income. I started working in my little home ‘salon’ with a whopping eleven clients. But it didn’t take long before I had to turn people away as I just couldn’t take on any more new clients. I gave up my nail technician career when I moved out to Myrnam, and while I don’t miss sitting behind that desk, I do miss most of my clients.
The random dresser top – with the handy drawer – is what I was left with after I created the custom kitchen island (if you remember the red one from a couple months ago). I had to cut the top off of the high-boy dresser to make it the right height for an island. I just put that cut-off top aside in the shop unsure of what I’d use it for. It works perfectly to lift my new scroll saw up to a workable height that won’t kill my back.
And of course, the wood used to build the corbels was salvaged. I don’t burn much as I tend to save every little scrap because you never know when you’ll need a little piece for something.
As I look around my workshop, I realize just how much of my little sawdust world is salvaged – either rescued from a one-way trip to the garbage dump, purchased second-hand or given to me as a gift. It’s an eclectic mix of oddness but I think it’s pretty darn cool. This could be a series of blog posts as any photo taken in there has its own story of hand-me-downs, salvage, and purchases. I’d have to clean it though as it is always dusty… a fancy dust collection system would be a welcome addition – new or not.
Sentimental Salvage & Design 