Brainstorm #1

After this postI got a comment from one of my readers, Leslie, who suggested a new feature on Chez Larsson; "the Brainstorm". The idea is that you guys send in photos of items you have at home and I'll do a post on what the item could be used for or be re-purposed as. You like? I do!

In Leslie's case the item she wants ideas for is an awesome piece of weathered barn-wood. It measures 22 3/4" x 9 3/4" and is about one inch thick. She says "All I can think of is putting cup hooks in it and hanging keys - but I already have something to hang keys on."

Martin, my friend Sanna and I brain-stormed Saturday night and came up with these ideas on how to use that piece of barn-wood:

A notice board. Use pins to attach your (love)notes and important reminders. The barn-wood could be framed or used as is mounted on the wall with D-hooks.

 

Add hooks to it and put it in the powder-room as a conversation piece towel hanger for thick plush whites.

Come the holidays and use it as an Advent calendar. Add 25 pins (24 if you're over here), wrap 25 (or 24...) little gifts, hang each one on a pin and Bob's your uncle! Or Santa.

Or earlier as an eerier decoration.

 

Plonk it on your dining room table. Add votive candle holders on top for a stunning center piece.

 

Frame it. Display it. Add it to your art wall.

My personal fave. Hang it as is on D-hooks. It's a gorgeous piece of art in it's own right.

Oh, Martin also suggested mounting it vertically on a wall and using it as a giant back scratcher but we had all had a couple of glasses of wine by them. So, dear readers, do you have any other ideas for Leslie's chunk a' wood? Please do tell!

Do you have any weird (or not so weird, a bucket will do) items you want uses for or simply a great thingy you wish you could use for something but you can't think of what, send me an e-mail and it may be brain-stormed and re-purposed the Chez Larsson way. Write "Brainstorm" as the subject title, tell me where you got your object, what you're currently using it for (if anything) and be sure to include a decent photo of it on neutral background . Depending on the quantity of oddities I get I can't promise to do them all but I will do my best and will rope in my friends and family in the process.

Drawings and montage courtesy of Martin.

Comments

[Tant Grön]

Jag gillar ryggkliarn, de bästa idéerna kommer efter ett par glas, ha, ha!

[Elizabeth]

what a great idea!

[~katie.]

I love this idea! Your blog's also really wonderful-- always a delight to read!

[Lisbeth]

What a fun feature!

[Rattling On]

You could use the board itself as a frame. Add 3 small nails and have 3 mini canvases or photos in clip frames hung on the front. These could be changed for different seasons or rooms.
Love the advent calendar idea.

[Anne]

You could maybe put long handles on each side (if its fragile and you need long screws right through it to secure the ends will be like little feet) and use it as a tray.

If it is big enough you could put small boxes (something like thishttp://www.granit.se/?id=3492) on it and use it for bills and letters.

And I agree with you Benita - it is very beautiful on its own, doing nothing.

[Anne]

Didn't get the granit link to work. Will try it again.
http://www.granit.se/?id=3492

[Marianne]

Lovely piece of wood. I think it is crying out for some lettering. BEACH comes to mind because of its driftwood look.

[anonymous]

Put legs on it, and use it as a stepstool or small table. Put brackets under it and use it as a shelf.

[Pauline]

I like Marianne idea. Some lettering on it and then put in the garden as a decoration.

[Bex]

Love the brainstorming!
Add some numbers or house name & hang it outside to welcome guests.
I'm off to find something interesting...XXxx.

[jja]

Great idea!

"Oh, Martin also suggested mounting it vertically on a wall and using it as a giant back scratcher"

LOL

I love the outcome of your brainstorming. i love the idea of candle holder but...candles and wood, not so save option.

I also love an idea of framing and putting on the wall.

[Lorna S Boot]

I discovered your blog a couple of months ago while blog surfing on a slow work day. It is my favorite blog by far. You say things the way I think (scary for you) I am working my way back to to your beginning and reading everything then I go home at night, motivated and try out new ideas (last night I took my magazine clippings (I'm addicted also) out of their files and put them in a binder. I had tried putting them in page protectors before and its too big a hassle so I just 3 whole punched and stuck them into my personal "love it" deco ideas binder. thank-you.

I also love all things Swedish. My grandmother was a Larsson from Gothenburg and my grandfather from Norbotten. I have a lot of passed down Swedish antigues and I do a LOT of Swedish family history. I have an old metal Swedish table leg in mind for your brainstorm day. I'll take a photo. So thank-you for all the effort you put into the blog. Tak!

Lorna Sigrid B from Atlanta

[Noelia]

This is really FUN !!!!! I can also put it in practise as a family game!...with a little wine come the best ideas!!!

Maybe you could also make one funny - ridiculous suggestion like Martin did ...just to add a little fun to the post!

I can't wait to get home and find something to send you!!

[Noelia]

I just remembered my mother has a similar piece of wood with a Tillandsia aeranthos( Air plant ) attached to it and hanging on a garden wall...

[lisa h.]

I could see installed with brackets as a shelf, or maybe propped up lengthwise on a small wall shelf, acting as a sort of "background" for a decorative display - seashells, pottery, pinecones.

[Lorna Boot]

me again, Lorna. How do I get to the very beginniing of your blog? I would like to read it all like a book, and not backwards.

[Sherry @ Young House Love]

Looooove this feature. You guys are so full of fresh and do-able ideas!

xo,
s (& j)

[Cassi]

Go to the archives and pick the earliest month, then scroll down to the earliest post. From there, click on that post and then you can read forward. That's what I did when I found Benita's blog... I read them all in order over a couple of weeks. I was entranced.

[Lorna]

thanks Cassi!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

The candles are in glass candle holders which will protect them and they are not in contact with the wood at all.

[Lorna]

Is May 22 the earliest post? I can't seem to go back earlier than that....this blog needs to be a book!

[Lisa Z]

I do! I do! But I have to get my camera some new batteries before I can take a picture of it. It's a tennis ball carrier, and it's this cool black basket thing with a great shape. I didn't even know what it was, just picked it up at a garage sale and my hubby informed me as to its use (you can tell I don't play tennis). I thought it would make a good umbrella holder, but it's actually too short to really do that well. What else? I will take a photo and send you an email.

Oh, and I like the idea of putting hooks on the piece of wood for a towel hanger. I have a piece of old baseboard trim I picked up in the neighbor's "free" pile on the curb the other day. I'm going to hang it in my bath with hooks for towels. It's just what I'd been looking for! Character and function.

[Marissa]

This is so fun!! I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did and we can look forward to more in the future. :) A wonderful idea!

[Benita ~ Chez Larsson]

This http://chezlarsson.com/myblog/2008/05/my-first-post-e.html is the very first post, May 15th 2008 :)

[Franziska]

I like the candle holder.
But I like more your posts about organisation. I get so much inspired that I always look first what you've written each evening. Thanks for doing that and enriching my life.

[strikkelise]

My friend has a piece of drift wood much like this on her wall, mounted as a clock. (Someone made her a wall clock out of the wood and a DIY clock kit). The hands of the clock have straws glued on them so they actually look like straws.

My favourite among your suggestions is the framing one. Great contrast between the rough wood and a minimalist (white) frame.

[Kelsi Nibbana]

Rattling On's idea is similar to my own. I was thinking the wood could be used as a frame for artwork of some sort. I have seen long skinny beach scenes on watercolor or if she is not opposed to cutting it and weathering the edges it could be made into a set of two or three pieces to mount some sort of beach art.

An alternative would be to paint it as a sign (welcome or tie up here or similar), weather it if it is too "new" and hang it on a wall.

[patty]

love your ideas and i love weathered wood, especially old barn wood, but i'm not creatative to come up with any ideas

[phillippa]

What a fantastic idea. Your blog was great when I first found it months ago - and is the only one that I visit daily - and it keeps getting better and better. Thank you for taking the time to share with us.

[Tamara]

That is a BRILLIANT idea! I will look forward to more of these posts :)

[norma ...Mom to 3 China girls]

great idea.........i would stencil "beach" or something that suits and hand it plain

[Kelly]

In some older neighborhoods people will put signs with their last name carved or painted on a piece of wood on a post at the entrance or the top of the road. I made a sign for my mom for her beach house out of a piece of old barn wood just like this. I drew the design of the letters with pencil until I got them just right, then took an exacto knife and carved the outline into the wood, and carefully chiseled out the letters. So the letters are carved only about 1/4 inch deep into the wood. I then painted them red with craft paint. It looks great on the big signpost! Sorry I do not have a picture to share.

[carol k]

Brilliant! I love Martins drawings.I can't wait to see your next post like this.

[Jacqueline]

This is a brilliant post - useful for us and I hope satisfying for you in that you can brainstorm problem solving. I love all the ideas for the wood-found them creative and entertaining! I love the wood with glass and light - hence your idea of the votives on it. What about with mirror - again the glass and the light.
Oh, and I totally agree with the person above - "this blog needs to be a book" - true. You really don't need an idea for a book, Benita - it is all here and already down in 'print' - thank you!

[Leslie]

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions! I now have many ideas and will send my "after" photo to Benita in the near future. Love this blog and all its readers.

-Leslie

[BrandonW]

Headboard a la http://s3.amazonaws.com/atimg/694955/02bed9-1-09_rect540.jpg

[jill]

trivet for glass bottles in bathroom!