Hidden Treasures Behind the Door

Some of the things I like to look for when my husband and I go out junking in the alleys is vintage door hardware. We usually have to remove the hardware from the doors. Most of the time the doors are solid 4 or 5 paneled wood doors so we bring the whole thing home and take the door knobs, plates and locks off there. I have also used 4 wooden doors to line the wall behind my vintage fireplace bar giving it an old world look. When I've collected several sets of the hardware and have a nice grouping I then list them on Ebay. Here are some pieces that I’ve sold in the past.


So yesterday when were going down an alley we stopped when we saw an old door peeking out from behind a sheet of dry wall that had been rained on. Behind the rain warped dry wall there was an old door beyond repair, but my husband found this wonderful large old mirror that was hidden and protected from the weather.

The mirror measures 45"wide x 55"tall and has a castle-like top to it. It would not fit on the fireplace mantle so I hung it at the end of the hall. After locating some hardware to hang it I attempted to hang it myself. It took me three tries of hanging and adjusting until I got the right height. Here it is hung on the wall, it's really hard to get a good picture of a mirror without getting yourself in it.

Trash to Treasure - Found Mirror Refinished

Here is a mirror I found that was sitting by a dumpster. There was really nothing wrong with it except the colors didn't match my decor. My decor is old world - castle and the mirror was more of a Cape Cod beach style. So I decided to paint it and give it an old antique look. First I covered the mirror with paper, then I used a spray primer to make sure none of the colors would bleed through. I then sprayed it with an Ivory color. I just used what paint I had on hand. (Almost all my paint products are free and come from a place that collects and recycles paint products.) After the paint dried I applied antiquing glaze with a sponge brush. While the glaze was wet I used a rag to wipe off the extra glaze, leaving a nice old world look. Again this was another trash to treasure project.

Useful Items Found From Trash

Well I’m a little behind on my posting and I wanted to share the Found Objects from last week. This is some of the things that we found one day as we went down a couple of alleys. My husband looks for electronics, tools, wood and recyclables. While I look for anything that still has life in it or can be used in another way. Here are my found objects.

3 – stackable 4Gal storage drawer containers originally from a popular bed and bath store
A colorful woven bag
The New Complete JOY of Home Brewing paperback book.
Foliage Clusters - these are for hobby train landscaping
A green ceramic canister
An Orange fabric tablecloth
One purple VIBRA-TONE and tom tom (this is a Latin Percussion Instrument)
Various scrap pieces of green fabric and a bag of feathers
A small piece of silk material that has beautiful oriental style fish swimming around.
Some aqua, turquoise & blue yarns
Seven red candles still in package
A box of tumbled cracked clear decorative glass
A small black metal lamp that shines upward
A dozen unused tea lights
Container of assorted nails
4” x 6” block of unused 1” thick Plexiglas
3 new paint brushes
Skein of 16 Ga. Dark Annealed Wire 2lb
10 old metal jacks, ouch I remember stepping on these as a child in bare feet. OUCH!
And assorted colors of watercolor and acrylic paints

Out of all this stuff the paint brushes, paint, wire, Plexiglas, nails, yarns, feathers, fabric, foliage clusters, woven bag and the old metal jacks are all supplies that I can use in my art projects. I placed all of this in my studio, along with the storage containers to await further use. The candles, light, decorative glass, canister, and tablecloth will be used for décor. The vibra-tone will be added to our musical instrument collection. And the JOY of Home Brewing book has me now looking for the bottles and containers needed to brew your own. I already know were to go to pick wild hops.
As I find a use for each item I will take pictures and post them. And keep you informed of new found objects.