Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Barn Crate Wall

the crate wall
I've been wanting to share this barn project with you for over a month. It was a spontaneous makeover my mother and I threw together right before she had to return to her teaching job in California. Do you remember those fantastic crates she hauled home from Madison Bouckville? They sat on her front porch until the forecast of Irene intensified, and we had no choice but to bring them in (letting one remain). There's always a need for storage in her little barn, but wall space is hard to come by between the radiators and the many windows. And then the light bulb moment happened. I had never been completely satisfied with the bathroom divider and its many iterations over the last year. You can read more about it here, or just take a quick refresher peek of the previous photos.
crate wall 2
So, those crates were configured into a dividing wall. Two vertically and one horizontally across the top.The wooden crates seems to grow right out of the old barn floor. It's sturdier and little less busy then other versions. Still fun and wild, but since this is the first thing you see upon coming upstairs, it's nice to let the eyes have a moment to take everything in.
crate ledge
A little ledge was left on one side. Nice for rotating displays, since the afternoon sun hits it like a spotlight.
crate shelves
One side is wall, and the other... a bank of shelves in her bathroom/closet. We had fun filling it up, but it's still evolving.
shelf wall in the afternoon light
See that toilet paper, laugh if you will, but that's my favorite part of the entire makeover! Since this shelf is close to the toilet, we could have continued to just have baskets of tp. While we were pondering this, my mom noted that the top shelf was wobbly. "It needs a little shim..." I said as I wandered over to the studio for something to temporarily do the trick. That's when I spotted the "kill two birds with one stone" (what an awful saying that is!) wooden spool thingy we had gotten together years before.
tp
It formed the perfect "shim" and tp holder! Don't you love those moments? I love "playing" with my mom. STILL.
spool holder
I sure hope my kids will enjoy playing with me when they grow up, too. Pin It
Posted by mayaluna at 11:08 AM Labels: , ,

20 comments:

  1. NuminosityOctober 5, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    How much fun it is to have a peek into your lovely abode, the bathroom no less... yet oh so tastefully decorated, Maya.
    Thanks for the peek !
    xoxo Kim

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carrie RoweOctober 5, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    This is awesome! I LOVE how it turned out!!! Also, I love redecorating and "playing" when my moms comes to visit too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. momma JOctober 5, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    I do indeed love playing with my mom too some of my favorite sundays are spent working on projects in the yard. And I wanted to include we call those moments of random perfectness when things accidently happen 'happy accidents'. its like the project is working with you :)! as always thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  4. espenavarroOctober 5, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    Me gusta tu trabajo, todo, todo, es fantástico conocer a gente como tú, tan creativa.
    saludos

    ReplyDelete
  5. mayalunaOctober 5, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    thanks everyone!
    momma j- "happy accidents"!

    ReplyDelete
  6. charlotteOctober 5, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    brilliant, beautiful and so clever. love that kind of project and then to be able to share it with your mom, the best!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. JoeyOctober 5, 2011 at 1:34 PM

    Love it Maya!...and Mom!
    You guys have so much fun together, thank you so much for sharing them with us! And I love those ah! ha! moments, creativity at it's best!
    ~ joey ~

    ReplyDelete
  8. jenOctober 5, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    I love this idea. I have used dressers in this same way as room dividers before. I adore how you used the globes! Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. HeatherOctober 5, 2011 at 6:40 PM

    The barn is a grown-up play house!
    I love the collaboration you & your mom created

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kate CampbellOctober 6, 2011 at 7:48 AM

    I love it - what a great idea :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousOctober 6, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    There is nothing about this barn that I don't like. Wow, another creative re-use, fantastic. xox Corrine

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sarah LeeOctober 6, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    I much prefer "feed two birds with one seed." what a fun place this barn is!

    ReplyDelete
  13. mayalunaOctober 6, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Oh Sarah lee, me too! I will adopt that saying this moment! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. angieOctober 6, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    What a great time you have together! So inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  15. michelle gdOctober 6, 2011 at 8:45 PM

    love it...especially the tp holder. you and your mom are quite productive when playing together!

    ReplyDelete
  16. mollyOctober 6, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    oh yeah, the t.p.'s the best part (of an already awesome project, admittedly, but form AND function? that's hard to beat!)

    love that you still love "playing" with your mom :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. mollyOctober 6, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    oh yeah, the t.p.'s the best part (of an already awesome project, admittedly, but form AND function? that's hard to beat!)

    love that you still love "playing" with your mom :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. AmyOctober 6, 2011 at 11:39 PM

    Maya, I love the new shelves! (Makes me want a bunch of old wooden crates.) But also--I recently used "kill two birds with one stone" in a blog post myself, and I too observed that it's a really terrible saying, and a friend with children at a Quaker school informed me that the Quaker version is "feed two birds with one crumb." Much better! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. decomarceOctober 7, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    Hola Maya!
    hacía tiempo no pasaba por aquí!!
    Me encantó tu pared de cajones de madera!
    Buena idea!

    ReplyDelete
  20. sueOctober 13, 2011 at 8:06 AM

    love it all... perfect!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)