Here's Joanne in one of her finished projects

I had the pleasure of meeting author and stylist, Joanne Palmisano, in person yesterday at our Portland store. We had a quick cup of coffee at the Daily Cafe and chatted about our event collaboration (happening this Sunday July 31st) before embarking on a store tour. I had so much fun talking with Joanne; her energy and ideas are infectious, so I asked her to do a guest blog post, for those of you who live too far from Portland to experience our event in person. So without further adieu, here is Joanne’s guest blog post.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

(Joanne Palmisano is the author of Salvage Secrets, Transforming Reclaimed Material into Design Concepts, W.W. Norton, September 2011. The book is available at Rejuvenation, your local bookseller or online at your favorite online booksellers. Her blog is www.salvagesecretsblog.com)

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

How much fun I had walking around Rejuvenation  in S.E. Portland, Oregon yesterday with Nicole Curcio, their PR extraordinaire! I couldn’t help but ooohhh and aaahhhh at every salvaged piece they had. I mean really… can I drive a truck back to Vermont with it all? Nicole?

Well, I guess if that won’t work than I’ll pass along some thoughts about what I would do with the salvage pieces they had. Hope you enjoy my design ideas.

Joanne

These oversized antique light bulbs are suspended from an old metal elevator door.

This is an amazing display they have at the store! Currently all those cool bulbs are just for display – it would be a lot of work to wire all of that. But I LOVE the concept with the salvaged metal door over the dining room table. What I would do is have the metal piece (door, grate, iron piece, whatever) hang the same way it is in the picture but hang TONS of really cool old bottles – like the small blue ones you see everywhere, then between them, a little lower, I would hang two vintage crystal chandeliers! Those would supply the light for the space. Would that make a WOW salvaged statement or what! That and a fabulous table and chairs (keep these simple) would be all you would need to complete the room. Hope you can visualize it.

This square salvaged metal crate screams storage to me. Think if you had a narrow entrance-way (even if you didn’t), how cool these would look stacked, four high and six long, along a wall with a bench underneath. Since you can see through them, you don’t reduce the visual space and you still get tons of storage for the whole family. Add smaller baskets to hold little odds and ends like gloves, hats, lipsticks, etc. You can hang these metal crates directly on the wall or  with brackets to keep them stable.  Voila! Instant mudroom!

A new take on a room divider

Sometimes you want to separate spaces but don’t want to create a wall because it could block the light, or make a room feel smaller. There are many “visual” ways to separate rooms; rugs, half walls, and beams, to name just a few, but what about salvaged wheels? These are perfect for creating a wall without, well,  creating a wall. Hang them just like they have done in the Rejuvenation store – add a couple more if you want even more separation.

An old metal desk becomes a new kitchen island, with a little imagination.

This salvaged metal piece instantly made me think “kitchen island!” I love that the shelf below is big enough for all of your big bowls, linens, and other large kitchen goodies. A beautiful salvaged piece of wood for the top is all this needs. The bowls sitting on it now are recycled glass – you can start your collection with them! Nicole suggests using one of Rejuvenation’s industrial style lights over this future kitchen island. A few lights to consider: Blue Pointe, North, Wiley, George, or Leadbetter.

What do you think about Joanne’s ideas? We’re working on a monthly guest post with her so we’d love to hear your thoughts and the kind of inspiration you’d like her to share. Post a comment or send me an email at ncurcio@rejuvenation.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon!