Rusty, Crusty Treasure!

  I am one of those strange folks that finds beauty where others see ugliness.  What appears to be trash in most folks' eyes, comes across as a treasure to me.  This was evident recently in a "find" in my own backyard.  Years ago, my brother gave me a wrought iron porch column. Why?  I have no idea but I accepted it graciously and left it at that.  For a while, the swirly, scrolled column was utilized as a makeshift hanger for potted plants. Ferns, ivies, and philodendrons dangled from the iron bars.  Son had mounted the column horizontally on the top of posts to make a great "arbor" for the hanging baskets.  A storm came along and flattened my neat little yard art and the column was stood against the back wall of the greenhouse.  There it sat for years just rusting with the salt air.

  Last week, I tugged the thing out from all of the honeysuckle vines only to find that the outer supports had rusted beyond repair.  The scrollwork, however, was still in pretty good condition.  In a last attempt to salvage the column, Son broke the welds that held the whole unit together and handed me the scrollwork.  I was not sure what I was going to do with the pieces but I figured that somewhere, somehow, it could be useful, once again.

  After a full week of grinding and sanding, I now have the piece ready to be repainted and made into something fantastic. Son suggested that he use the two scrollwork pieces as center-parts of doors of the cabinet he is going to make for the living room.  The scrollwork would sit behind glass as a decorative addition and to give support.   Each of the iron pieces are close to being one foot wide by six feet tall.  They are the perfect size for his cabinet plans.  

  With a bit of elbow grease, brow sweat and ingenuity, the old column can become a useful piece.  What most folks would have long put out as trash will now be a thing of beauty.  Oh, and by the way, I priced similar pieces at the local home supply place...my two wrought iron scrolls are quite pricey!  Similar pieces run around $200 each...and that is the low end price!  Sometimes it pays to see things in a different light.  I choose to recycle, reuse or repurpose instead of mounding up the landfills.