Nailed It ....

`Talent cant be taught, But it can be awakened ` Wallace Stegner.

Our current situation with our house is extremely frustrating. We are pretty much at a standstill, awaiting different trades to design and plan in order for the build to move forward. It feels like we are in some kind of vortex where we just keep going round in circles. Trades are difficult to come by at the moment, and quotes keep changing to meet different criteria, We are trying to apply for grants for all of the upgrades that have and are being done but this too is proving difficult as our house is not a standard fit house and have different walls throughout and we need this to be recognised. Foxglove Lodge is a mix of old, and new so I think its confusing for all involved. It really is One step forward and 10 steps back, and I wont lie this is a hard hard slog and mentally very draining. For the first time in 4 years I have felt ready to give up and move on. Whether that is back to Uk or somewhere else. However, we need to try to stay positive and channel those thoughts into other things.

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We became creative. Putting our thoughts, still into Foxglove Lodge but in a different way. It does help.

We are not ready to start thinking of furniture yet but we often talk about it and scroll the internet for ideas. We love trawling reclaimation yards and vintage shops for ideas on how to upcycle furniture which is something we like the idea of, and again using a mix of old and new and something quirky and unique that suits our personalities.

Whilst trawling one of our favourite places www.onthesquareemporium.com we came across an old Vaulting box. I remember using these in gym class many years ago. we had a look at it and we had so many ideas for it to be upcycled into furniture.

It was a real bargain,it was in their sale, and they wanted rid of it to make room for new stock. Though we are not really ready for this stage we weren`t prepared to let this go so we brought it home.

We had forgotten just how big these vaults are. and yes we did have a try to jump over it and found we are not quite as agile as we were all those years ago.

We knew that the top 2 tiers would be a Bench / sofa so that was easy the next decision was what we would do with the bottom 3 tiers.

we took a few days to decide exactly what we were going to do by taking it apart and putting it together sitting with it and comparing to other furniture.

The bottom tier will be a coffee table. we initially thought that this would use the two bottom sections, but we felt this would have been too high, so we used one layer. With the bottom tier, it has the mechanism and wheels which you can see. So we decided this was quite a nice feature, so instead of just a wooden top we have a glass top which makes the look slightly industrial.

The middle two tiers were more of an issue to decide.

I was opting for more simply a bookcase, but Rob didn`t see it as that.

We thought about what we needed and what could be useful.

A boot bench, somewhere to sit in the porch take our muddy shoes off and store them. This was sure to test Robs woodworking skills. And he loved every minute.

Rob has designed the table and the boot bench to ensure that no damage is done to the vault, so if for some reason we want to put the vault back together we can. .

We are not upholsterers or trained in woodwork or upcycling but we have learnt alot, and learned different ideas for our next one. (if we see another bargain)

We are very pleased with the result, 3 pieces of furniture for the price of one.

This project has also led Rob to making workshop tables. I think he has the woodwork bug, which is a good job really as I have plenty of ideas for him to make.

I think that Rob has Nailed it...

`Woodworking is cheaper than therapy `