Old stuff finds new uses as decor

By Marge Colborn
Detroit News

Michele Pearson and partner Mark Hausner are reflected in a mirror that was made from an old mantel they found during trash pickup day in Detroit. Gannett News Service

"These four doors came from a house in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., where Charles Lindbergh once lived, and that arched window came from a house in Detroit's Brush Park, dating to the late 1800s," explains Gaggino, 36.

Salvaged items are also found in Michele Pearson and Mark Hausner's stately home in Detroit's historic Indian Village. A tall wooden column with peeling paint from a demolished structure, along with a well-used wooden sawhorse, for example, give the couple's contemporary kitchen a time-worn touch of character.

From urban communities to suburban enclaves, savvy homeowners are incorporating architectural fragments into their home decor. People take a pair of bricks from a demolished downtown building and turn them into bookends, or use a beam from an abandoned barn for a mantel, or give a discarded white picket fence new life as a headboard for a bed.

The appeal of these items is nostalgia, age and, let's be honest, price, since many of the items are found free at curbside on trash day or for a song at a demolition site or flea market. When used with creativity, the items give a home warmth, personality and a certain edgy style.

In the Gaggino-Gage living room, for instance, an end table started life in Indonesia as a mortar with a hole where a pestle was repetitiously used for grinding grain. The decommissioned church icon sitting on the table was found during a South American stint.

The triangular decorative trim along the ceiling came from a commercial building in Indiana. A French dress form minus its head bought at a flea market stands in a corner.

"I've found items all over the country and in Canada and South America," says Gaggino, who owns Heritage Co. II Architectural Artifacts, an eclectic Royal Oak, Mich., retail establishment that sells pieces of the past to be reused in domestic environments. Her partner, Gage, 42, is an artist who specializes in functional yet decorative items made of new and castoff materials; his studio is above the Heritage Co.

In his work as an urban real estate developer, Hausner, 38, sees the reuse of architectural artifacts as a growing trend that he heartily endorses.

"People are starting to see the beauty in an ornate, old, wrought iron gate or the structural integrity of a carved column," he says.

Pearson, 35, is a self-taught antiques dealer and a decorative painter who can look at an architectural fragment and envision a new role for the item. She put hooks into rosettes, for instance, and hangs towels from them in a bathroom. Hefty wood brackets that once hung on building exteriors are now used as shelf brackets in the kitchen.

"I'm always on the lookout for discarded items I can reuse," says Pearson. "I've found great things —painted shutters, an old wood stool — on trash day in the village."

Pearson warns would-be scavengers, however, that if you see an item that interests you at curbside, don't hesitate to stop and grab it.

"Don't say to yourself, 'I'll get that chair on my way back from my errand,' because it will probably be gone when you get back to it," she says.

Gaggino echoes the sentiment. "If you form an immediate emotional attachment to an item, don't walk away," she says. "Take a risk and buy it on the spot. These architectural items never lose their value."

Part of the fun of integrating a found object into your home is the story about it you can tell friends. In Gage's home office, for instance, the worktable with the computer and printer was originally a psychiatrist's table. The doors on his garage studio were castoffs from a high school.

Of course, neither of these couples exclusively live with or decorate with architectural fragments. "I bought a pair of art deco chairs for $175, but I paid $1,500 for Donghia fabric to reupholster them," says Gaggino.

Decorating tips

• In her book, "Tattered Treasures" (Sterling, $27.95), Lauren Powell says, "Whether it's an architectural find, an old bottle you love, an interesting basket or even a stack of favorite books —the items you gather can work together to make a statement of your individual decorating style." Consider these tips from Powell and Marisa Gaggino:
• "Think about using something for a different purpose than it was originally intended for," Powell said. "Hang cabinet doors and window frames on the walls, or turn wooden balustrades into candlesticks."
• "Consider removing doors from old cabinets to better display the contents," Powell said.
• "Turn a length of weathered wood and some old doorknobs into a rack for hanging coats, hats or collectibles," Powell said.
• "Add shelves to an old ornate frame to create a shadow box for displaying a collection of tiny treasures," said Powell.
• "Don't play it safe," said Gaggino. "Look for big and bold items rather than small knickknacks."
• "Don't worry that an item won't work with what you already own," Gaggino said. "If you love it, you'll find a place for it in your home."
• "If you have large rooms with cathedral ceilings, look for large items that have a sculptural quality to them," Gaggino said.