The Salvage Sisters' Guide to Finding Style in the Street and Inspiration in the Attic
By Kathleen Hackett, Mary Ann Young
Inspired by everyday objects, the Salvage Sisters rescue more than fifty common castoffs—orphaned drawers, a hobbled couch, a broken birdbath—and cleverly transform them into style statements loaded with ingenuity, wit, and humor.
From Publishers Weekly
What could become of a five-dollar box of ball fringe? Or a beautiful old ball gown? A torn lamp shade? What about that cast-iron lobster-shaped cornbread mold? The spunky sisters (née Salvage) have uses for all such quirky items, and in this marvelous guide to making the old new, they infuse what could've been a humdrum how-to book with the narrative suspense of a novel. Their bubbly anecdotes explain how architectural salvage, like pediments and porch brackets; furniture; old clothes, curtains and cloth; and other "humble bits and pieces" can be whimsically repurposed. Hackett, who worked on the publishing program at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Young (The Complete Idiot's Guide to Decorating Your Home) give instructions for each of the 50-odd projects, often recommending the use of glue guns, handsaws, electric drills and needle and thread. Granted, a lot of what the authors preach is more about attitude than usefulness. For example, how many readers will actually make a sculpture by gluing mussel, oyster and scallop shells to a mannequin? But such a project certainly reinforces their mantra: "when in doubt, don't throw it out." (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Kathleen Hackett is the former executive book editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She has written for both the Pottery Barn Style series and Budget Livingbooks, as well as various other publications, including Elle Décor. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son.
Mary Ann Young is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Decorating Your Home and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Needlework. She has contributed to Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Country Living magazines. Mary Ann and her husband are founders of Camden Harbor Company, a design/build firm in Rockport, Maine, where they live with their two children.
Finally I get a clue!
I'm the type of person who simply can't resist picking stuff off the street and bringing it home. Once I get it home it sits forever until I figure out what to do with it. Old furniture. Table legs. Headboards. All sorts of random goodies.
This book gave me a clue about what to do (and what not to do) with this "junk". All this random stuff has finally turned into actual projects!
Back to work for me!
If it rings a bell for you... get this book!
Witty and wacky
Have you never passed a yard sale without stopping? Does your attic bulge with things you might find a use for someday? Are you always looking for new, innovative decorating ideas?
Answer "yes" to any of those questions and the "Salvage Sisters Guide" will kindle a kindred spark. Like a year's subscription to a decorating magazine for yard salers, their colorful, perky and practical book teems with ideas, good and bad.
Some of the good ideas are familiar. A patchwork quilt (or ottoman cover, tablecloth or lampshade-cum-chandelier cover), made out of your family's long-loved old clothes, for instance. Or the ball gown cut down for a table skirt. And I don't know that I've ever seen a cast-iron lobster-shaped cornbread mold used as a doorknocker, but it seems like I should have.
Then there's the bad ideas; who hasn't seen a nifty looking throw tucked neatly over an old chair's fraying upholstery? Looks great, as long as nobody sits on it. Making outfits for the whole family out of a couple of big, ugly curtains makes for a funny picture, but I wouldn't want to try it on my family. And I get the distinct feeling that most of the newsprint ideas - wreaths, mirror-frame covers, urns filled with crinkled balls - look a lot better in the pictures than in real life. As for shell art; it's downright dangerous.
But the twin-bed headboard set over the plain horizontal mirror (or door frame) really does smarten up the piece and the hundred and one uses for an old wine rack (from shoe rack to spa closet) are all inspirational. Plant stands make chair-side serving trays, umbrella stands, and even a whimsical toilet tissue stand.
The toilet tissue stand perfectly expresses the Salvage Sisters' philosophy: "Why tuck toilet tissue behind closed doors when you can make an amusing arrangement of it in plain sight on a plant stand? The best part: There's no risk of unknowingly running out."
A lot of their ideas require no work at all or just a simple lick of pain or spot of glue. But where more is required - such as hanging an old front-door pediment over a set of standard French doors, or making bookcases from discarded drawers or covering a straight-backed chair seat - detailed directions include all materials and tools needed as well as step-by-step instructions suitable for a person with no skills or experience.
Colorful pictures accompany everything and often feature family members, from kids on driftwood swings to husbands in homemade bow ties. Jackie the terrier is a frequent model in his sweater made from an old sleeve, his ball-fringe leash, and his charmingly decorated bedroom with the birdbath-stand night table (the bath basin is on the dining room table).
With words of wisdom like, "Rust is a variation of red; red is always an acceptable color" and "Never worry about how to get it home; just get it," the sisters have a make-do, can-do style that is as useful as it is humorous.
-- Portsmouth Herald
Very disappointing
A very disappointing book considering the write-ups in home decor magazines. Out of 50 "original ideas" on how to use common items in uncommon ways, only 2 were worthwhile. An example of one of their ideas was to make paper hats out of newspapers. Better to get the book from the library, definitely not worth purchasing.
