Thursday, 10 July 2014

An Old Cart

My sister and I were bored today round at my my parents house so we decided to go into the Garage to find something salvage.

We came across a 20+ year old wooden cart. I know it is this old as I remember being pulled around in it as a youngster. It was broken and had been used to carry apples from the orchard in recent years so was pretty grubby. After offloading all that it was full of, Ella and I pulled it on to the grass to assess the situation.

With one end completely un-attached, the main bolt on the handle missing a nut and the odd screw or nail sticking out, my older brother came to assist with his manly skills and helped us put it back together.

Once stable and more solid than it had probably been in a few years Ella and I got the scrubbing brushes out and gave it a good clean. As it was so warm it dried quickly and we were able to get on with the painting.

We used a 'Light Grey' we found in the garage, never opened and perfectly suited to the design I had in my head.

First we turned the cart over and did underneath. Even though this wont be seen, we gave it a good thick coat of paint to keep the uniformity of the piece.

We turned the cart over then covered it in two thick coats of paint.

Once that had pretty much dried I decided it needed a little something special to really bring this cart to life. After rummaging in my dad's tray of completely random things I came across these 'U' nails which were just perfect for me to complete the look I was going for.

Once they were hammered into the back we nipped across to my grandma's house (they only live next door) and got a few handfuls of fresh Lavender. Ella and I then bunched them, slipped them into the 'U' nails and cut them to size.

We filled it up with super soft blankets and cushions from my mum's lounge then headed down the garden with Raph and our family dog Jenny.

I had such a lovely afternoon with Ella doing this and together we have revitalised a family heirloom that will be used a lot more before its left to the bonfire.

It just shows what you can do out of random stuff found in the garage. Luckily for us, my Parents have good taste and always try to do home projects themselves so the garage is full useful gems, 'U' shaped nails....who knew!!