I want to say that New Yorkers are always throwing perfectly usable stuff away, but the reality is that most of usโno matter where we live in the U.S. (or the world for that matter)โwaste a lot. In New York, however, the trash problem is a little more "in your face" because 1.) there is a higher density of people, and 2.) people put their waste in the common areas, which is to sayโthe sidewalk. Because of that, you invariably walk by bags of trash day after day.
I also live near a set design studio, which is quite honestlyโwhere I get most of my wood for a lot of my DIY projects. Where they workโperfectly good wood comes inโand perfectly good wood goes out. I had been looking for the possibilities of having some large trellises for some of my vining and climbing plants, but had never really gotten around to building one. That's why I was stoked one day in November to find a perfectly fine trellis cast off on the sidewalk outside one of the newest homeware boutiques. All it needed was a little repairing and a paint job and it was good as new.
After installing that trellis in the kitchen, it was clear that I needed another one for a second golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum) that I had growing in a rather unkempt, untamed manner in the bedroom. My friend had spied my Shoji room divider that had been sitting in a corner of my home for aeons. It was pretty beat up after its twenty or so years on earth and I didn't have much use for it. "Why not turn it into a trellis?" he suggested. Pure genius. The screen already had the trellis-structure, and by happenstance it was the wood was the perfect shade for my warm, clay-colored walls. It even had hinges that allowed me to take it apart. Here's how it turned out.
Have any other great ideas for DIY, upcycled, recycled, or reused trellises? Share them with me here or #homesteadbrooklyn on Instagram. ๐ฟ