Beginning to recontextualise reclaimed materials

Beginning to Recontextualise Reclaimed Materials

We carry a huge amount of stock at our salvage warehouse, and there are so many different ways to use each material. Join me as I pick out a few examples and talk through how they can be used.

Pine Cheeseboards from Holland

The characteristic circles and markings are created by the maturing of the cheese placed on top of them. This method of maturing cheese is slowly being phased out, meaning there is a limited supply of these boards left in circulation.

This is very common in the salvage industry, as on the whole, there tends to be a finite quantity of any given material. My advice would be that if you find something you love but don't know where you will use it yet, it is often worth buying and storing, as you may not come across it again.

Why I love them

• Pine is a very easy material to work with, as it's relatively soft.
• The cheeseboards' size are what I would describe as a 'domestic scale', and are easy to play around with and use in normal homes.
• The circular markings can be kept or sanded off, depending on the look you want to achieve.

Ways to use them

• Shelving: simply add brackets, and you have a very pleasing shelf.
• Panelling: we have used them to panel a pantry and a box bed.
• Flooring: their dimensions make for a fantastically oversized, large-scale look.

Salvaged Paper

When people think of a salvage yard, they might typically think of building materials and architectural elements. However, I also believe that salvage can be considered more widely, such as these old printed pages of a book.

Why I love it

• The paper is thick and of great quality, making it very versatile.
• Historically wallpaper was made in smaller sheets similar to this size, so using these harks back to antiquated techniques.

Ways to use it

• Wallpaper: could be used really effectively as a beautiful wallcovering in a small space.

Unwanted Skirting Boards, Architraves and Handrails

When you're working on a building site and making alterations to the architecture of a room, there are inevitably elements that you will want to change and remove. Often these are things like skirting boards, architraves or handrails.

Ways to use them

• Mirrors: We have begun to use these discarded architectural elements to make very simple but beautiful mirror frames. They can be made by a joiner, picture framer or even by yourself using four mitred corners.