From Tank to Swank - A Parking Garage Makeover

Who would have thought an abandoned fuel tank and a crumbling parking garage would make such successful bedfellows? The Italian architects at LOT-EK are, like so many, helping to expand the notions of recycling. Converting a crumbling parking structure into this NY loft involved suspending a restored fuel tank mid air and converting it into a sleeping loft.

Recycling isn't just for bottles and cans anymore!

From Foundry to Stairwell

Certain wooden foundry patterns embody the work of skilled craftsmen at the height their powers. These low relief 'sculptures' are often used for short runs and then discarded. It seemed fitting to reflect a little bit on that artistry and transform a sand casting pattern I came across recently into a stairwell mirror.

From Freeway to Driveway

Even parts of a dismantled freeway overpass can find a new use in the hands of clever builders and architects. Over 300 tons of material were reclaimed from Boston's Big Dig project and transformed into this ultra chic modernist home complete with a roof top garden.

From Water to Wine

After tearing down a crumbling water tower on a hillside estate, I transformed the old growth redwood timber into the panels of four six-hundred pound wine cave doors. Patina on wood in contact with water that long just can't be reproduced mechanically.

From Wingtip to Desktop

Now that's a desk that's going places - and has been places! These airplane wing remnant executive desks had some pretty down to earth beginnings ... a DC-9 junkyard.
Dave and Donovan are definitely on their way up.

From the Signs I've Seen...

So many signs so little time ... Boris has a crisp wry style and he's found the perfect medium with which to express it. There's a lot to explore ... enjoy.

From a Failed Dot.com to a Garden Gate

The folks at Urban Ore told me the steel frames were parts of designer cubicles they pulled out of a failed dot.com.

The old-growth redwood came from a demolition pile in my neighbor's front yard and the little steel circles are cut-offs from some different sized pipes I had rusting in my shop's yard.

The Morning Glory vines look great in the Spring as they wind up and through the circles.

From Grandma's Shed

I found a pair of cool glass washboards tucked away in my Grandmother's shed. They apparently were the original version of the 'delicate cycle' -- designed for washing lingerie. They've received a second life now as our laundry room wall sconces.

From Their Wedding Day to Their Kitchen

These caught my eye, reminding me of a kitchen I designed for a client that had made their task lighting out of the champagne bottles they had served their guests from at their wedding.
Take a look at more of Jerry Kott's re-Lights

From cool to stool

There is something about the form of these used skateboard stools from DeckStools that makes we think of corduroy bell bottoms and summer afternoons spent bruising up my elbows while trying to skate in a neighbor's empty in-ground swimming pool.