Since I'm using salvaged and recycled materials for the kitchen remodel, I googled 'recycled kitchen images' and found this blog:

Inspiration Green blog--scroll down for different project categories. Enjoy!

It's wonderful! I've looked through the recycled kitchens and started on the tree-houses, but realized that if I try to see everything in one sitting, I won't get anything else done today. :[ The blog looks as if it has a wealth of information on different aspects of 'green living,' so I have it bookmarked.

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We have several members of Smaller Homes who are avid re-users, and/or volunteers in Restores, so feel free to add pictures and links of your own recycle/re-use projects.

My favorite project before and after--a range hood made from an old feed bin:

btw, what kind of stove is that?

I am thinking of replacing just my base cabs next yr - with drawer cabs if i find out it's doable. That'll be another thread - lol!

Currently, I am building (or rebuilding) a fence.

This is why. See the fence to the left of the shed? Looks ok, right?

Not really. Dh built that fence, against my wishes, to hide his junk. At first he put it in there fairly neatly, but then he just started tossing it in and shutting the gate. Weeds grew up all around the stuff, buckets and tires caught rain and bred mosquitoes and I complained about it constantly.

Ick, right?

And the steel wire fence on the right? It was the dog kennel before we had a fence around the yard. After we fenced the yard, dh took some panels off and started putting bigger crap in there. I just couldn't take it anymore, so I am in the process of building this, using the posts from the metal fence for support, and the pickets from the old fence for siding. It's just two sides, and is just still just a fence to hide dh's crap.

And, you might even make part of that series of buildings into a sort of shallow fence-row shed, with the roofline sloping down. I've seen many new projects doing that, so that you could have room enough to open the doors wide, and get easy access to your garden tools (shovels, picks, rakes, fertilizer, mulch)...

The fact that you are making it look western, it should really make your DH happy. Just tell him, if he does not like it, meet you down by the OK Corral for a shootout. Even an old hitching post, an old bench, maybe a wooden boardwalk with an old whiskey barrel and an old horse collar or harness, sounds great to me. It is going to be very creative and imaginative when you follow your dream here.

You go girl!!!

That is just darling Marti.

I am going to put a little porch on it, and I'd like to do it somewhat like this one, though I may have to do it like the shed. I just don't want to cover the door.

If you do not want a boardwalk in front of the fence, you might use bark chips, or maybe small gravel, to keep a wide cutting strip so the lawn does not need weedwacking close there. Maybe the lawnmower could suffice. Always find a way to reduce the work load, dontchaknow.

I notice they have plenty of wooden barrels in the picture above. Old nail kegs, powder kegs, whiskey barrels, cracker barrels, whatever, they will last for a long time. Do you have termites in your neck of the woods? Always a problem in Alabama, but not so much that I can tell up in MA.

In some cases fences have a little "V" cap on them, upside down, which is not a "roof" but does serve to shield the top from rain. Like bird houses, very narrow. It gives a little bit of depth to arches over driveways and such. Not really a roof, but a peak that keeps the look from being so flat, gives more depth.If I can find an illustration, I'll post it.

The new fence is on a concrete slab, and there is a concrete walk in front of it and the shed. I'm going to use some concrete stain and paint a boardwalk on it.

Oh, and I'm going to make a trough around the faucet, to hold the hoses.

marti8a, thank you for all the pictures--I think maybe we all have our 'dirty little secrets'. Mine just happen to be in every building on this place! (And, behind the barn, too.) Your solution is adorable! I agree with ML--a wooden barrel would be perfect on the porch, and your trough idea is a stroke of genius.

shades, enjoy the blog--I know you'll love the glass bottles used as building materials. I'll be watching for pictures of your project.

I was taken by the glass bottle wall too. Wish I had somewhere to do that here, but it's just too much a contrast with the old west look.

I sure wish I was a young person just starting a career as an architect or civil engineer, it would be so great to see what can be done to make the next century better for the common man. The wealthy will take care of themselves, but the rest of us need to work together to stay alive.

Marti ~ That is a cool junkyard entry and hiding place for the junk.

FlowerLady

Well my hands are in terrible pain from the Psoriasis and arthritis that goes along with it. Having a huge flair right now. Why I have not been on here too much.

I did push through and get my crazy green , only it is lavender, project done up for the dogs yard.

Explained on the picture so I do not have to type it again.
Was a blast to do. Still want to straighten the clothes lines. Hands too sore to do it now.

I love your Idaho Pergola. That is going to be so neat when morning glories are growing all over it. If you have children visitors, they will think that is a secret garden. Heck, I'd like to have a secret garden.

moccasin, I was taken with the living roof, too. I have a green wall--my barn is being swallowed by a 'Vrigin's Bower' this year, and I haven't had the heart (or the time) to cut it down--those little white stars are so pretty.

Thank you, flowerlady, it's good to hear from you!

shades, LOL indeed! You have such an imagination--who else would have taken all those cast-off items and made such an interesting, whimsical, useful piece?! Hope your hands are better soon.

I finally finished the building part of the project. Now I just have to paint a name on it.

And now I think you need a horse trough and some hitching rails too. When you are done with your very own western town, it will be something to decorate at Christmas!!! Wow.

Yes, I plan on doing something about the faucet next, either make a water trough or just make it look more like a pump.