Sunday, April 4, 2010

What you can do with some good ol' chippy moulding

Old moulding...I love it.  I like the layers of color, the chippy paint, and the rustic, primitive, simple look of it.  Find a great piece of old moulding or wood and you can do quite a lot with it.  One tip before you start:  since some of the old moulding could be painted with lead based paint of years gone by, I always seal it with a good coat of clear, non-yellowing poly or sealer to make it a bit safer. 

Behold the piece the below...

This piece is a few feet long and well worn...just the way I like it.
It's been all over my house, usually hung horizontally as a make shift chair rail.   Right now, it's leaning in my entry until I decide how I want to hang it there. 
What could you do with such a lovely piece of wood?  How 'bout this? Below is one of my favorite pieces.  It hangs in my entry.  It's easy to make.
Take a piece of old wood or a board.  If it's not painted the same as the moulding, paint it and distress it.  Then cut four pieces of moulding, 2 for the ends and 2 longer pieces for the top and bottom.  Miter the ends at 90 degrees so they will form a corner and then frame the piece of wood.
If it's not perfect, who cares?  Another word for imperfection is character.  I like stuff with character.
Find some old doorknobs and screw them in.  Notice that these don't even match...again, it's called character.  I used to stress over matchy-matchy.  I would have probably looked everywhere to find 5 or 6 knobs that were identical.  Those days are over.  Mismatched and imperfect = character.
If you are lucky enough to find moulding from an old window or door or whatever has the old hardware still attached, you can use the hardware to attach chain for hanging.  Another tip:  I'm not sure how strong the old hardware is so although it appears this is hanging from the chain, I also have secure hardware on the back of the wood part that is hanging from a stronger nail you can't see.
It looks like this piece was first painted with a pale blue-grey that peeks through the creamy white paint which is peeling off. 
So what else could you do with old moulding and wood?  How about this?
This is an old piece of raised panel wood with original paint.  Write what you want it and hang it up! 
These letters are painted on freehand. They're far from perfect like you would get with stencils but look so cute that way.
You just can't get this kind of character with new wood.  It's much easier to start with an original piece of already chippy wood.  The hardest part is finding the wood or moulding but many times people just throw it out so if you keep your eyes focused, you might find some for free!


I'm going to link this is up to some of the great blog parties listed in my link up top.  Can't wait to see the ideas others have to share this week!

55 comments:

  1. I love old moulding and pieces of wood too, and yours are beautiful, full of character and being put to good use...love it!

    Kat :)

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  2. I love old painted wood too! Just gorgeous!
    *hugs*deb

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  3. Very cool ideas. I made my husband stop on the side of the road the other day to pick up some pieces of an old chippy white fence that someone had torn down and piled up. I also got the gate that had the hinges and latch on it. IN LOVE!

    My sweet precious husband still thinks I am crazy, but that's okay, he loves me anyway.

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  4. Great ideas! I love old chippy paint. Be sure to stop by AtticMag this week for a Giveaway!

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  5. I have two long pieces of chippy molding just waiting for a good idea. Thanks for yours.

    Janet

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  6. Love them! What a fabulous idea! The laundry one is perfect!

    Jeanine

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  7. Love your ideas, especially the one with the knobs for hooks. Looks great!

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  8. I like how you have used the old pieces of molding. I never thought of sealing them with a poly finish - I always wondered what one did about all the flakes of paint that would keep coming off.

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  9. Those are awesome! I didn't know to seal them either. Great idea. All those are in your house? Sooo cool.

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  10. I can't believe my kids never got lead poisoning from all the flakes of paint that littered their childhoods like so much snow.

    Now I seal things so the dog won't eat paint chips.

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  11. I love your signs and have a perfect piece of chippy wood and great vintage door knobs. I'm borrowing this idea :)
    Toni

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  12. These all look great. Especially like your Laundry board..

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  13. They look fantastic, I love the first one with the little hooks on it!

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  14. Love it!! And great tip with the poly, I always worry about lead based paint wit the kids.

    :) Michelle

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  15. Oooh, I just love old chippy wood too. Those are all great ideas!

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  16. I am always drawn toward old, chippy molding, but never know what to do with it. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  17. absolutely delightful! I just your 2 projects! I hopped over from Cottage Instincts and am so happy that I did. Please accept my invitation to drop in at my place one day this week when you get a moment. I have become a follower and hope that you will do the same. until later...

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  18. These are wonderful! Thank you for the inspiration!

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  19. Girl I love this post!! I love chippy old wood!!!

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  20. Love it. :) I agree, you cannot recreate the real thing!

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  21. Beautiful pieces! I love the character of all the chippy paint. It makes me wonder about the history of the wood pieces when I see them all chippy and aged like that.

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  22. Those are very cool! I love them!

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  23. I love that! I did a post on a bubbly painted thing awhile back:

    http://themagicbrushinc.blogspot.com/2009/12/bubbly-crystal-knobby-thingy-my-new.html

    Other people may hate that hold chippy look... but I love it! Thanks for sharing!

    Stop by my painting blog and say hey sometime!

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  24. Beautiful sign, I love the look of the chipped paint. Wish there was some way to recreate that.

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  25. It turned out wonderful! Be blessed. Cindy

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  26. New to your blog via Twice Remembered.Considering I live in an 1880s Victorian farmhouse that is made of worn, chippy wood I usually paint it. I love your pieces (especially the one with the chain attachment) Beautiful.

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  27. I'm a HUGE fan of old chippy paint pieces...great sign!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  28. Love it! Where do you find great, "chippy," wood, though?!? I would hang it all over my house! Great job.

    Love if you could stop by my blog for a give away! Ends tonight at midnight. Have a great evening!
    alittleknickknack.blogspot.com

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  29. This is beautiful and right up my alley! I would love to feature this on my Saturday shout out...would that be okay with you? It will link back to your blog. Passed through from blue cricket...so nice to meet you! -shaunna :)

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  30. Great job with your old molding! Both projects are wonderful, Kim

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  31. Saw you on Show and Tell. I love it!

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  32. I love, love, love them! Great job! :O)

    Will be on the look out for old molding now! :O)

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  33. Great! I'm a softie for chippy, too!

    Tootles,

    Sandy @ My Shabby Streamside Studio
    http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com/

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  34. Ok, you've inspired me. I have the perfect old chippy white piece I'm trying to decide what to do with. It's the cornace off my grandmothers old house in Ephraim Utah. I obtained it when the house was torn down. I just found and hung an old white quilt shelf in my entry. I am going to put grandma cornace up there.

    Thanks again

    come visit
    cindy@stitches

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  35. so pretty! i really love the sign, great idea.

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  36. Just be really careful if there are children in your home. Chippy old paint is often lead paint and it is very dangerous to children. An incredibly small chip can fall on the floor and get picked up on their hands or clothing and if ingested can cause brain damage and IQ loss. Even the dust from it is harmful. I love old things too but I'm concerned nobody is talking about this hazard!

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  37. Hi Anonymous,
    Thanks for comment and concern.
    I did address the concern about lead paint and if you read the other comments, others share the concern. You can seal the piece to preserve it and to keep the paint dust and paint from coming off. That tip was in my post. As a speech pathologist who works with special needs children, I'm very aware of the dangers of lead basedd paint. Many weathered, chippy pieces are newer (they just look old)and are not painted with lead based paint. So you can create the same pieces with out the concern.

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  38. I REALLY love those!! If you are interested, I would love you to post this on my Favorite Things Friday party!

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  39. Great projects! I love the chippy paint.

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  40. i LOVE the laundry sign! i have some old boards like that and am going to make one. thanks for sharing!

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  41. your signs are great! i heart chippy molding!

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  42. Awesome, I love it! Think I might try something like this with some vintage looking keys I recently purchased. :)

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  43. Love this! chippy is good!

    Stacey

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  44. I love it... ALL. Thanks for sharing it. Happiness.

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  45. What is it about the chippy paint that just makes us LOVE IT? Usually there are layers of different colors underneath, and I always wonder what was going on in their lives as they added a new color and new layer.
    Great Post!
    Valarie
    Red Shed Cottage Chic

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  46. Old painted wood is the best!!! Thanks for sharing some ideas of how to use it around the house. (Also, great tip about sealing with non-yellowing poly to avoid the lead paint!)

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  47. I love the chippy old wood...it has so much character! Thanks for sharing your projects...I am sure I will try a few!
    Karen @ Urban Whyte

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  48. These look awesome! I love old chipped wood, I had a picnic table bench that was painted white and had been out in the elements for years. My neighbor said I could have it and I painted a cottage scene on it, love how it turned out :)

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  49. Very inspirational! I've been wondering what to use to recreate old signs and you've given me more ideas. Thanks for sharing your creations on SNS!

    FJ Donna

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  50. Oh you are so creative!!!! I love this so much! What a great idea :) Thanks for inspiring me!

    Come on over and link up at my Tuesday TALENT SHOW if you like :)

    http://myhouseofgiggles.blogspot.com

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  51. Those are fabulous! I love how they turned out. Who would of thought.

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  52. Thanks so much for posting this on Favorite Things Friday!

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  53. What wonderful projects!

    Have a beautiful week!

    : )

    Julie M.

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  54. laundry signs look great. now i need to find out where to get old moldings :)

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