How to Implement Architectural Salvage Into Home Design
May 7, 2020You can get creative to achieve a truly unique and customized home and interior design style. In interior styles like rustic, farmhouse, industrial, and more, it can become difficult to replicate the authenticity of old or antique items. In these cases, architectural salvage can be the key to creating a one-of-a-kind custom home filled with intrigue and a special, almost tangible, atmosphere. Here are a few ways to implement architectural salvage into home design:
What is Architectural Salvage?
Architectural salvage refers to building parts or components that have been salvaged from remodeled or demolished structures or saved from buildings scheduled to be demolished. Within the context of home decor, architectural salvage is repurposed, reclaimed, or upcycled items that are used within the design theme.
They create a lived-in feel or are used to fabricate an entirely new feature or piece of furniture using parts of the salvaged item. Architectural salvage provides can be a great material source when the intended goal is a rustic, farmhouse, transitional, or industrial interior design theme.
4 Ways to Implement Architectural Salvage Into Home Design
Architectural salvage may sound intimidating or bring up visions of scrap metal, but it’s way more versatile than that. Here are a few ways to implement architectural salvage into home design:
1. Use Reclaimed Wood
Reclaimed wood is one of the best salvage materials to use in a home’s interior design. One of the reasons for this is that it is more readily available than some other types of salvaged building materials.
Old barns and other buildings that are carefully deconstructed can provide an abundance of plank lumber, heavy beams, doors, and more. This offers a lot of flexibility in the size of the project the reclaimed wood is being used for.
In addition to floor and wall coverings, reclaimed lumber can be used in the construction of decorative pieces and furniture such as bookcases, tables, chairs, and headboards. You can also just use barn doors in your custom home design as an interior door, pantry cover, and more.
2. Add Antique or Vintage Accessories
Adding antique or vintage accessories is a great way to add a little architectural salvage to your interior design. Plus, you can go all out for the full theme or add a little for an accent. On top of that, it works both inside and outside the home.
Antique or Vintage Accessories Inside the Home
Finding antique or vintage accessories as supplemental items in your home décor can help to set the tone and mood of the living spaces within your home. Many of these items will often be one-of-a-kind, so you will need to consider how each piece fits into your decor for optimal flow.
Vintage accessories inside the home can be big furniture pieces like a tufted couch or chaise lounge or they can be smaller accents like table lamps, bookends, and more. A vintage bar cart can add a little architectural salvage to your space while also add a bit of luxe.
Antique or Vintage Accessories on the Patio or in the Garden
Repurposing and refurbishing antique or vintage accessories around the exterior of the home is also a great way to use architectural salvage and create a unique outdoor living space. Consider both form and function when you are selecting items.
If you are going for an industrial type of outdoor décor, items constructed from metals, such as wrought iron gates, benches, and tables, can be a good fit. Other items to consider that can often be found at estate or salvage sales are old municipal park benches, church pews, bar stools, restaurant booths, etc. Just make sure that the items you use are properly weatherproofed to stave off any moisture damage, dry rot, or rust.
3. Go For a Retro Tub
Finding a vintage clawfoot bathtub can be the first step in transforming a master bathroom with a dramatic and captivating industrial, Victorian, or steampunk theme. If you have a hard time finding the right retro tub as architectural salvage, you can always buy a quality replica to get a similar look.
4. Convert Old Windows Into Mirrors or Picture Frames
Repurposing old windows and shutters into mirrors or picture frames is a popular way to use these pieces of architectural salvage. They can create unique, distressed focal pieces in a room in addition to providing some color contrast when it is needed to accent the color palette of the room.
These are just a few ways to implement architectural salvage into home design. The use of architectural salvage items in your home décor opens up immense possibilities for creativity. Once the process begins, you will undoubtedly find yourself seeing many salvage items in the context of what they can be turned into rather than what they are currently. This is an exciting way to end up with home decor that is rich with conversation pieces and guaranteed to captivate your house guests. If you’re ready to get started on your own unique custom home, give Custom Home Group a call at 717-284-4090.