New "Vintage Style" Barn Board Pie Safe

What to do with the fabric stash? My main way to hide all of my accumulating fabric (from my hubby ;)) was to put it in my collection of picnic baskets. It is amazing how much you can fit in those babies! Not to mention they are beautiful (or at least I think) stacked to make plant stands or side tables. But my stash outgrew their containers, and I wanted to eliminate some of the 'search and find' missions that had to be put into action when looking for a particular piece. (I suppose this also constitutes a Fab Friday Find, since most of these fabrics were bought in new condition at various yard sales.) I fell in love with an English cupboard at a local antique shop, but it was way to big for the space that was available, so the next thing that popped into mind was a pie safe. I have seen a few at sales, and they were pretty pricey. My son was with me on one of these excursions and rolled his eyes proclaiming that he could make them for a fraction of the price. Like that would ever happen! But imagine my surprise when he made me this one for a gift!! It even had the chicken wire front (that was salvage) that I wanted! I fell in love with it immediately. (I am truly a blessed Mom!) It was made out of barn board that my son salvaged himself out of a nearby location. The barn hinges were too big for the project, so he used some hinges that my Dad bought for him at a yard sale. It will forever be one of my favorite pieces, along with the garbage can holder (that can be viewed in my "kitchen" posts). The dimensions to this one are 32" x 37" high. He built this for me a few years ago, when he was eighteen. Salvaging barns is kind of an odd hobby for him to break into on his own, but we are all heavily into recycling in our family, so it was not a surprise either!

Here is a larger matching piece that I had him build me a year later. The dimensions are 34" x 65". The fabrics look bright in both pics, because I needed to employ my flash to get a clear image. Both pieces make a beautiful focal point in my sitting rooms. Not only are they handy for retrieving fabric, but they are quite the conversation pieces as well. I always tell my son that I will have a studio filled with his barn board furniture some day, and he tells me that if he keeps getting more barns, he will build the studio out of it too!! ;)