Home feature: Craft time

By Suanne Huffman, correspondent

Wood planking, cornices, doors, windows, rafters, rusty radiators, clawfoot bathtubs. These items arent stocked on most store shelves.

At Salvage Barn in Iowa City, though, most of the inventory is at least 50 years old. Signs of wear and years is the rule, not the exception.

Beneath the peeling paint and rust or in some cases because of it theres inspiration, and not just for do-it-yourself types and contractors rehabbing older homes.

Perhaps fueled by Pinterest, the Salvage Barn, a warehouse specializing in historic architectural building materials operated by Friends of Historic Preservation, has seen more and more crafters digging through bins and rummaging through piles at the warehouse at the East Side Recycling Center, 2401 Scott Blvd., Iowa City.

Rusty, dusty or musty, they wanted it. Who can ignore bins heaped with items for 25 to 50 cents each?

They turned old windows into picture frames for graduation gifts, dresser drawers into flower planters, an old sink into a potting table and a table from siding and rafters.

With a little elbow grease, nothing is too old or damaged to turn into something beautiful, says Executive Director Alicia Trimble.

That mantra will be on display Saturday at the Salvage Barn and Friends of Historic Preservations first reuse-themed craft fair Craft Your Environment.

The event promotes the mission of the barn sustainable use of materials by showcasing the work of 30 artists and crafters from the region who reuse, repurpose and restore items that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

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Home feature: Craft time