Designer Snapshot: The Ultimate in Recycling

January 4, 2012

By Paula M. Bodah

Tyler Doran, the owner of Heir Antiques in Providence, gets a kick out of finding new uses for old things. In Perspectives in our November/December issue, for example, he suggested turning a late nineteenth-century grain bin into a handsome sideboard for the dining room and converting the floral print of a vintage dress into a pretty table runner. I asked Tyler to show us more some more uses for some of the unique old things in his shop. He didn’t disappoint with his creative take on recycling.

Hanks of late nineteenth-century flax hung on new black museum stands become sculptural decorative accent pieces. Photos courtesy of Tyler Doran, Heir Antiques

An early twentieth-century wicker fishing trap with its beautifully graying, intricately woven wood casts complex shadows when used as wall art.

Old wooden factory molds from the early part of the twentieth century serve as an interesting base for a glass-top table.

Tyler suggests mounting this 1930s cast-iron and wood swing-arm stool seat, once used in a factory, on the wall for a swing-out side table.

Here, a late nineteenth-century carriage light affixed to a 1950s chemistry stand results in a striking lamp.

A 1930s medical cot from an Ohio hospital is given a glass top to become a dramatic, low coffee table.

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