Dunkle - DIY rustic modern metal crafts: 35 creative upcycling ideas for galvanized metal

Avon, Massachusetts

To my DIY partner in crime, the best projects I have ever done have always been the ones with you. Dana, thank you for believing in me always and being the best partner in life I could ask for.

And to our greatest accomplishmentour amazing daughtersthank you for inspiring me each and every day to be more, learn more, and love more.

To my blog readers, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a place to share my creativity and my heart.

I thank you for showing up in this weird world of blogging and encouraging me. You are the reason this book has been written and published.

Chapter 1
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED

Chapter 2
RUSTIC METAL WALL ART

Chapter 3
RUSTIC METAL LIGHTING

Chapter 4
RUSTIC METAL STORAGE OPTIONS

Chapter 5
RUSTIC METAL PLANTERS

Chapter 6
RUSTIC METAL ACCENTS FOR ENTERTAINING

Chapter 7
RUSTIC METAL DECORATIVE ACCENTS

I think the seed to be a DIYer was planted early. As a child, I was always in our basement painting, cutting, or coloring something. I still remember my sister helping me create a little art nook with my easel and some towels to create a wall so that I had a special little corner to create in. I worked on a paint-by-number project in that little corner for a long time and then gave it to my grandparents for Christmas. The first time I visited their new home, I saw my painting framed and hung on the wall in their kitchen. I still remember that moment like it was yesterday, of seeing something I created on their wall.

When I was in high school, I remember one fall sitting down and deciding to make all of my Christmas presents for friends and family. I covered photo albums and boxes in fabric and added trim and ribbon. I made myself one of those boxes that year and I still have it filled with cards and notes from my childhood. It still makes me smile when I look at it.

I know now that being a maker was just part of who I was, but I just was not aware of it. I am not a talented painter and I couldnt draw my way out of a box, so I decided I wasnt creative. The maker in me kept trying to come out and would tug at me, but I kept pushing it down. Slowly, I began to realize that I could be creative in ways other than the textbook versions. I found that decorating my home and the homes of friends and family was a new way I could be creative. I started a decorating business and years later I started a blog, Finding Home. I was learning to accept a new version of what it means to be creative, but in my mind, I still was not a DIYer. That was for the more talented and creative people.

They say necessity is the greatest form of invention, and my journey to becoming a DIYer started with a deadline. With a deadline looming, my husband and I started out to make a projectin fact, it was the first version of the featured in Chapter 5 of this book. One project led to another, and before we knew it, we were comfortable with taking on DIY projects.

And one day I realized I was a DIYer.

And guess what?

So are you!

Ive been lucky enough to turn my love of DIY into something much bigger. And, in much the same way that I never thought of myself as a DIYer just because I like crafting, when I began writing a blog, I never expected to become a blogger. It has always been, and will likely always be, such a strange concept to me. I really wanted to just hold myself accountable for a handful of goals I had set for myself in my decorating business. Over time, I found I loved the interaction with readers and the push to be creative on a weekly basis. When I look back now, I am amazed at how much I have learned by pushing myself. It truly seems like just yesterday I almost gave up on blogging because I could not figure out how to correctly upload pictures.

Today, my blog has become our family business. We have branched out the Finding Home brand to our handcrafted maple syrup and specialty food line. We have an online store, a wholesale line for retailers, and now a book. You never know the journey life is going to take you on. When I first started my blog, the tag line read, The stories of the journey we are on to Finding Home. What a beautiful journey it has been so far.

My favorite color is galvanized. Truly, there is something about the texture and the color that makes me weak in the knees. From a bright and shiny new piece to an old vintage piece dug out of a dark corner of a yard sale, I have been filling my home with galvanized accents for years. Every piece has a story; whether it is where it came from or what I did with it when I found it, galvanized accents are one of the things that make my home unique. And, although my home is decorated and styled in a blend of traditional and farmhouse styles, I believe you can use galvanized accents in your home, toono matter the style.

So what does galvanized mean? Galvanized materials are simply iron or steel items that have been coated in a layer of zinc. The zinc is meant to protect the metal and allows it to withstand the elements better. The terms zinc and galvanized are often used interchangeably when referring to things like a bucket. Throughout the book, youll find more than thirty different ways you can create projects for your home using galvanized materials, ranging from wall art to lighting to storage and more. The projects cover ideas for many rooms in your home as well as outdoor spaces. The level of difficulty ranges from simply gluing two things together in a creative manner to building a piece of furniture; however, every project is doable for even the most beginner DIYer, so dont worry! Just because a project is labeled DIY doesnt mean it has to be complicated. DIY just means looking at materials and ideas in a new wayyour wayand making something that personalizes your home.

I am excited for you to try these projects and put your own spin on them. Dont get caught up in thinking you have to make everything perfect or just as you see it in the picture. Use your own ideas, make it better, make it more personal, and enjoy the heck out of it. Just by the fact that you are reading this page, the seed has already been planted in you to be a maker. It doesnt matter if you are sitting in a full-blown workshop with every tool you could dream of owning or you are sitting at your kitchen table with a tube of glue and a planyou are a DIYer. Youll find a chapter in the book that gives you all the information you need on the tools and materials that you will need for these projects as well as the best resources and tips for finding galvanized metal materials, so whatever you want to try, youll be ready. Try one project in this book or try them all. Do it exactly as I did it, or just be inspired by the idea and create your own version.

This book is a tool to help you and inspire you to try some new projects. Once you realize what you are capable of, your whole outlook changes. You will see something you like in the stores and tell yourself you can make it yourself. You will search and search in the stores and not find what you want, so you will make it yourself. An idea will grow in your head; sometimes it will sit for days and sometimes for months. Eventually, through trial and error, you will figure out how the heck to do it and it will be one of your favorite projects ever... until the next one.