When shopping around for things to furnish your home, one doesn't often think about making a visit to the local Farm/Tractor store. As visions of plaid and John Deere Green dance in your head, click through to check out things that could make their way into your cart and then into your home.
We found several things that could be put to use in a home without having your neighbors think you chew on straw in your spare time. Check them out below.
We think these metal hooks could have an array of uses. Be them metal or dipped in plastic-coat, they could be coat racks, used to hang large artwork, towel holders or use two and put a skinny board across them and viola... you have a shelf.
Everyone loves casters on furniture. Typically they are something that means your piece of furniture will be a bit more expensive. Buy them from the farm store and attach them to the bottom of whatever you wish (cat excluded), ottomans, tables, dressers (you know the one with the wobbly leg, just chop them all off!), computer stands, deck furniture, plant stands... you get the idea.
Mechanic's tall tool chests are something that have a very specific function... to hold skinny things. You can sub out your typical wrench or hammer for kitchen utensils, your Ginsu knives or placemats. What about in your craft/art room for paint brushes and gouache? Scrapbooking paper, rulers and x-actos would all feel right at home.
Maybe tall isn't your bag when it comes to tool storage. What about a low and long storage? Add some coasters and you could slide it under a work bench in a studio space, make it an entertainment center to hold your remotes and magazines, or even use it as a room divider. Watch for them to go on sale around Fathers Day and Major Holidays that involve lots of manly grunting.
We really loved the look of the pulleys when we walked down the aisle. Our knee jerk reaction was to just hang them on the wall or set them on a table to look cool. But they could also serve a functional purpose. Maybe it's over your kitchen sink being used as an actual pulley system to raise and lower your fruit basket? Hopping over (not literally, you might hurt yourself) to the craft room, you could load them up with your favorite ribbons or antique trims that you might have on hand. Or in the kitchen to hold twine where it's handy?
You don't need us to tell you what to put in small buckets. They would be the easiest to integrate into your design ideas, holding things like children's toys, dog toys (hopefully they aren't the same thing), blankets, newspapers or napkins. Just peel the manufacturer's label off and you are set.
We found this small can (about the size of a bushel basket) over in the trash can aisle. It could be used on a deck to hold bird seed or on your laundry room shelving to hold clothes. We even think that with some patience you could use a skill saw and cut a plywood seat (upholster at will) to sit upon it. Keep them on your patio for extra seating and storage for your new pink hose.
Trash cans are great things to have around to hold large items like children's playground balls, or your husbands collection of vintage baseball equipment, that you can't quite figure out how to present. They are also great places for worm composting, if you are down with the crawlies under your sink. Or in this case maybe even out in the open.
There are all kinds of precut metal sheeting at the farm store. Most of them used for patching trailers or lining tool boxes, but why not sand the edges and make them into a placemat? Or better yet tile a backsplash with them.
A trip to the farm store isn't complete without something totally absurd catching your eye. In this case it was the plastic animal trailer hitch covers. Which although they serve a purpose, does such a thing REALLY have to be the head of a Mallard?
So next time you laugh at the overly large gas-sucking diesel as it pulls into the farm store, follow suit and find a parking spot. You are sure to find something that sparks your imagination.
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
I appreciate the point of this post, and I have gone into our local Tractor Supply and enjoyed it many times. But please don't make fun of farmers when you're not even bothering to write (or spell) standard English.
view Joan A.'s profile
This home has more than one industrial element, mixed in with hand painted doors by local artists.
http://www.tdouglasarchitects.com/03live03_home03/index.html
3rd picture in
view greenlight's profile
I totally agree with this post! Just this past weekend I was at a hardware store and some washers caught my eye. I thought...pendant.... necklace...voila! My date drilled a hole in one for me and I made into a fabulous necklace! : ) I love the storage units idea. Very cool!
view Mina180's profile
Small world.. I'm currently building a tractor with parts I've picked up at the local furniture store.
view superflyguy's profile
superflyguy - Hah. Touché.
view Joan A.'s profile
I have a stainless tool chest built into my powder room to hold all my make-up & accessories - it works really well!
view Tobermory's profile
Laugh all you want but whenever my mom comes to seattle to vist me hipsters compliment her tractor supply outfits... she buys clothes there ya'll!
Cute little rockabilly snap fronts and dark wash jeans.
view DahliaCactus's profile
No thanks. Back in high school I worked in a farm supply store and I still have nightmares about it. I can't even stand the smell of those places!
view jooly's profile
I like checking out different stores. Sometimes I find solutions for problems...like I have one of those folding grocery carts that had the front wheels give out. I couldn't find replacements for folding grocery carts...so I checked out Home Depot and got casters that I used just the wheels from. Worked fine, until the rest of the cart gave out. I'm on my third cart now. I walk to and from the store and those sad wheels are not really made for that kind of walking.
And take a look here:
http://yarboroughjewelry.com/
Click on Collections
go to Fall/Winter 2007
Odds and ends, baubles and petite tassels...And what do you find in section two? Yes, those do appear to be leather buttons, set in silver. Rings and pendants.
And in section three, knit bracelets.
So much of that is right from the sewing store. Buttons and tassels and yarn.
It's not what it is, or where it comes from, it's what you can use it for.
More buttons...
Do an image search at Google for:
button bracelets
Here's one result:
white button bracelet
9 white buttons on precious white metal chain £220:
http://www.paul.uk.net/grainnemorton/white_button_bracelet.htm
And another:
http://www.susannascraftgallery.co.uk/gallery.html
And another:
http://www.onujewelry.com/VintGlassButtBr.htm
Button bracelets and necklaces:
http://reedesign.com.au/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8_39_41
Who remembers macrame?
http://www.allaboutjewellerymaking.info/category/jewellery-making-blog/bracelets/
Crochet button necklaces:
http://world.std.com/~kcl/cbutton.html
Bracelet in yellow:
http://www.mumblepeg.com/shop/products/bracelets/yellow_button_bracelet.html
And another not shown on their website:
http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/sf_stuff/vendors2007/Mumblepeg.jpg
Stacked buttons:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trailerfullofpix/764660790/
I bet everyone has some loose buttons around the house. And if you thoroughly thrash an item that has buttons, no need to throw out the buttons if they aren't damaged.
Also, if you're looking for buttons, you've probably noticed they aren't that cheap. They can get expensive at the sewing notions stores. So check out the thrift stores! The shirt or dress or skirt or blouse might be the most hideous thing you've ever seen, but the buttons may well be spectacular!
view TRUE BLUE's profile
I liked the dessert rings better on that yarborough site. Lots of good additional suggestions as always.
It's cool to suggest looking at other stores than you might tend to. A lot of "solutions" given here on this site are found browsing at the office supply stores. If you just go to Home Depot or Lowe's, you're missing some items commonly used by folks in industries other than building that can be envisioned. This, not just farm 'n' feed suppliers, but anything is worth checking out. I recall someone at a flea market selling what looked like dentistry tools but which caught my father's attention as he could use them for model-building. If you are into one type of craft (or even medical art), let's suppose knitting or popsicle sticks. Stores or departments devoted to these specific crafts will have the materials necessary and most used, but exploring outside those narrow limitations, one might find accessory items that are useful and materials you could use but aren't found where everyone else is looking. The different techniques or materials are not always fantastic in result, but you're not making anything "WOW" to the rest of the world by following directions and keeping your browsing to your craft's section of the store.
The key to innovation is to apply something different than everyone else has already used a million times to a common need. This is the success of restaurant suppliers, in fact. Back when everyone else was shopping for ordinary supplies at Sears, Kmart and wherever you might find dishes and pans, someone went a little loco and let the rest of the world know the secret to getting all the cool stuff real chefs use is ... alternate suppliers. It's a general rule.
view K T G's profile
Oh, AT....viola? Really?
view theseboots's profile
Have some tolerance for the irony of intentional colloquial mangling please. I can't believe that word ruined the whole article for you.
view K T G's profile
If I had thought it was intentional, it wouldn't have annoyed me. But given all the other mangling, it's suspect.
view Joan A.'s profile
TRUE BLUE - I don't know who you are but every time I see a post that's full of great info I make a bet with myself that it's your post and I'm usually right. You have the best posts!
view anne's profile
I used to incorporate buttons into many of my designs and now have millions of buttons left over. Thanks to TRUE BLUE I now know what to do with them.
view anne's profile