Customer Reviews

The Salvage Sisters' Guide to Finding Style in the Street and Inspiration in the Attic

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm the type of person who simply can't resist picking stuff off the street and bringing it home. Once I get it home it sits forever until I figure out what to do with it. Old furniture. Table legs. Headboards. All sorts of random goodies.

This book gave me a clue about what to do (and what not to do) with this "junk". All this random stuff has finally turned into actual projects!

Back to work for me!

If it rings a bell for you... get this book!

Have you never passed a yard sale without stopping? Does your attic bulge with things you might find a use for someday? Are you always looking for new, innovative decorating ideas?

Answer "yes" to any of those questions and the "Salvage Sisters Guide" will kindle a kindred spark. Like a year's subscription to a decorating magazine for yard salers, their colorful, perky and practical book teems with ideas, good and bad.

Some of the good ideas are familiar. A patchwork quilt (or ottoman cover, tablecloth or lampshade-cum-chandelier cover), made out of your family's long-loved old clothes, for instance. Or the ball gown cut down for a table skirt. And I don't know that I've ever seen a cast-iron lobster-shaped cornbread mold used as a doorknocker, but it seems like I should have.

Then there's the bad ideas; who hasn't seen a nifty looking throw tucked neatly over an old chair's fraying upholstery? Looks great, as long as nobody sits on it. Making outfits for the whole family out of a couple of big, ugly curtains makes for a funny picture, but I wouldn't want to try it on my family. And I get the distinct feeling that most of the newsprint ideas - wreaths, mirror-frame covers, urns filled with crinkled balls - look a lot better in the pictures than in real life. As for shell art; it's downright dangerous.

But the twin-bed headboard set over the plain horizontal mirror (or door frame) really does smarten up the piece and the hundred and one uses for an old wine rack (from shoe rack to spa closet) are all inspirational. Plant stands make chair-side serving trays, umbrella stands, and even a whimsical toilet tissue stand.

The toilet tissue stand perfectly expresses the Salvage Sisters' philosophy: "Why tuck toilet tissue behind closed doors when you can make an amusing arrangement of it in plain sight on a plant stand? The best part: There's no risk of unknowingly running out."

A lot of their ideas require no work at all or just a simple lick of pain or spot of glue. But where more is required - such as hanging an old front-door pediment over a set of standard French doors, or making bookcases from discarded drawers or covering a straight-backed chair seat - detailed directions include all materials and tools needed as well as step-by-step instructions suitable for a person with no skills or experience.

Colorful pictures accompany everything and often feature family members, from kids on driftwood swings to husbands in homemade bow ties. Jackie the terrier is a frequent model in his sweater made from an old sleeve, his ball-fringe leash, and his charmingly decorated bedroom with the birdbath-stand night table (the bath basin is on the dining room table).

With words of wisdom like, "Rust is a variation of red; red is always an acceptable color" and "Never worry about how to get it home; just get it," the sisters have a make-do, can-do style that is as useful as it is humorous.

-- Portsmouth Herald

A very disappointing book considering the write-ups in home decor magazines. Out of 50 "original ideas" on how to use common items in uncommon ways, only 2 were worthwhile. An example of one of their ideas was to make paper hats out of newspapers. Better to get the book from the library, definitely not worth purchasing.

I have to admit there are a few nice ideas in this book but there isn't anything you couldn't have found on the internet. I was expecting some blow-by-blow instructions for "repurposing" rummage sale or curb shopping finds. Instead it was more a book on musings about being a trash to treasure kind of gal. I was disappointed and not just because I don't have a penchant for ball fringe either. I recommend that you check this out at your local library before committing to a purchase to see if it is the right T2T type of book for you.

The cover photo shows classy "junk" on the top of the Salvage Sisters' car but when you get inside the book and see the hideous creations made of things like ball fringe.....well, I sent this one back.

I enjoyed this book for an afternoon of nonsense fun!

While I think that most junkers wouldn't go to the extreme that these sisters do, they are a fun loving pair. I enjoyed their off beat ideas.

This is almost a worthless book. Maybe I am just not getting it, but I am very disapointed, and I love revamping junk. Not a good buy.

A review for all serious and dedicated readers of salvage and secondhand goods.

I am glad I did not purchase this book thanks to another's poor review of the book. I borrowed the book from the library. I flicked through it very quickly. I did not want to waste my valuable salvaging time.

I did not receive any inspiration in the text and photographs. I thought the majority of the projects were a bit on the silly side. Very impractical was my husband's comment.

This book is not directed 'in my mind' to the pursuits of the practical and style savvy salvager.

I bought this book for my sister; both of us like to look for and re-use junk. After I received the book and took some time to look through it, I realized that a lot of the book deals with sewing projects, which is not what was suggested by the front cover.

While I wouldn't make most of the projects myself- I just prefer more practical projects, I find the book to be very inspiring in a sense, that you can see things used in very unusual way. One of the ideas I found very useful is to use old drawers as shelves, attached to the wall - I think it is ingenious. Using an oar for the handrail, ripped up strips of silk for the door curtain, ball gown skirt for the round table, outside decoration -writting out LOVE with driftwood - very cute. Not so sure of the book stack for the missing coach leg - is it safe enough? Also a chair lined with fabric flowers- how would they look after couple times of actually sitting on them? Similar idea with flowers inside the coat- wouldn't they make coat bulky and not cleanable, washable?
I would advise to get the book from the library as it is inspiration book, not reference book.