It’s been a while, but I thought after at least one day of nice Spring weather last weekend, it is time for a Spring themed Sentimental Salvage!

Last summer, my husband Adam and I were doing up the garden at our fixer-upper cottage in Columbia County (and until recently, our full-time home.)  We hired a very helpful young landscaper to give us pointers on the best plants to suit our needs, and to help us give our five-by-five-foot dirt patch a sense of design.  The landscaper, Adam and I were all in agreement that the garden needed a central focal point.  Adam loves water fixtures, as do I, so a fountain soon became our first choice.  We went to the Home Depot, and while they had some nice ones, we wanted to find something more original.  Adam was on the hunt for a massive structure (like a stone head!) and I wanted something a bit more delicate and traditional.  Our next stop was an Asian import shop that we’d frequented in the past.  They have beautiful things, although, unfortunately, most of it is out of our price range.  We strolled around the backyard showroom, finding some almost-matches, but nothing that we could afford.  And then I saw it – a blue and white porcelain stump-thingy lying on its side beside the dumpster.  I went over to inspect and realized that this was the base to an outdoor table.  It had a piece broken at the bottom, but the piece was in tact enough to be Krazy Glued back on.  I asked the shop owner how much and he said $25.  Now that was more like it!  Another trip to Home Depot and we had an inexpensive water fixture that our electrician could install at the top of our makeshift fountain.  He spent less than an hour drilling a small hole through the porcelain and running a cable into our house, where we could plug the fountain in.  Voila, we had our garden centerpiece for under $50!  Adam hemmed and hawed a bit about not getting his big stone head, but our little porcelain fountain has since grown on him tremendously!

Submitted by Cammie and Adam Black, soon to be my Brooklyn neighbors!

A Sentimental Salvage is the story behind that truly special, one-of-a-kind piece in your home. It may be furniture that’s been in your family for years or an accessory you delighted in finding yesterday. However long it’s been in your life, this piece of your home holds special meaning and sentimental value. Email salvagedgrace@gmail.com if you’ve got a Sentimental Salvage of your own to share.