Upcyling a 100 year old Treasure

My boyfriend works for his family's construction company and often comes home with a lot of cool scraps and treasures from the homes they work on. We're both a big fan of upcycling so those scraps usually always get reinvented into something new. To us, upcycling not only supports sustainability, but it often yields a lot of cool rustic looking home decor pieces.

We love going into cool furniture stores like Pier 1 and Pottery Barn but are usually always appalled by the high prices. While we love the style of furniture they have, we like trying to recreate them for a fraction of the price. The best part? While most of their furniture has been painted to look older, we find the true joy is in the treasure hunt for really unique older pieces that actually show true signs of wear and tear. Enter the 100 year old windows.

After a long day of renovation on a local home, my boyfriend and his brother came home with twenty run-down windows. I assumed they were just scraps headed to the dump but was pleasantly shocked to find out that they were in fact 100 year-old windows torn down from a old house in Alameda, Ca. The paint was visibly chipping on every window and every imperfection just added to the true value of these windows.

We decided to add a sheet of burlap on top of a square piece of cork board. We secured it onto the back of the window and created an upcycled picture frame/cork board.

The best thing about burlap? 

All it takes is a simple black Sharpie and it gives it a burnt or branded look.

This picture frame is cool because of its cork board backing. Now you can easily change and mix your photos without going through the hassle of sizing or measuring. We sealed the wood frame to ensure that the chipping paint would stay in place and to preserve the rustic look. The possibilities are endless so think twice before throwing out old junk!