heavy + light

Day 21:  I've met so many wonderful people while on this mission to educate myself about manhole covers.  I've taken many tangents, surfed through all kinds of sites, and written a lot of emails.  Both of the features today came about because there were generous souls at the other end of the keyboard who responded quickly and kindly and caught the wave of my enthusiasm.  I bet you never thought I'd make it to 21 days, much less 31.  Let me tell you – there is not enough month to get all the content presented.

So today:  heavy + light.

Heavy:  Check out this table!  It came up in a google search as I was curious to know if anyone had used street hardware for furniture. Back in the day, my dad turned a large wooden spool for telephone cable into a table and since then I've always had an appreciation for repurposing.  When I landed on Urban Grain to learn more about the table below, I fell in love with all their products.  Clicking around I learned that Carla Muncaster, the Creative Director, found her way to refinishing and designing furniture while working with a client as an interior design consultant.  She clearly loves what she's doing and it all happened because of her creativity.  When I wrote and asked permission to share this reclaimed manhole cover table, she was quick to respond and even sent photos.  Then she told me about a current project – which sounds divine (red powder coated drainage grids!!).  Be on the look out for her very cool offerings on her sites.  

See Urban Grain for a view of all the custom pieces they have fabricated, and see the ETSY shop for items currently available.  

Located in Manchester, England.  Thank you Carla for allowing me to share these very handsome tables – love the concept, love the pattern, love the crusade to upcycle common goods into home decor.

Light:  The past few weeks I've been prowling around on Pinterest looking at manhole covers, of course.  I know some people do not appreciate "suggested pins" as it feels you're being spied on, but I tend to like them.  Sometimes I find it amusing what shows up in the suggestions, but often I'm really impressed.  That was the case for this next feature.  When I first saw this grid of covers I expected to click through to a blog post about someone's collection of photos.  But what I found was a design for a miniature book!  Through correspondence with Tara Maginnis, who is a costume designer, I learned she made this for her father, a retired telephone lineman. She offers this book as a free printable template and suggested making a pair of them as earrings for the manhole cover enthusiast. All images from WikiSource. 

Click for high resolution file, Free Printable Miniature Books for Dollhouses #31 : Manhole Covers of the World, mini-book by Tara Maginnis.  Sneak preview below.