Before and After: Shutter Door

There's this store near where I live that has a big sign on its roof with the word "CRAP" spelled out in neon letters. Classy, right? I always thought it was pretty funny. One day I decided to venture in there and actually found that they weren't kidding. It's wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling crap. But I also found that some of their crap is pretty cool.

On that first trip I picked up a pair of these shutters. Actually, they're more like saloon doors, but we won't split hairs.



The first shutter I decided to work on got a coat of Krylon's "Pebble" paint, which is a taupey tan. Next it got painted with "Bahama Sea", also by Krylon, then sanded to heck.

Originally I was going to just add a simple wooden knob to one side to make it look more like a window shutter, but I didn't have a screw that was the right length, so I came up with something else.

During a recent thrift store trip I scored a whole bag of silverware for about $7.


And this is actual silverware, not that stainless steel stuff that's everywhere now.

I grabbed one of the pretty, tarnished spoons and began to bend it. I got most of it to bend the way I wanted it to with just my hands, but I had to use a clamp to get the end to be nice and flat. (Let me tell you, my daughter was really impressed with me when I told her I'd bent a spoon all by myself.)

And did you know that you can drill through metal with a regular drill bit?

I just assumed it would take a special kind, but mine went right through it with no trouble at all.

The new, custom handle was then attached to the shutter with tiny screws.

I kind of thought that this would be the final product, but it still seemed to be missing something.

So I cranked out a small burlap wreath and strung it on some wide grosgrain ribbon. I haven't tacked it on yet, but I think this is just the thing it needs for a little more personality.




So now, please tell me what you think.

Is the spoon handle unusual and interesting, or just weird?

I have my own opinion of it, but I'd really love some honest feedback on this.