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COUNTRY GARDENS // FA LL 2019
Julie Lindquist had no
need for the two vintage arched windows and
old door leaning against a wall in her favorite
thrift shop, but that didn’t stop her from
snapping them up for hypothetical future
use. Her forward thinking (and just $26) paid
off years later when she decided to add a
garden shed to her property along the shore
of northeastern Wisconsin’s Lake Noquebay.
“Honestly, I simply built around those
old windows,” Julie says. She sketched a
loose plan but remained flexible from there.
Cedar shakes fill in between the thrifted
panes, salvaged corbels support a decorative
overhang, and a stamped-concrete sidewalk
imitates the look of stone pavers leading to
the 10-foot-square structure’s cheery yellow
front door.
“My dad was a good carpenter,” says Julie,
who turned out to be a chip off the old block.
She honed her skills making birdhouses for
crafts shows before segueing to benches and
sheds. Beyond the joy of a new project, she
had fun adding whimsy to her shed with
salvaged and thrifted finds. A repainted old
sewing machine cabinet serves as a side table
1 With the addition of chain
hangers, a chinois (food
strainer) becomes a hanging
planter with excellent
drainage.
2 The smallest of three thrift
store bikes decorating the
property’s gardens, this
turquoise model stretched
Julie’s spending limit at $25.
3 Dropping a leaky enamel
bowl into an old chair frame
turns it into a planter.
4 Salvaged chair parts
cobbled together form a
colorful mini window box.
5 Old horseshoes and bolts
welded together make a
butterfly ornament.
6 A vintage washstand
shows off a mix of pink
blooms and purple foliage
and holds Julie’s rain gauge
in the center.
7 Pretty paint transforms cast-
off gears and faucet knobs
into flowers that never stop
blooming.
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