Sanctuary

Every now and then something disheartening happens and after I pick myself up from the initial disappointment, I can actually start to see new possibilities. Recently we had a strong wind blow through our property. The darling little canvas topped gazebo we purchased the previous summer lifted up from the earth, much like Dorothy’s farm house, flew through the air, and planted itself in the corner of our yard upside down and inside out. After surveying the damage, it was apparent there was no resurrecting the yard fixture. After a couple of days looking at the crumpled remnants of what used to be our cozy little shelter, an idea came to me. Why not use the beautiful (and fortunately in tact) wrought iron corner pieces to create a piece of bedroom furniture I wanted since I was a little girl, a canopy bed!

I gathered up the skeletal remains and carted them upstairs to my bedroom. My husband, in disbelief and knowing my persistence, agreed to help me assemble the four corner pieces and affix them to our bed frame. After a number of (somewhat) reaffirming promises that I wasn’t crazy, my husband removed several of the posts that were remaining from the structure and used them to secure the four corner sections together. I then proceeded to wrap twinkly lights around the top of the newly assembled frame. I cut branches from my sister’s curly willow tree and wrapped them around and around the top of the canopy. I used some really cool wrapped wire that was the same color as the wood so it blends in with the curly willow. Then I made a swag of the curly willow for the head of the bed and clipped some beautiful dried flowers for the centerpiece of the canopy and used my glue gun to make it stick.

Now I have an interesting story to tell when I’m asked about my unique bedroom furniture. Our bedroom overlooks a large expanse of sky and I didn’t want to lose my natural starry headboard. The unfortunate demise of my outdoor shelter allowed me to build an even better shelter, a sanctuary of sorts, where dreams can nest and come to life.

Sanctuary canopy bed

You might not be able to duplicate this exact canopy bed, but if you have some old trellises or disabled outdoor furniture like I did, you can follow some of these basic steps to create your own sanctuary.

Step 1) Assemble the pieces at the four corners of your bed.

Step 2) Attach the pieces to your bed frame. We actually used zip ties to connect the aluminum pieces to the bed frame.

Step 3) Attach the stabilizer bars between the four corners of the structure so that there is some stability in the structure.

Step 4) Grab some of your favorite Christmas lights (I used white non-blinking lights but you could use whatever you love) and wrap the around the structure so that they cover evenly. You will also need an extension cord to plug the lights into your power outlet.

Step 5) Gather some of your favorite tree branches (or you can purchase curly willow or other materials at your local craft store) and twist and turn them around the top of the canopy.

Step 6) Finish the canopy design with a head piece like large flowers, hearts, or whatever you choose. Use your creativity to come up with your own unique and lovely finished sanctuary.

Happy Upcycling!

NOTE: This post was first published on upcycld.com on March 29, 2013.