For the right type of space, these old industrial pipes, repurposed by Stella Bleu Designs into shelves, coat racks, pot racks, and lighting fixtures, are versatile and stylish enough to make you want to keep all your storage out in plain sight.
Stella Bleu designer Katie Katzenmeyer refashions heavy iron piping into an array of configurations for everything from a tight corner to a full wall. These edgy designs are at once modern yet historical-looking, like a renovated loft building. Stack your books in fresh and fun arrangements, or go beyond the boring metal garment rack to display all your clothing.
Stella Bleu (named after Katzenmeyer's daughter) also makes multipurpose fixtures with lightbulbs and lamp shades attached, turning simple shelves into sconces and floor lamps.
For an even more industrial look, the whitewash technique (available as a custom order) gives a distressed and aged appearance to the piping — so it looks like you found "oh, that old thing?" at a fab flea market.
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(Images: Stella Bleu Designs)
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I love the thought behind these and have always wanted to do something like it. I'm glad someone has, but I'm not sure I could live with it...only because it would look cluttered once I filled it with all the stuff that justifies the space it consumes. And then the beauty of them would be covered. *sigh*
I find it impossible to comprehend why someone would buy pipe fitting shelves online and pay to have them shipped, rather than going to the hardware store. It seems anyone with a brain would look at a picture and think "hey thanks for the free plans."
Thank you for letting us know about this store!
looks cool, but i would be annoyed by all the dents in the bottoms of my books where they rested on the pipe.
I find it impossible to comprehend why someone would buy pipe fitting shelves online and pay to have them shipped, rather than going to the hardware store. It seems anyone with a brain would look at a picture and think "hey thanks for the free plans."
POSTED BY DEWEYDEFEATSTRUMAN96 ON 01.17.12 AT 05:29PM
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Dewey,
Obviously everyone places a different value on their time than yourself . The fact of the matter is that not everyone has the spare time to source recycled materials (NOT imported baloney from the local hardware store), design and create these shelves. The amount of effort required to truly replicate the process of SBD surely would seem wasteful comparing it to the worry-free alternative of buy, install and enjoy. This all depends on skill, occupation and willingness to get your hands dirty.