A garden gate with found objects.....

Original gates

     A while back (a couple years) I found two large piece of handmade wrought iron in an antique shop. They looked like they used to be two gates and the dealer said he'd made them for his home, but his wife hadn't wanted to use them. At $30 a piece I saw their architectural value and thought they'd add visual interest in our garden. They've spent the past two years leaning against our fence.

$20 arbor

     When we began our backyard makeover I wanted to make sure we used materials we had on hand before purchasing anything new. This would not only serve to save us money, but to also look for uses for items we'd already purchased that sat forgotten. Our two gates immediately came to mind. In addition I had purchased a wrought iron arbor on Craiglist for $20 three years ago that sat against my studio, also unused. I wanted to find a home for these piece in our new garden.

Gate framed out

     Thus, the challenge began. How could I incorporate three mismatched pieces of wrought iron into our new garden? I knew we wanted an arbor with gates on either side but by themselves these three pieces had little chance of uniting. I drew out a plan to frame the wrought iron gates in wood giving them both legs for support and also tying them in with our raised wood beds and wood fence. This is the beginning. Tomorrow we assemble the pieces and see if we created something wonderful. I leave you with the before and after photos.