The Story of My Vintage Garden Gate
Sometimes junk makes the best art. See how I rescued this vintage garden gate and used it as screened in porch decor. Free is always good!
*This post was originally published in June of 2014, and updated in 2020.
Collect things you love,
that are authentic to you,
and your house becomes your story.
~Erin Flett
As promised in my last post where I showed you my summer porch decor, I’m back to tell the story of how I came to own this vintage garden gate. Before I start, I want to thank each and everyone of you who left a comment on that post. I was actually quite overwhelmed, and so touched. How I got such amazing friends I will never know, but I am incredibly thankful.
On with my story. Most of you have met my daughter, Elizabeth. Here we are on Mother’s Day, in 2018.
Back in 2011, all on her own, Elizabeth bought a little brick bungalow. I did some posts when my blog was very new (lots of bad pics) featuring her house and some of the projects we completed. Projects are always going on, and recently we began working on her back yard. Running along one side of her property is a wire fence. There is no way of knowing how old it is, but I would venture to say it was installed when the house was built in 1954. Attached to this fence was a rusted, ancient, vintage garden gate.
There were still traces of green paint and the original latch hook was miraculously still there as well. I asked her, half kidding, if I could have the gate. She looked at me as though I had two heads…but said “OK, if you really want it.” We tried to get it off the post (pictured below) but it wouldn’t budge.
We gave up and I forgot about it. The next day as I was packing the car to come home, she came around the back of the house with her boyfriend, carrying the gate. She had asked him to help get it off the post so I could have it. I think her boyfriend thought I was nuts, and rightfully so…but the fact that she went to the trouble to find a way to get the gate off the post meant the world to me. So home with me it came, and it didn’t take long to decide where it would go. The obvious place, in my opinion, was our screened in back porch.
I hosed it off and sprayed it with a coat of clear matte poly. I already had nails in the wall, so I attached some wire to the gate and hung it up.
It looks right at home. It’s almost exactly the same width as my Grandmother’s chest. (Which incidentally lived on her back porch too.) I love that the gate has a story…and that it came from a place near to my heart. Elizabeth probably won’t live in her little house forever, but even if she moves, I will always have a little piece of it…and someday if she wants it back, it’s here for the taking.
*Update June 2020: Elizabeth sold her little bungalow, and along with her boyfriend, built a brand new home. She misses her old house, but is very happy, and is busy fixing up the new one!
Thanks for listening to my story…and for visiting.
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