The other day we stumbled on some oddly wonderful, sculptural bookshelves made of black pipe. They’re for sale at DirtyBils shop on Etsy for $79, a fine deal, we’d say. But as we looked closely at the pictures (below) we couldn’t help thinking “Why not monkey around with this great idea”, and started searching for resources.
We not only found a source for gorgeous black pipes and fittings...
…(looking closely, you get the gist of how they work)…
…we found OTHER BIG IDEAS for using pipe as furniture, like this lovely, moderne shelving that the folks at The Brick House figured out after they admired the idea at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs…
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The Brick House gives rough notes on how to put the bookshelves together. You’ll also find detailed plans at ReadyMade.
Using this info, you could make bookshelves, or other pipe constructions…
…a bed perhaps…
…or even this:
I know, I love the work of DirtyBils, so creative, so simple [which is usually the recipe for great design, isn’t it?]. I think it would be a shame to just copy him though and not get one of his pieces instead… I mean you can always splash some paint stains on a white canvas, you still wouldn’t call yourself Jackson Pollock… 😛 Cheers-
Hi FrenchbyDesign, So nice to hear from you. We really love your blog.
We agree that DirtyBils shelves are pretty perfect as is and well worth buying; we couldn’t help thinking about the possibilities for pipe shelving and furniture, and then wondered how to do it… and who knows where that knowledge will end up, down the line…
I imagine that the reason one would just do it at home instead of buying is that it’s likely cheaper and easily customizable. I don’t think that we’re looking for originality per se, but a wonderful merging of form and functionality that takes its inspiration from the industrial revolution: an era of mass production and glorification of the generic. This is more a how-to for replicating an atmosphere.
that was in response to frenchbydesign, whose comment was both interesting and wonderfully snooty.
I’d like to know what I need to make a shelf on a cement wall
Try googling/searching “bookshelves on a cement wall”. There are lots of instructions.