Unfamiliar locales introduce us to novelty and activate new associations and connections that keep our brains healthy. In the case of our visit to San Antonio’s Hotel Emma, travel to this repurposed structure stimulated creative ideas for DIY projects. In the process of photographing the hotel for an architecture blog, we were reminded of items we’d long ago stashed in our garage that could be repurposed as furniture for our home. This is how a porthole we salvaged from the Port of Brownsville forty-five years ago became a table for our kitchen.

On a trip to Padre Island forty-five years ago, we visited the Port of Brownsville ship channel, one of the busiest and most successful salvage sites in the United States. The recycling of ship parts makes a significant environmental impact, as fewer resources are required to manufacture products from metal scrap as compared to metal ore. Additionally, recycling steel scrap from end-of-life ships reduces air and water pollution and water consumption. These recycling locations often sell off the reclaimed items from the ships to the public. We acquired some vintage flags, maps, a brass propeller, and brass porthole.

We hung the flags in our son’s room and framed the maps, but didn’t have a plan for the immense brass porthole that “spoke” to us. Something about it said, “please take me home, you won’t regret it.” Our recent trip to Hotel Emma stimulated the thought that after four decades the porthole cover could be a table, if we could figure out how to create legs for it. Turnbuckles proved to be a solution. That porthole now holds our cocktails in the kitchen while we make dinner.

The process of repurposing found objects is a sustainable practice that enriches us and our environment. It takes the embodied energy of the original, from the extraction of raw materials, through manufacturing, transportation, and construction, to its eventual recycling. Dig out the found objects you have stored away for a future do-it-yourself project. It’s an act of sustainable living.

See blog on Hotel Emma: https://chambersarchitects.com/blog/hotel-emma-san-antonio-texas/