Flea Market Find, Rusty Hinges

When you go to a flea market always stop to check the bins of rusty junk. That’s where you find the good stuff. And by good stuff I mean hinges. Great big beautiful rusty, barely working, squeaky hinges.

A flea market is where I found this pair of old strap hinges last month. I believe they were just a couple dollars for the pair.

If you were thinking a couple of dollars for a pair of rusty hinges is a lot, check out these sold listings on Ebay. Hinges can add that perfect rusty touch to just about any project.

I’ll save just about any type of hinge I come across cause you just never know when you’ll find the most perfect use. While the rusty ones have so much character, the hinges you pull off of your doors or your shutters or your cabinets can also be reused. They all go in my great big beautiful stash.

I’m going to go back into my projects and show you just how you can incorporate hinges into your own DIY endeavours . Starting out with this rusty junk hinge angel. The hinge I’ve used for the wings is exactly like the ones I just picked up from the flea market.

Rustic Pallet Wood Heart

This Pallet wood heart has a small rusty hinge and grandmas love letter to make it one of a kind. This hinge doesn’t even have to work, it’s just screwed in to add a little bit of rust.

A Reproduction Frank’s Crab House Sign has a couple of hinges screwed to the top to almost look like it could have been attached to a building somewhere. The original Frank’s Crab House sign is in Second Chance in Baltimore behind the check out counter.

If you ever are in Baltimore, make sure you stop by Second Chance, it’s an absolute fabulous place for architectural salvage. They have loads of flooring, furniture, artwork, old wood, windows, doors…it’s a 200,000 square foot warehouse, yes, they have a lot.

This is a Pirate Chest I created for my grandson’s pirate birthday party. These hinges didn’t even match but I don’t think real pirates would be concerned about such things. 😀

Of course the hinges would have rusted from all the salt water.

I was just going to show you the back of the treasure chest to highlight the use of hinges, but for this project you really need to see the front for the full effect.

These T hinges don’t really serve any purpose on this DIY Barn Door Coffee Table other than to add some rusty bling.

Some people like gold bling, I like rust.

A Breaker Box Panel Cover also uses reclaimed hinges. This time I’ve paired them with a few vintage interior shutters. Breaker boxes are ugly, cover them up.

This deer with pitchfork antlers is not my creation but one I found on my travels. Because he has a great T hinge nose, he definitely belongs in my list of hinge projects.

This dartboard cabinet with newer door hinges was created by my son for a dartboard he purchased at a flea market. While the hinges are reused they are not old.

This spoon junk angel uses a couple of old square hinges allowing the wings to move if desired. Click on the link to find out how to make her.

A Hand Cart Coffee Table with Reclaimed Window also uses hinges and a handle from my stash of old junk.

A repurposed Kitchen Cabinet is now a side table . Reclaimed hinges allow access to plenty of storage.

This old butter churn is now a coffee table with a hinged top for storage.

This piece started out as a triple mirror with hinged side mirrors. I replaced the original side mirrors with shutters and reused the piano hinges it came with to make this beautiful mirror.

This wall cabinet used four more salvaged hinges to hold these old windows onto the cabinet.

A pair of these beautiful old peeling painted hinges hold a shutter onto…

…this, made from scratch cabinet from 2016. T hinges would also look fantastic.

This cabinet was also made from scratch and is still one of my favorite projects because I still use it every day. It holds all my paints, stains, waxes, varnishes and so much more. Four T hinges keep the doors swinging.

My vegetable garden uses a couple of rusty old T strap hinges to hold the DIY door onto pallet walls.

More hinges hold this vintage window adorned with Chinese characters on this jewelry cabinet.

When my son gave me a bunch of Fruit Crates, I added additional wood, a nice graphic and a lid to make a cute Blue Crab Bay Co, hinged storage box.

A built in eye chart ironing board cabinet uses reclaimed modern door hinges and a whole bunch of pallet wood and plywood.

This sticks and pallet wood heart uses a hinge and lock to open a little box within the heart.

The last 2 were from a Christmas bazaar I went to in 2017. Notice the hinges on the top and sides of the signs. The perfect vintage touch to make that newly painted sign look old.

I actually recreated the Sleigh Ride sign for someone who read that post in 2017 and asked if I could make one for them, and it too came complete with old rusty hinges.

Along with the two hinges I just purchased, I have quite a few more hinges in my stash just waiting for the right project to come along and add that perfect rusty, rustic touch. Yes, I admit, I just might be a hinge hoarder, but you never know when you’ll need one.

At your next flea market, make sure you check out those bins of rusty tools and parts.

As always, stay inspired.