Ladders are not just for climbing

Dear Sandi: I recently bought a really interesting old ladder at a garage sale. I’d love some ideas on how I could use it in my house. Thanks for anything you can suggest. —Margaret V. Salem

Hi Margaret: Sounds like you stumbled onto a treasure. I love old ladders because there really are quite a few things you can do with them, depending on where you want to use it and what size it is. Of course the condition of the ladder also will determine its use.

Bathroom

The first and most obvious thing that comes to mind is a towel rack for your bathroom. This could be either hanging or standing.

If you have the room, one or more interesting ladders leaning against the wall and holding a selection of guest towels can really be a fun way to display some of your favorite linens. If you don’t have the floor room to accommodate this, consider hanging the ladder from the ceiling, anchoring into something solid. If the towels are going to be used, hang the ladder at a convenient “grabbing” height, but if they are strictly decorative, hang the ladder much closer to the ceiling.

Whether you're looking for handmade paper, furniture, fabric or accessories, you will find it at loose ends. If it is unusual, organic and fabulous, then loose ends is the place. Showroom hours are 8 am to 5 pm weekdays and the first Saturday of each month 10 am - 3pm at 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, or visit us online at www.looseends.com Questions? Give us a call at (503) 390-2348.

In the kitchen

Kitchens are another great place for using old ladders. We designed a Tuscan-inspired kitchen a few years ago and used a rustic wooden ladder as our hanging pot rack.

Just be sure that the ladder is sturdy and solid, since it will be supporting a fair amount of weight, especially if the pots and pans are ones you take on and off quite a bit. This is a great way to add some flavorful ambiance to your kitchen. Artificial grape vine, complete with grapes, and maybe a hanging faux onion or garlic braid complete the look.

Family room

If you would like to use the ladder in the family room, it could serve as a row of ready-made picture frames. Have a piece of glass cut to fit the backside of the ladder, and sandwich photos or artwork between the glass and a thin piece of veneer or art board. Hang vertically or horizontally.

Also, think about how you could use your ladder as shelving. There are a variety of ways to do this, including attaching a flat surface to each of the rungs, wide enough to make a small shelf. Let the ladder lean against the wall at an angle that allows the shelves to sit level. Because the foot of the ladder probably will be quite a few inches away from the wall, you will want to be sure that it is not in a heavy traffic area where it would be easy for someone to bump or trip over it. Anchor the top of the ladder into the wall for additional stability.

If standing shelves aren’t a good option, then perhaps a hanging one is. This is the same application as using the ladder as a hanging rack, only you would add a solid surface, glass, wood, etc. to serve as the shelf.

The garden

If your ladder is not in the best of shape and is not really suitable for using indoors, put it in the garden.

If it is in really bad shape and you don’t mind if it continues to deteriorate, use it to form mini-raised beds for either small herbs or low growing annuals. Lay it down flat on the ground, add enough good soil to create small, individual raised beds in each of the spaces between the ladder rungs and add your plant material. Because you are only going to have a few inches of difference between your ground level and your raised bed, you will want to limit your plant selection to small-leafed and low-rowing varieties. Otherwise, your plants will soon obliterate your ladder. Depending on the condition of the ladder, you should be able to get a few seasons of use out of it before it completely goes back to nature.

Sandi Reinke is an author, frequent television guest and lead designer for loose ends (www.loosends.com), a Salem-based interior décor, garden, and casual lifestyle company. To ask Reinke a decorating question, e-mail info@looseends.com or mail her at the showroom address, 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, OR 97302. Phone: 503-390-2348.

If you like the idea of using the ladder outdoors but want to keep it around a while, use it in an upright manner, either leaning against a garden wall or propped up with other poles.

Ladders can make great trellises for all kinds of climbing vines to grow on. If your taste runs to pretty things such as sweet peas, morning glories or trailing nasturtiums, then you won’t need much additional support, but if you are going to let something such as cucumbers or squash use it, then you will definitely want to be sure that there is some strong side support for the ladder.

Hope this gives you some ideas, Margaret. Depending on your home, its decor and your own requirements, there are lots of interesting ways to integrate your find. July 15, 2005