Hi all! My summer holidays have begun, which means that I will delight you with my articles all summer long! As you know, Citroen AMI 6 arrived at our site!
More precisely, not the car itself, but only its front part in the form of a wall panel:
And I thought: “It would not be bad to write about the car as an element of decor.” It was then that the search for auto-furniture began. You can’t even imagine what I just didn’t stumble upon: a sconce, coffee tables, and even on an office table from a whole car! And now to the point...
Often, car owners who do not want to part with their old or broken cars remake them into a decorative element, or, more simply, into car furniture. There is an entire auto furniture company called Mini Desk, founded by Glynn Jenkins, that makes office desks from a whole Morris Mini 1967:
But personally, I think the Mini Desk is a waste of the great Morris Mini cars. Personally, I prefer this table from the Fiat 500:
And here's the saddest pedestal I've ever seen:
Apparently the owner of this Ferrari loved it so much that he decided to perpetuate the memory of his car in this cabinet.
But with this Icarus, things are a little better:
Soon they will breathe a second life into it and turn it into an individual office!
Another very remarkable line of sconces, floor lamps and tables made of shock absorbers and brake discs of Japanese motorcycles of the 60s and 70s:
And for fans of the Porsche 917, they made a separate chair!
Made from Alfa Romeo and BMW backs, these paired sofas are padded glass tables, the stand for which is the engine (most likely, from the same cars). Perhaps the bumpers of these cars serve as a TV stand:
I think the perfect addition to the couple at the top would be this pool table made out of a Ford Mustang:
The coffee table made from Bugatti radiators is beautiful, but the authenticity of the materials is questioned:
Here are some more examples of car furniture:
Bar stools from crankshafts, tables from motors, ashtrays from gearboxes, sofas from spare parts - this is not a complete list of EngineTable products. Its creator and owner is Anton Batin (19 years old).
Designer furniture "with character" is in demand among wealthy men who are fond of cars: such an acquisition is treated as a luxury item. During the year of operation, the company sold 30 unique items, seven of them were bought for the design of men's hairdressers.
Tables, ashtrays and clocks
Anton assembled his first table from a motor together with a friend in the garage in mid-2014 - for himself, solely for the sake of interest. The table is still in his house. “I didn’t know how to drill or use a grinder,” the young man recalls. “But the idea seemed very interesting to me, and I decided to try it. We got tools from our fathers and every day we came to the garage after school.” He got the idea in the Top Gear studio - the presenters of the popular British TV show dedicated to cars were sitting at a table made of an engine.
In May 2014 the first table was ready. A friend soon lost interest in the idea, and Anton decided to try to profit from his new hobby and continued to make furniture. As a result, in September of the same year, the first table was sold. The buyer turned out to be a Finn who saw Anton's ad on the Internet and was not too lazy to come for a table from Finland.
A popular business training helped put production on stream. “There I believed that everything is possible, became more sociable and realized that success depends on the number of attempts made - it sounds pathetic, but it means a lot to me,” says the young man. During his training, he sold two more tables with motors instead of legs. Tables still bring Anton's main income - up to 70% of the profit. The second most popular product is ashtrays made from gearboxes, the third is wall clocks made from brake discs.
Now the production of a table with assembly takes Anton 5-6 hours, but it happens that one table takes 150 hours. But the profitability of such a business, according to Anton, is more than 60%.
Most often, furniture is made on request, with an eye on a specific buyer. “A girl calls: she wants a gift for her husband - a table from a Nissan GT-R. There are no more than 100 such cars in Russia. So, you have to look for a motor or order it from abroad,” says Anton.
The most expensive order in the history of the company today is a table from a whole Porsche engine (usually EngineTable furniture is made not from a whole mechanism, but from several cylinders).
"The total weight of the table was about 170 kg, the minimum budget was 300 thousand rubles," says the master entrepreneur. The longest time - 2 months - was to make a sofa from Mercedes-Benz W201.
Anton creates his collections, inspired by the creations of the Romanian and English furniture makers, who also experiment with auto parts. He monitors their work via the Internet. The EngineTable workshop is located in the SEC "".
Custom is coming
The company's turnover in the first year of operation amounted to about 2 million rubles, after 2 years, according to the plan, it can reach 40 million a year. Since March 2016, Anton began to cooperate with one of the Porshe salons in St. Petersburg. “There is a workshop at the salon. They give me engines that are becoming unusable, gearboxes and other spare parts. I tell what design items I can make from them, I make and sell them to the salon,” says Anton. The salon then sells furniture to customers on its own. By the way, representatives of the salon contacted Anton through Instagram.
"The most difficult thing in this business is to find the material," Anton admits. "Sometimes very unusual orders come in, for example, furniture made from an aircraft engine." To find and buy an engine from the workshop, Anton always takes a prepayment of 70% from customers.
Anton has no competitors in St. Petersburg, the closest ones are in Moscow: since 2015, the RollingStol project has also been developed by novice businessmen.
The volume of the furniture market in St. Petersburg is estimated at about 30 billion rubles a year. “There are few manufacturers of non-standard furniture in the city, usually they are piece production or design studios,” says Alexander Kanygin, designer and architect, owner of the design studio. “It cannot be said that it is very popular among St. Petersburg residents, but the crisis has not affected the market in any way : such furniture continues to be bought, most often for the home.
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Real car lovers are able not only to improve the driving performance and tuning of their favorite iron horse, but also to find useful application after active use. An example are furnishings: beds, tables, armchairs, sofas, shelves, and even mini-offices. Such products will make the interior bright, stylish, give it a real male character. For example, sofas made from a car will fit perfectly into a modern living room, a teenager's room, an original car cafe, etc.
What can it be made from? Side fenders, bumper will serve as an original furniture frame. In place of the trunk or hood, a small sofa is most often placed. Some craftsmen decorate the frame with working headlights, which turns the product into a real decoration of the room.
As a rule, the entire structure is attached to a specially made metal base. And by installing furniture roller wheels designed for a product with a large weight, you can make your design sofa mobile.
Steps to turn an old car into a new sofa
Making a sofa out of a car is easy. The main thing is to divide the process into several stages:
- Assess the quality of the source material from which you will design the sofa. You will need the front or rear of the car preferably in good condition.
- Then you need to prepare the base of the structure (metal or wooden frame), fasteners, car paint, materials for the sofa itself or preserved car seats and new material to change upholstery. From the tools, prepare a grinder, a set of auto mechanics, a spray gun for applying paint.
- Cut off the front or back with a grinder old car. Release it from mechanical filling.
- Based on the parts used, prepare a metal or wooden frame for the sofa.
- Adjust the shape of the used auto parts so that they fit snugly on the frame.
- Apply a special automotive putty to the parts of the car to even out the deformed places. After the final drying, carefully sand everything. Cover the details with paint.
- Clean and update as much as possible all the elements that will decorate the sofa.
- Modify a used car seat or build a new sofa.
- Cover it with prepared material. You can use leather, artificial leather, special material with the addition of synthetic threads.
- Think over and prepare an original sofa lighting system (headlights, along the bottom or along the perimeter of the product).
- Assemble the metal parts on the frame. Install a soft seat, backrest, sofa railing.
- Take care of the stability of the furniture. If necessary, add additional legs.
Sofa from the old "Moskvich"
The idea to make a cozy retro sofa out of an old car came about after examining and evaluating the few details that survived from the Moskvich. This:
- wings;
- bumper;
- lattice;
- an old sofa from the salon.
You will also need:
- metal rods for the frame;
- fasteners (screws with screws);
- pieces of plywood or chipboard for the side panels of the sofa;
- foam sheet;
- technical fabric;
- decorative fabric;
- needles, threads, sewing machine;
- Bulgarian;
- drill;
- automotive putty;
- grinding machine with nozzles;
- spray;
- paint of two colors;
- 4 metal legs.
Try putting together the source materials to see where to go next.
- First of all, according to the measurements of the available parts, we will build metal carcass. Then you need to try on how to place the details of the future sofa on it. This will help adjust their parameters, slightly change the shape.
- Let's move on to the seat. Free old chairs from damaged layers of upholstery. Adjust the springs a little. Attach a layer of new foam rubber (2-3 cm thick). Cover with technical fabric. Take measurements and sew a new sofa cover.
- In order for the cover to keep its shape well, and decorative inserts did not move, in its manufacture it is necessary to attach the ties to wrong side at fold points and at the ends of trim seams. Putting the cover on the frame, fix its position by stretching them through and tying with reverse side springs to the frame.
- Level the surface of the wings with putty. Sand the product so that its surface becomes even. Apply primer. Paint the wings with the prepared color. It is better to use a combination of colors as close as possible to the original.
To ensure that the product lays down in an even layer, be sure to use a sprayer. Using film and masking tape, cover the already painted part of the wings, then apply the companion color.
An object that has served its purpose sadly wanders to be melted down, recycled or landfilled. But sometimes on this bleak path, full of hopelessness and disappointments, there are masters who are ready to breathe into it new life. In our review on how to create original interior items from old auto parts.
1. Table lamp
A fun combination of urbanism and comfort. I wonder what book is more appropriate to read by this lamp? Apparently, something from the life of machines.
2. Hose shelf
The perfect combination of aesthetic appearance and functionality. Keep garden hose on an old disc is convenient for the owner (the inventory does not take up much space) and useful for the hose (there are no kinks and drying is ensured).
3. Country visor
original version porch solutions. The main thing is not to forget to add a little polyurethane foam under the hood for "silence" in the rain and exclusive design facade provided.
4. Paper holder
This almost office paper holder is a great option for garages, service stations and auto parts companies. Well, if you add the ability to play with size and color car number, then you realize that this is just the perfect design element.
5. Organizer
A special charm and chic to the spring is given by natural corrosion covered with transparent varnish. It is hard not to agree that this piece of furniture, after applying minimal effort, will delight the eye and is easy to use.
6. Bar
The eight-cylinder head of the block of cylinders... Even sounds heavy. A little imagination, diligence and a couple of starting flags. An elegant bar is ready.
7. Garden furniture
Tire recycling and purchase garden furniture. We have a solution to two problems at the same time. A unique opportunity to fight for the environment and save the budget.
8. Wall clock
Gear - brutal, yellow - cheerful, clock - informative, but all together original and fun.
9. Key holder
The former seat belt buckle is back on guard. Now it's a keychain and a place for keys. No chance of falling or getting lost.
10. Table
Just a table is boring. From automotive to mobile, shafts, heads, gears migrated to become elegant and monumental, brutal and graceful tables.
If your own car is in excellent condition, then you really want to be creative, you should go to one of. There you can definitely "profit" with old spare parts.
