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Victorian-era metal hinges cost between $15 and $30 each, depending on size and decoration. Individual salvaged shutters start at about $25
Difficulty: Easy
Assembling the screen is simple, but be prepared to get grimy while rooting around the salvage yard for matching hinges
The hardware bins at Olde Good Things in New York City overflow with cool, but very dirty, door hinges in different styles. The challenge for me was in unearthing four that were the same size and style. I wanted to use them to link together three vintage wooden shutters to make a folding screen for my bedroom. After more than an hour of digging, as well as searching for something to wipe my hands on (tip: never wear white jeans to a salvage yard), I finally settled on a matched lot of 3-by-31⁄2-inch steel hinges with curlicue designs and steeple tips. Making the screen was the easy part—to show off my finds, I simply screwed the hinges to the face of the shutters, rather than mortising them.
