Old stuff gets a new purpose Show includes speakers on home improvement, gardening

Sometimes, the newest trends derive from the oldest ideas and, sometimes, from old furniture.
Visitors to the Tacoma Home & Garden Show, which opens today, can see how designers have repurposed used furniture and construction materials into chic cabinets and appliance coverings in a display by the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association.
In the "Old Meets New" model kitchen, a worn table is retrofitted into a sink top. A top-of-the-line refrigerator is disguised in furniture-like pieces to resemble a hutch.
They're design options for homeowners "looking for something that makes their room interesting and different, and not just filling the wall with cabinets. ... They also want it to be functional at the same time,"said Shiela Off, a certified master kitchen and bath designer from Signature Woodworks in Gig Harbor and Tacoma.
Yet the "old" pieces in the display coordinate with traditional French white cabinetry and quartz countertops. A slate-stained island, topped in granite, with a raised walnut breakfast bar, provides more counterspace and elegance.
"The trend is to mix different materials," said Off, chairwoman of the kitchen and bath association showcase. "When you put it all together, it blends, and the colors complement one another."
The Puget Sound bath and kitchen group is among hundreds of home and garden exhibitors expected to fill two main areas in the Tacoma Dome today through Sunday.
The show includes display gardens, demonstrations, product sales and how-to seminars. Among the highlights:
--The American Cancer Society Garden Center incorporates five pocket gardens spotlighting the different colors of cancer awareness, each represented by flowers.
--Bob King, world champion chain-saw carver, transforms a small log into wildlife art during each of his demonstrations.
--The Windmill Gardens Plant & Pottery Event features thousands of plants and wares for sale. Each day, the first 150 home and garden show attendees will get a $20 gift card to the Sumner garden shop.
--Adair Homes is building an energy-efficient cottage home at the show and will give it away to a showgoer.
--Olympic Landscape presents an Asian-influenced "Harmony" garden with an arched bridge over a stream.
The "Old Meets New" kitchen is just one section of the kitchen and bath association's showcase. The display also features a master suite bathroom and an outdoor kitchen outfitted in stainless steel cabinets and appliances.
The contemporary bathroom includes a couple of must-see features: A pedestal tub that's evolved from the old-fashioned clawfoot-style freestanding tub into a sleek design whose entire base rests on the floor. A square, one-piece vitreous china double sink and counter top an espresso-colored vanity, accented with brushed nickel faucets.