![]() Meriden Road in Shawnee County, and Ron paid $100 for the grain bin next to it. Melodie noticed a barn that was being torn down on N.E. With a friend’s help, Ewing constructed a grain bin patio adjacent to the family’s pool before the trend really took off. “I think the patina gives it the rustic look. “We thought about building a gazebo, but this kind of gives you the farm look of being in the country,” said Ewing. It gives them character.”Ĭharacter is what Ron Ewing’s wife, Melodie, was looking for when she saw a photo of a repurposed grain bin five years ago. “They are exactly how they were coming out of the field with rust and all. “(The bins) could have just sit out there in a field and rotted away to nothing,” Gragg said. He has plans to repurpose every part of the grain bin, including the scrap metal that was removed, by building raised garden beds. “When the lights are on, and you’re outside, it’s just absolutely cool,” Gragg said. Lush landscaping and the addition of electric lights complete the aesthetics day or night. With chairs and a fire pit, it is an ideal place to entertain guests. The result is a rustic, open-air sitting area off of the home’s front porch. Capital Ironworks in Topeka created wrought iron features that were added to the grain bin to match similar features on the front of the Graggs’ house, tying the two structures together visually. The structure was moved on telephone poles and then cut to size and shape. Roberts tore down several bins for farmers who wanted them off of their property, and the Graggs purchased one from him. “It took two years to find one,” he said. The Graggs set out to find a grain bin, which Randy said turned out to be the most difficult part of the process. “And then we started seeing pictures on Facebook of grain bin gazebos, bars, some bigger, some smaller.” ![]() “We were down there, and we said, ‘We need to do this,’ ” said Randy Gragg. Randy and Elizabeth Gragg’s neighbor, Gary Roberts, inspired them to build their own grain bin patio after he added one to his yard. Repurposed bins can be found in Shawnee County in the shape of patios, pool pavilions and fire pits. Today, many discarded grain bins are getting a second life in a Pinterest-sweeping trend that blends farmhouse chic with environmental stewardship. Traditionally used by farmers to store dry corn and soybeans, metal grain bins have dotted the Kansas landscape for more than 100 years. As rural infrastructure gives way to suburban sprawl, one casualty is the grain bin. ![]()
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