BUILD IT
Curio Case
Build a glass table that will turn knickknacks into
exotic relics. BY MATT MARANIAN

Photography by Matt Maranian

I’ve always been a sucker for those big ol’ dusty glass cases found in natural history museums or underfunded historical attractions. It never really matters what these cases actually house: a taxidermied armadillo, Abe Lincoln’s top hat, the world’s longest tapeworm — put almost anything in a case behind glass and it suddenly seems valuable and exotic.

To make a dusty glass case of your own that serves double duty as an intriguing side table, start with a scavenged window and some furniture legs salvaged from a thrift-shop castoff. A few dollars’ worth of cheap building materials and a little paint will finish the job. Suddenly your own collection of worthless relics will have museum-quality legitimacy.