That Trash Could Be Treasure!
May 4, 2012 in Building and Repurposing
This is definitely not my typical post, but I have to ask you a question.
Why do people throw away things that could EASILY be repurposed?
Seriously! I wouldn’t exactly call myself Captain Planet, but I can’t help but shake my head at some of the things people just toss in the trash. Furniture especially! If you don’t want it – someone else might.
Yesterday I made a run to Lowes on my lunch break. (Side note – if you follow on Facebook, you know I was stressing about wearing a dress. Ack.) On my way back to the office, I wound up behind a trash truck with a loaded dumpster. What did I spy in the trash??
A dresser sans drawers and what appears to be a chest! Now I know… some people don’t want a dresser without drawers, but for all we know, the drawers could have been in that dresser too! Blog-ville is JAM-PACKED with awesome dresser makeovers with pieces just like this. Sometimes they remove the drawers and add baskets. Helloooooo genius!
Here’s a closer look at the loot:
Be honest though – am I crazy for contemplating telling that driver to pull over? For wanting to climb up in there and dig out the chest with the scrolly legs? Is it strange that I sat at the stoplight staring at the big dresser thinking about how easy it would be to turn it into a great TV stand with basket storage and shelves for DVR and DVD players? Sigh…… they don’t look like trash to me!
Just in case you haven’t stumbled upon the awesomeness, I wanted to share one of my favorite blogs for all-things repurposed – Roadkill Rescue! Beckie runs the show and has created such an awesome collection of projects for you to get lost in. Stop by and wander around. You’ll love it! I totally drooled over this dog bed… I know, I know, how many beds does Roxy really need!
I’m a sucker for a good before and after, and you can’t get much better than a good curbside-makeover! Last year I made over a trash-pile coffee table and am STILL loving it. So much so, that my “nice” coffee table is collecting dust in the basement.
…and I know my sister Karen is scolding me in her head right now, convinced I took these photos while going down the road. Karen – I’d like to point out the traffic light pole pictured in the first photo. I was NOT in a moving vehicle when I snapped these photos. We were stopped at the light and I took the opportunity to creep up closer. So there!
I would have felt the same way!
Pull over, trash guy!!!
I’m right there with you! I have rescued more than one curbside find. If a piece is structurally sound, I’m willing to work with it.
Atta girl Erica! Plus it’s fun when people ask where you bought it!
I don’t know if it is nation wide but I know in southeastern New England we have freecycle.org which anyone one can subscribe to for their area, it’s all about people giving other peoples stuff a 2nd life. I hate when I see stuff like this on the curb!
Too true Barbara. I think we have freecycle here in some cities. Too bad more people don’t take the time to use it!
This is so me! I always have my eyes open for discarded furniture! So many possibilities.
I’m always a little embarrassed when I go diving in to grab something. I just can’t help but try to do it when no one is looking!
Next time you stop that truck!
~Bliss~
I know, right!!! At least donate it for goodness sake!
You know I would have been driving alongside that truck batting my lashes while shouting for him to pull over! When (and if) he did, I’d dive on into that truck and shove it into my car and burn rubber out of there!
In my dreams … in reality, I probably would have done just what you did! Take pics, complain that someone was throwing away perfectly good stuff and share it on my blog!
There’s always the next dump truck!
Kelly
[...] Recover the dog bed. Emma tore a hole in the current one and loves to spend her afternoons removing the stuffing. How sweet of her. I need to recover it and put a stop to her de-stuffing. Why throw away something that could easily be repurposed? [...]