Dumpster Divine

It's Trashy Tuesday!
You can find some fabulous stuff in the trash. 
I called it dumpster diving but I have only pulled something out of a dumpster once.
The rest have all been trash picks found on the side of the road.
This first one Rebekah and I found when we were headed to the grocery store. I spotted it out of the corner of my eye. When I first saw it, I thought it might be a new piece. I was astonished that it was an empire chest from the early 1800's. It is all hand made. It had a small problem with one of the feet, but the talented Mr. Bill cut a new foot and put it on. This piece is massive. It stands about 4 feet tall. We have it in our entry way. It had crystal knobs on it when I found it. I got these replacement knobs at Home Depot. These are much more in keeping with the original. I'm sure Rebekah was horrified someone would see us stuffing this thing into the van. 

The portrait is Bill's grandmother. Nobody else in the family wanted it and in fact it sat for years in a garage. It was painted in the 20's or 30's.

The lamp is a reproduction of an antique Tiffany. It is made by Tiffany. It was my Christmas present a few years ago. Bill made the clock using wood that his friends found on a hike in Pennsylvania.

The next piece is a little loveseat I found on my way to work one morning. It was covered in a white damask. 

I learned to recover furniture years ago. I started with chairs and worked my way up to this. Bill and I have another chair to recover. I really can't do it alone anymore because it is so physically exhausting. It takes effort to keep moving and flipping the furniture over to attach the new fabric. The fabric pieces you take off become the pattern for the new fabric. When we start on our chair we will take before, during and after pics for this blog. I got this brown chenille at Joanns and it cost about $200.00 to recover. I usually don't spend that much on a free piece, but this one needed new foam. 

The final piece is one that Bill found while out walking one morning. He had to go home and get the car to pick it up. I am so happy that it was still there.

The little trunk on the top was my grandmother's doll trunk. 

The back was cardboard even though the rest of the bookshelf is oak. Bill put a new piece of plywood from Home Depot on it and touched up the stain. It is a perfect match to the craftsman look we have going on in this room. 

I will never forget my first dumpster dive. I had my new friend Wally with me. I am sure she had never done anything like this in her refined, prim and proper life. We climbed up on the side of that dumpster and pulled down two wicker patio chairs. They were super comfortable and in pretty good shape. I got about 10 more years out of those chairs. 

I hope that this inspires you to keep your eyes peeled. If something is by the side of the road go ahead and grab it. Hopefully you can find some good stuff. 

Sprinkled with trash,

Katie