OK - so now you know- I love cast offs, the abandoned & forlorn objects of other people's wrath. A ding, a nick - that is nothing to me. Replace a table top - sure in fact, I have 4 legs that need a top - presto, table.

This talent (obsession) started when I was but a wee lass.  My father was a very talented inventor and re-purposer.  Almost everything would "Come in handy " someday and a lot of things did.  I rescued an old wooden bench from our local dump along with two puppies that I found homes for.  The bench I painted, decal-ed, and sold for $90.00.  What encouragement to this young entrepreneur.

Now when a church or other organization has a Vacation Bible School program, a Christmas musical. wedding or other event - I am the "go to" person.  Need  retro clocks - how many?  Top hats, fur capes and Victorian caroler's costumes - got those.  What I don't have. we will make.  Did you know that louvered bi-fold doors zip-tied together make a great background for an Indian Jones style marketplace? I have great ideas for  Fourth of July floats

A lot of rescued items make great decorative objects for staging.  Stained damask tablecloth - make pillows.  Salvaged architectural corbels look stunning hung on the wall with a pillar candle or vase of flowers on top. A  iron fence section makes a unusual headboard.

If we can do this with trash, just think of what we can do with your treasures!

Contact Re$ale Design and Home Staging to let us work our magic on your home whether you are selling or staying.  We specialize in your design dilemmas. 

 

zip-tie doorsIndian Jones style marketplace

Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down?  Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.

Call me!

 

19 Comments on Confessions of a Dumpster Diver

JUN
11
2007
First of all I love your heading...what a riot and I am right there with you Kathleen. I was always one of those that felt that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Creativity is a way of life. ;)
2:53pm • #1
JUN
13
2007
Love it, my husband says I can no longer add to my pile of things to paint or rehab until I actually work on them!  They are I say winter projects.  I can't spend an afternoon inside during garage sale season!  Do you have any more headboard ideas!!! I need one for a newer construction that I am over budget on already!!
Thanks,
Erica
8:39pm • #2
12 Featured Posts
Kathleen, if you will excuse me, it is not dumpster diving, it is architectural salvage!  It sounds classier that way.... ;)
10:54pm • #3
JUN
14
2007
JUN
15
2007
1 Featured Post
Great ideas! I love talking old furniture and making it new again. A porduct called Circa 1850 is wonderful for removing old paint and stain...although I don't think it is too great for the environment.
9:34am • #5
Glad to know I am not alone!  :) Do you really dumpster dive?  Because I do - and if you are really good at cultivating relationships, you can get to know the managers of stores like Crate and Barrel, Potery Barn and Restoration Hardware and you can skip the dumpster part!!!  Also, every other month our city has "bulky item pick-up" where you can throw almost anything to the curb and waste management will dispose of it.  Talk about the finds!!!!  Oh - I am soooo glad to know there are others!! 
8:54pm • #6
JUN
17
2007
200,598 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog

 Deanne, It is true -I do!

Kimberly, when I am butt end up it is dumpster diving, but what I pull out is Architectural Salvage for sure! 

Christine, Erica, and Deborah Thanks for the Thumbs up! 

Luci - Thank you for the info - haven't tried that one yet.

I saw a big star over a bed for a staging on someone's blog - that could probably stand on its own as a headboard.. We  commented on a blog a while back on headboards and someone had a homemade one. 

Maybe someone can add that on here if they remember. 

9:14pm • #7
JUL
03
2007
162,511 Points 15 Featured Posts Outside Blog
Kathleen as a self confessed junk and thrift queen I salute your diving efforts!  I didn't see this before because I'm stayin in the Stage it Forward group too much - it's hard to break away!
1:16pm • #8
200,598 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog
Karen you really must get out more ( out of Stage it Forward that is) welcome to the nitty gritty world of salvage.
2:42pm • #9

I'm missing out on a whole other world----I need to get out more!

Julia

2:51pm • #10
136,198 Points 12 Featured Posts Outside Blog
Kathleen: I knew you were a kindred spirit. My husband, like Erica, above, will not allow me to add to my pile of treasures either. Dive On!
3:13pm • #11
JUL
07
2007
JUL
15
2007
JUL
22
2007
132,364 Points Outside Blog

Kathleen - I love junk too! I love that creative resourceful aspect of breathing new life into things. I have a friend who has a retro furniture shop called Lois Lane. She actively engages in putting a new spin on old stuff. The last time I visited her shop, she was bringing in a small footstool that she'd 'renewed' & set it like a jewel among all the other treasures - such joy she had in it - her face gleamed.

I like your analogy of dumpster diving - architectural salvage! Great! 

11:04pm • #15
JUL
23
2007
200,598 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog
It is not junk - it isa found object!! I usually keep an "object of wonder" on my coffee table and it gets conversations going.
11:56am • #16
JUL
26
2007
3 Featured Posts
My parents were dumpster divers....and some of our most prized antiques came from pick-ups on the side of the road!!  I too have been known to do a few drivebys and then scoop up the treasures!!  Thanks! Regards-Kathleen
9:35am • #17
200,598 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog
Kathleen - way to go - do you actually stop the car or scoop them up on the drive by LOL. Sometimes I'm reading a blog & see Kathleen in a comment & wonder why I don't remember commenting on this one,  It is all your fault.
9:59am • #18
2 Featured Posts

Kathleen, this is so funny...  My dad retired from the NYC Dept of Sanitation (NY's Strongest!) and when I was little, he and my mother would refer to the dump as the 'Big Store'.  Yes, I was too little understand my friends' parents would never consider taking their little girl to the dump to scour through the household piles for treasures!  I never knew this wasn't normal!  But what fun we had and things we would find!  Lamps, books, furniture, etc. 

My mom, to this day, always says "if it's free, it's for me" and most of her house is decorated with curbside finds or people just giving things away.  And, it looks good, too!  Her house was even featured in an article that the Staten Island Advance wrote about Free-Cycling a few months ago.  Everything has a story to go with it, too, which makes it more interesting!  She is a big believer in 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' and it is so true. 

Great post!

10:25am • #19

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Kathleen Lordbock Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes

Brainerd, MN

More about me…

KW REALTOR/Staging & Short Sale Specialist

Address: 10718 Greenwood St, Brainerd, MN, 56401

Office Phone: (218) 829-4664

Cell Phone: (218) 831-8001

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Information on the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota. Real Estate help for buyers and sellers. Home staging tips and help for owners who need to sell fast. Postponing foreclosure and short sale help.
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