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my mom has a knack for this. some treasures shes found on the trash: italian leather jacket, excellent condition, 100 gal aquarium, not a single leak, art, ornate bird cages, a tire swing.
I know a guy who literally makes a living by " dumpster diving" and he does pretty well.
He picks up old furniture and restores it, old appliances and repairs then sells them.
On the weekends he's sells the things at swat meets and flea markets or advertises them on line. I am often surprised at what people throw away.....
If I (1) drove a pick up truck or a van, or even a larger SUV, and (2) had more technical & creative savvy, I'd be picking up some of the furniture items I see curbside, for DIY refurbishing and re-purposing. Shelves, tables, desks, wingback chairs, hutches. But I can't really fit that much inside a sedan. I can barely fit a kitchen or office chair. I guess I also don't have the muscle to be moving something like a hutch by myself, no matter how much cross fit I think I'm doing.
I saw an antique looking steamer trunk on the street a few months ago while I was out on a jog. It was a little rough looking but I thought it would be a great decorative piece for a patio space I want to fill up with something other than assembly line stuff from Costco and the like. However, when I went back with my car about an hour later, it was gone. Damn scavengers!
My uncle looked for chair frames that he would redo with fabric. They came out nice. We just put out a solid pine desk that we didn't want to bother sanding and refinishing. And last year my son's pottery barn train table/bookcases went to curb.
My friend has two gorgeous pieces in her dining room. One is a very high dresser in which she keeps flatware and tablecloths and other items, and the other is a cabinet with glass doors. They look as though they match, but she garbage-picked both of them and then refinished them with a distressed antique white look.
My brother garbage-picks furniture all the time, especially small tables or chairs, refinishes them, and then puts them out on a garage sale. I just got two "new" tables from him for my own place.
I visited my daughter in Albany this week. Got there around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. She'd already found a small bookshelf to put in her room in her apartment that someone had left out for garbage day on her way back from the coffee shop. It doubles as a nightstand. That's my girl!
My church runs a big sale every two years. Better than a rummage sale--we've got a guy who is good at these types of things, and he finds people who donate furniture, appliances in good working order, even a boat this past year. There's always a lot of stuff that doesn't go, books and glassware and clothing and those silverplated trays and serving dishes people used to give as gifts back in the 70s and nobody wants anymore, so near the end of the sale he puts a "curb pickup" notice on Craigslist that there is free stuff to be had, and they show up like ants at a picnic. It's amazing. He whips out his laptop, puts out the notice, and within 15 minutes people are pulling up in front.
One person's trash...
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 05-28-2016 at 04:17 PM..
I felt compelled to bump this thread-yesterday while we were relaxing after a family BBQ my neighbor shot me a text that his wife saw a lawn mower out at the curb (garbage day is Tuesday) while she was on a walk. I took a walk down the road, saw the mower with a bulk sticker on it, and rolled it home. It took about 20 minutes to drain the watery sludge filled gas tank and flush the carburetor. Started right up It should bring $60-75 on Craigslist.
heck..I got my solid wood kitchen table with 6 upholstered ladder back chairs from someones garbage. I checked it over to make sure it had no bugs.. redid the seats and polished the wood. It's better quality that I could have purchased today. I also got a side table with a little drawer that is the all the rage right now and the funny thing about that was the person who threw out the side table threw away a box that originally contained one of those mdf round end tables. ugh.. but her loss, my gain. I still have both items and it's been almost 17 years now.
I put stuff out for the garbage too and it disappears before the trash guys even show up.
Personally, I'd rather see someone make use of what I throw away then it end up in the dump.
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