Sunday, October 12, 2008

Scavenging

I've been so busy scavenging things for the house that I just haven't had time to blog.

Of course, I'm now sitting here ready to blog and it's dark outside so it's difficult to get pictures of all the things we've acquired. I'm on this kick to clean up the property and the house. At the same time I just don't think it's a good idea to buy new stuff to do this with. I joined the local freecycle community in the hopes of getting an old bathtub to use as a water trough. At the same time the opportunity arose for us to get some free stuff around here. Being part of the freecycle community really made me think outside the box.

We got 4 industrial racks with 3/4 plywood. The racks are or have become: a firewood rack (it can hold up to 1.5 cords), a washing machine enclosure, and a storage shed for all the extra clothes and bedding that are currently under our deck. I'm very excited! The fourth rack is either going to become a greenhouse or a chicken coop. Maybe I'll combine the 2 ideas and put a green house on the roof of the coop.

We also picked up 2 truck loads of brick pavers. Those are going to become a new patio under the carport.

We were able to get an awesome vanity, mirror, light fixture and toilet.


Our last load of stuff out of the building we cleaned out was a heavy shelving unit that is destined for our shed and 400 square feet of high quality laminate that will replace the cheap stuff we currently have in the house (the old flooring will be moved to the bedrooms).

The only cost for all this was time, labor, and fuel for the truck.

I've also redone our closet and my sewing area by reusing stuff we already had lying around. The plastic shelving that was sitting mostly unused by the washer was put in my closet to hold clothes. The hooks we've moved from house to house during the last 4 moves were hung in the back of my closet to give me more hanging space. The hope chest that was originally sitting in the closet has been moved to the sewing area to hold fabric and stuff I use for my business.



The house is beginning to look like a whole new place. I'm really hoping to have a number of projects to blog about over the coming months. The hardest part will be to keep the momentum going and actually complete all these big plans.

1 comment:

Morgan the Muse said...

That is exciting! I come from a long line of packrats and 'oh, this looks halfway useful, lets chop it up and make it into something new entirely' kind of people. So it is cool to read about that. Is it weird, I got excited reading it? I mean, pavers! Those things are not cheap. By golly, I need a life.