Thursday's Junk Has Far to Go

Like a race horse out of the gate, I took off at a gallop down the street. The blinders were off though. Mine was a race to win the prize of the day... some good old fashioned free junk from the curb.

And whatayaknow, there this little mid century sweet was, standing with her back to me like she wasn't even interested in watching the race. She must not have been betting on me, and perhaps she knew I'd slow to a trot, pick her up, take her home and put her through an overhaul if she caught my eye. As we age, we get set in our ways. Perhaps she wanted to just go to meet her maker. The trash truck was closing in whisk her away, but I'd have none of that. She couldn't hide from me, not with those legs. She would do nicely as my first score of the day, a little worse for wear, but if all else failed, those sleek legs would be a big win in and of themselves. I do so love me some mid century sensibility.

Turns out she is missing a thin slat of wood that fits into the top. In some worlds she might be able to carry on topless, but this isn't France, you know. Then again, I'm not sure if I'll bother replacing her top. Call me scandalous, but we'll just have to wait and see. You could also call me lazy. Sometimes I like to just make do.

Home I went to drop her off and make room for the stash I was sure was yet to come.

I was right. The streets held plenty to net me a few prizes, if not first prize for speed, at least for refilling my back patio with junk. Yes, I sacrificed speed once I made my first score and began to meander the drives and boulevards, criss-crossing town, ever so slowly through intersecting streets, my head swinging wildly as I passed each, craning my neck to see if anything of interest was lying in wait to the left or the right. 

This rowdy little pair was hard to miss as they jumped up and down trying to get my attention with their obnoxious primary hues. My eyes simply cannot handle these colors together. It was hard to look past that and imagine something worth snagging them for. I also happen to dislike most bamboo furniture, so these had two strikes against them. At first, the thought was just to take the hardware, so I grabbed a couple drawers to pull the handles off of at home, unscrewed a couple other nobs and took off.  Turns out one of them was missing almost all its hardware. Strike three. 

Of course the color could be remedied and something could be done to tone them down and help them navigate into a more grown up, subtle style. After all, this was a pair, and that counts for a lot in the world of furniture finds. Despite the three strikes against them, I decided that if I can't figure out what to do about the hardware, I could always throw them back out later. (I'm learning.)

These things are made of solid, heavy wood and I had to heave the first one up and over awkwardly as I tried to get it in the car where I had left nary enough space between the car and the garbage can. It took some work and a lot of back muscle (or lack thereof), a little shove and a lot of desire to hurry before any more cars drove by slowly to go around me (and to gawk). There wasn't room for both of these at once, so home I went, hauled the one out and around to the back yard fast as I could, with little kindness or concern for my tricky back. Did I mention how heavy these are? My back told me in no uncertain terms later on.

As I said, I'm not usually a fan of bamboo, but these little handles are so cute and the red was actually nice by itself. The finish was so glossy. I like that. 

Finally after the third trip, they were mine. The owner was outside at her car when I came to finish the job, but after circling the block once, hoping she would go inside, I had no patience for wasting gas driving around hoping she would go inside. I stopped despite her and was hauling the end table into the car when the neighbor next door came out to walk her dog and said she had just seen the little chest of drawers and thought about taking it herself. She said something about how she bet I probably go on Pinterest and get ideas. She thought these were perfect for a redo. We talked for a minute and then I forged ahead toward the rest of the waiting junk.

We'll see if these turn out to be good for a redo when it comes to time and trouble versus payout. It turned out that some of the drawer glides were unattached at one end and only one of the drawers would slide right. Ugh. That made it strike four!

Here's the stuff found in the drawers and behind the drawers of the two chests of drawers and the midcentury piece. I found a dollar, and there was a Fred and Barney book without the cover. Woo hoo! I made a dollar while junkin'. Nice.

Two of these countertops appeared, but I didn't think they would fit into the car and thought they would be too heavy, so they were passed up, figuring someone else would come and get them, but at the end of my run they were still there. They ended up sliding into the back seat easily, and after carting the bamboo end tables around, these were a piece of cake.


Somebody I know has to have a use for a granite look laminate countertop. If not, we'll just try to sell these at our upcoming yard sale.


Then there was this lone and forlorn chair. It so happens I need a single chair for a wicker desk recently procured from across the street. You haven't seen that yet. It was a funny story and there just hasn't been time to tell it yet. (The cabinet doors came from a junk pile I found on the way to work on Wednesday.)


The chair had some detail at the legs that could be either a deco style or a Southwest look. Take your pick.


The painted leaves or tree or whatever it was just did not cut it and the chair was a mess. It had potential though, and I imagined it painted all white with the seat covered in the fabric my friend Lynette bought for me for just such an occasion. We had also bought batting on sale on Tuesday, so everything I needed to promptly makeover this unique chair was within reach. What a joy.

Here's the fabric. Isn't it perfect for the chair style? The fabric seems to mimic the design on the back. And it's adorable besides!

So there you have it.

A cute chair to go with something, even if it doesn't end up working with the wicker desk. It may be too big to pair with it. Since my friend Kathryn came and drug the desk to her house to store it, I don't have it readily available to try out.

The day started with high hopes of getting way more done than just the chair. I did find some screws and tacked down the drawer glides on the chests of drawers, but problems remain. One of the end tables has been sanded and painted with a first coat, but now I am rethinking the plan. Since only a couple of the drawers have complete glides and they're missing so much hardware, the new plan is to make a shelf where two of the drawers are. We'll see how that goes. No one's going to want them without functioning drawers and with mismatched hardware, and spending money to fix them is not appealing to this cheapskate.

Off I go. The patio is feeling a bit crowded and messy again and the sewing table still needs paint, as do the salvaged cabinet doors. 

As for Thursday's junk, despite the work accomplished, it still has far to go.

Hope you have a junky good day. 

I'll be at these link parties this week: