I look at discarded furniture the same way I view abandoned pets that have been put up for adoption. I can’t take home every mutt or scruffy cat but when one is right for me I swoop in and grab it. With a little love and patience, something that someone else thought was worthless becomes a beloved part of my life. It has happened this way with pooches and felines as well as with discarded household items.
My favourite chair was a Salvation Army Thrift Store find. In its day, which was about half-a-century ago, it had been a lovely part of someone’s living room. Its once chic covering of expensive, lemon yellow fabric was soiled and worn but otherwise it was in excellent shape. The seat didn’t sag and the arms were intact and for forty dollars, it was mine.
That chair sat for a few years covered under a woolly afghan while I considered what to do with it, and, frankly, was able to set aside the funds for a proper job. Other pieces came and went from my home but the unfinished chair remained as a comfortable, if unappealing reading chair. Eventually I found a talented upholsterer who shared my love for renewing old things and we chose a durable and neutral coloured carved-velvet fabric. For about a thousand dollars Richard did an amazing transformation and joked that he wanted to keep the beautifully finished chair for himself. At least, I think he was joking.
I’m not opposed to scavenging for lost treasures although I don’t make an overt habit of it. At times I’ve just happened by a discarded item and, recognizing its potential, plucked it from the roadside and scurried home like a nervous squirrel with a cheek full of nuts.
A neighbour’s tossed out chandelier with up-turned bulbs became a poolside candelabra. After removing the crystal jewels and the few remaining bulbs I discovered that the bulb holders were the same size as the bottom of a taper candle. Freshened with a couple of coats of rustproof paint, the fixture spent its summers on a patio table where it provided warm light and sent a shimmering glow on the pool water.
Poking around flea markets, antique fairs and garage sales is great fun and provides tremendous opportunities to discover wonderful junk that others have failed to, or no longer appreciate.
Wooden boxes are favourites of mine. I’ve rescued trunks, trinket holders and everything in between from their dusty fates. Some were left as is. Some were refinished by removing old, chipped paint and adding some lustre with satin varnish. I practised a faux marble paint technique on a wooden jewellery box and liked the results so much I gave it as a gift.
Upon moving into a newly purchased home a few years ago, we discovered that the owners had left behind a few things. Some were truly useless: an ancient fridge on the front lawn and a broken piano too big to get through the family room doorway. But they also left an Oriental style room divider screen with missing and tattered panes.
In need of a project, I removed the rest of the rice paper in the panes and gave the whole thing a good sanding. Next, I sprayed it with white paint and purchased some chocolate-coloured linen fabric, which I stapled to the back of the frame. This one-of-a-kind divider served me well as a window covering in a third floor master bedroom.
Admittedly, you have to love doing the project in order to appreciate giving new life to old things. Just like the adopted puppy, the item you decide to renew will need time and attention, but if you can envision the end result, they’re both worth it.