street scores / the curb side collection

Today’s post is brought to you by my innate tendencies to be a snoopy curb side collection stalker. I can’t decide on the name for this section of the blog, so if anyone wants to comment on which one sounds better (I personally am starting to warm towards “the curb side collection” because i think it has character), or if you prefer to keep it as both, pipe up.

An awesome (and easy) way to reduce your impact on the environment and get a great bargain at the same time is to reuse the items that other people have gotten rid of. Often they are in pretty good condition, needing little or no attention to become a beautiful addition to your house or life. And so, this post is about just that; taking something that has been thrown out by someone else and using it again, that is, recycling it. 
From second hand shops, to garage sales, to curb side collection piles, I am an avid lover of seeking (and finding) treasures amongst the piles of stuff. A lot of people I know have a derogatory attitude towards using second hand things, but for those of you who think along this line, pay attention, vintage (read: used, old stuff) is in, so what easier (or more fashionable) way to be a little greener than to recycle old household items. Especially because they have a bit of character as well!

Now back on topic; for those of you who do not know what a curb side collection is, whether you are from a different country or just have no idea what i am talking about, it refers to when a household has had a general clean out of things they don’t want  any more and puts all the unwanted items on the curb to be picked up by local council workers and taken to the tip. Now this is generally not just rubbish (and by that I mean the stuff you put in the waste bin), but things like tables, mirrors, surfboards, old lounge sets, white goods, beds, toys, kitchenware, linen, clothes, you name it, I’ve seen it on a junk pile. When I was a kid, there was one morning every few months on which a fleet of rubbish trucks and men in overalls would be scheduled to roam the neighbourhood, removing these piles of unwanted goods, and so every few months, households accordingly threw all their junk onto the curb side at night to have it magically disappear the next morning. The potentiality of these refuse piles was like music to my 8 year old heart. My ever patient mother and I would roam the streets, and I would dart from pile to pile while she held a torch for me to see, both of us scattering and giggling when a porch light came on or there was movement in the house on our approach. I would come home smiling from ear to ear, with a backpack full of goodies, some only slightly used, others loved to near death, but all about to be loved some more by an overly excited new owner. 

Nowdays i am (a little bit) older and (supposedly) grown up, I have somehow misplaced most of my shame and raid these piles in broad daylight (it helps having one hand free not having to hold the torch), and on more than one occaision, I have had to return home and come back with my car to retrieve my finds. Admittedly, some of the things that “follow” me home are added to my own curb side collection pile sometimes only months later, but most of them find a new home with me, to be loved some more by someone new. Now obviously i am not going to go sneaking off with someone’s used toilet seat, for those of you reading this thinking “ew, someone else’s used stuff”. These expeditions generally yield treasures such as interesting, unique paintings, furniture (not used mattresses, one sentence: someone else’s skin cells), rugs (which, keep in mind, are washable), and other little tid bits that have 1000 re-uses for the creative type of person. on a good day, I am one of these people.

So this leads me to my subject for this post: the latest addition to my collection. Now, obviously I had to take photos of my latest find, and you would think, being that it is a mirror, I would hang it somewhere nice in my house and take some photos. But this is me, the self confessed beach-a-holic, so where else would i take my new mirror to capture its unique character but to the beach? Isn’t the point of a mirror to reflect life’s beauty?

 

Such a pretty mirror! 

Only the smallest amount of set up and of course, totally free. Love it.

To finish off, a few words on this section of the blog: I will be posting all of my curb side finds with a bit of a description of how I’m using them, how I have altered them for a new use, or ideas for either of these things, to hopefully provide a bit of inspiration for anyone wanting to revamp an old item or find something “new” with a bit of character to add to their home.

love x