Thursday, April 11, 2013

Dumpster Diving Dresser - What Shall I Become? Plus Another Sneak Peek

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Have you ever been dumpster diving?  Admit it.  You probably have dug thru trash in some form or other to claim it as your treasure.  I have seen things laying alongside the curb before and snatched them up quickly.  I've even put things on the curb and had them gone within five minutes of placing them.  Sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time to stumble across a great find, other times you get a tip.  I prefer tips.  It saves gas

This time I got a tip.  A dear friend of mine sent me a message alerting me to a dumpster full of treasures near her house.  I grabbed my daughter and the two of us went to check it out.

My daughter is a young adult.  I don't want to give anyone the impression that I am boosting a child into a dumpster to dig around for drawers to a dresser.  I did boost her up there, but she's tiny and without fearMe?  I am a huge chicken.  I've always had a fear of falling which is precisely the reason I don't know how to roller skate or ice skate or skateboard.  I think it all goes back to the time. . .oh, sorry.  I also get off track easy.  Anyway, I really really didn't want my obit to read "died climbing out of a dumpster and falling onto her head."  Can ya blame me?

Back to Dumpster Diving 101.  This was a clean dumpster dive.  Even cleaner since it had rained a lot the night before we searched it.  The stuff they were throwing out made me wish I had a trailer attached to my SUV so I could haul it all away.

There were two dressers in there.  We were only able to fit one into my vehicle.  The other was larger and we needed a strong guy to help us lift that one.  My strong guy was at work.  Our plan was to go back later with him.  

Here is the one we took home.
It is solid wood.  It is missing a drawer.  We dug around for that drawer, but, we couldn't find it.  It may have been in there and we missed it.  No worries because I don't need it.  

We were all set to go back for the other dresser when another friend of mine, I call her my "Mini-Me" because she's just like me but 10 years younger, went to check the contents of the dumpster herself and sadly reported the dumpster was empty.  Darn on-time dumpster dumping company and darn Mini Me for not going earlier when I told her to go.  (She's forgiven though because she is super busy with school, kids, husband, volunteering, etc.  Plus, we needed a truck and a strong man to help carry.)  Hearing that it was emptied by the company broke my heart.  The thought of all of it possibly ending up in a landfill made me extremely sad.  

Back to the one we did rescue.  I had thought of turning it into an entertainment center (like the one I showed you back in December) and selling it.  Remember that one?  

Click here to see the tutorial for that totally awesome entertainment console.

I still might do that.  I have a line on a buyer, too.  Part of me wants to do something totally different though.  Well, not totally, because I'd still turn it into an entertainment center.  I'm thinking of something industrial looking though.  It's still a toss-up.  What to do?  What to do?  That is the question.  Any thoughts?  Color suggestions?  Opinions?  I would honestly love your input.  

In the meantime, I DO know what I am going to do with my piano roll cabinet I acquired a few weeks ago.  Here she is in all her beauty. 
Again, excuse my photos.  Remember the Robin?  A robin tried to kill me but got my camera instead. Remember that?

Since I don't have a player piano or know anybody who owns one and needs a place to store their music rolls, I don't feel bad at all about taking this old cabinet, dismantling it a tad, and re-purposing it 

The outside will pretty much look just like it does in the above photo.  I feel good about that.  The only difference is I plan on touching up the scratches on the finish, re-staining the top and adding a key pull knob.  The original lock is still there but the key for it is gone.  The inside is where it is going to change.  Here's a look at that.

I fell in love with all of the shelves. I immediately thought, "Baking sheet storage!". I often think and speak in exclamation. No exaggeration. I do. However, I may have 5 baking sheets but not 13. Then my mind went to, "Microwave storage!" There it stayed.

My Triple H (Handsome Handy Husband) confirmed that he was on board for a little more DIY Re-hab. Whew!  Because I am fearful of a saw in my hand, too.  My husband, too, is afraid of a saw in MY hand.  (That's why any sawing falls in his to-do category.)  If there is anything worse than breaking a hand in a fall, it would be cutting one off in a saw accident.  Can you believe I'm a glass half-full kind of gal?  Well, I AM!!  Just not when it comes to falling or cutting off a limb.


I am going to have him remove some of the upper shelves. Enough to accommodate a small microwave.  The back needs replacing, too.  It is just a thin piece of damaged veneer.  We need to make sure there is plenty of ventilation for the microwave.

I am going to move baking sheets/pans onto the lower shelves.  That should free up my baking sheet storage area that is in a kitchen cupboard and my electric griddle can go there.  Which means less trips to the garage to retrieve it and  more grilled cheese sandwiches.  Did you know that tomorrow, April 12th, is National Grilled Cheese Day?  I didn't either until I looked at my son's school calendar.  

There you have it.  You are all caught up with what we are currently working on.  Go make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich but before you do, let me know what to do with that green dresser and if you have irrational fears, too.  

Oh, one last thing.  Remember the list I had made of projects a few weeks ago?  This list? Well, scratch #2 off the list because I think that project would work better with chairs than counter height stools.  Those stools were set out on our curb and snatched up by a new family practically the second Triple H set them out there.  

#5 is still in the works but I'm waffling on the color choice I had started to use.  I can't commit to applying it to the buffet yet.  I'm rethinking the whole darn color scheme.  I'm thinking of using yellow ochre with a walnut stain instead of the dried fern with espresso stain I have on the hutch.  Which means I'll have to repaint the hutch.  Or finish it depending on which color I do choose.  Give me your input on that one, too, while you are at it.  

And #6, well, I have everything to begin it but haven't quite configured the layout.   

Now, how 'bout that grilled cheese?
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3 comments:

  1. Did you finish this? And I talk, write and think in "!" marks, too! Nice to meet someone else!

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    1. Nancy, that became the Dumpster Dresser. The one pictured in my cover photo on the Furniture Flippin' blog and Facebook page. It's my flagship piece! lol

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