Before/After Home Office Cabinets

It strikes me as odd how things work out sometimes.

I have never been one of those

 save-that-vintage piece-dumpster-diver
I-break-for-garage-sales kind of gals.

Nope, not me, not ever.

 I have been called a "shopping snob"often enough

 that I must admit there may be some truth in it.

I know, right?

  Me - the Secondhand Queen,

the bargain-loving gal who nearly never pays full price

 for anything to decorate and upgrade her home?

Me - who LOVES to create the look-for-less

and can usually spot potential in every possibility?

A shopping snob?

 Really?!?

WELL, truth be know, I have always drawn the line at curbside.

That doesn't make me a shopping snob, though, SIS! lol

I always simply think the next person should grab that curb item-

he or she will be better and certainly QUICKER than I, for instance.

I talk myself out of it every single time I see it -

and I see it often.

(My neighbors throw out some pretty awesome stuff, just sayin'.)

I see its bright future, sometimes I want it, yet I always ignore it.

I hear my mother's sweet voice saying in her soft lady-like way

 "that's just not what we do, sweetie."

Yet I feel my heart pound when driving past these potential saves; 

I know deep down inside a part of me is shouting  

'PLEASE, JUST STOP IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS SALVAGE!!!!

So today, I bid thee welcome

 to a reveal of something salvaged by us

from the curb of our neighbor.

GASP

Last summer my daughter left our house to return to her home

and called from her car, to insist that I walk down to the house whose owners had already bought another and had recently moved.

(I DID go to their garage sale and bought some vintage linens.)

I am friends with the mother of the gal who moved.

I know her from my local civic women's club.

SHE even told me (before they moved) to come down

and make an offer on anything they left so far in the house-

they'd probably just give it to me.

And I really meant to do so, I really did - but I didn't.

It's just too awkward for me, so I just put it off till it was too late.

But knowing me SO well, my youngest daughter said:

"Mom. Don't delay this.

  Just walk down there, it's dark, it's at their curb

 and it won't be there long. No one will even care or notice."

So I walked down.

 Took me only two minutes to see those

two dingy old dirty and dated wooden base cabinets.

But, like so many of you, I did see potential in them!

I walked back home and told my husband.

 I asked him if he'd help me retrieve them,

as I can no longer lift heavy items 

 since hurting my arms a few years ago.

Were we embarassed? Yes, perhaps a little. 

Did we ACT noticable? Probably.

 Hubs brought his wheeled cart thing.

We aren't ninja trash pickers. We were loud, I know it.

Was it worth it in spite of it all to save those cabinets
from the landfill and give them a new life?

You be the judge:

Voila!

Two nicely cleaned up black floor cabinets flanking

 a gifted antique dresser my son-in-law no longer wanted. 

(It's still kinda nasty with primer, another task for another time.)

Sometimes one must see past the greasy grimy gopher guts.

I think these may have been living in their garage,
doing duty as storage units or something

 as their home was absolutely stunning inside.

They probably started their lives from a bathroom

 that had been upgraded along the way.

The only thing we had to buy for this project 
was four new snazzy pull nobs,

 as one of them was missing.

We already had the primer, the paint, the sealer
 and silver matte metallic spray paint for the bottom pulls.

We had to run out and get another can of the paint
towards the end of painting.

So all in all we spent around $28
 for our "new" cabinets in our office.

I am happy we could salvage those bottom pulls

I absolutely love them.

I run a business out of this space at home. 

Behind those cabinets you will find scanners,

 and scales and packing tape and stickers

 and reams of paper and printers ink, everything

common for a home office is kept tidy and unseen.

I may dabble with embellishing them a bit more

but for now I just wanted them placed

and was too excited not to share with you!

This is a wonderful and haunting print of my sister's - on loan.

She lived in New England for years running an ad agency.

One of her art staff took this winning shot of his aged father

who played violin his entire life and won many contests.

I adore this print and it currently and happily resides

in my home office with its black, grey and white decor.

My pic of the pic doesn't do the shadows justice.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Met Monday   *  Mosaic Monday    *   Before & After Wednesday