Recent Finds...Habitat For Humanity Restore

If you've never been to a Habitat for Humanity Restore, I dare say you are missing out. That is, if you are into home renovation. Builders, carpenters, home owners alike all donate materials that were replaced (i.e. entire kitchen's worth of cabinets) or left over or no longer needed. You might recall our 5 panel door score ($25) back in August/September. The Restore is run by volunteers who are extremely helpful and just down-right nice people. Here's some of our recent treasure finds...

Item: Giant vintage metal pendant light

Cost: $6

History: The guy who donated it had it for 30-40 years and said it no longer matched his decor according to the friendly volunteers

Idea: Um, it's just cool. And it's $6. So we'll figure something out... 

Item: Above-fridge cabinet

Cost: $30/ea. (qty 2)

History: None, brand-spanking new

Idea: Built-in storage in attic in the narrow space between the pitch of the roof and the floor

Item (left): Glass Turtle shades 

Cost: $1/ea (qty 2)

History: No story here, they look brand-new. However, if you were to buy new ones from store like Schoolhouse Electric (which has really cool stuff) it would set you back $28 a pop.

Idea: Replace the chipped turtle shade in the bathroom

Items (right): Vintage door bell push-buttons

Cost: $1/ea (qty 2)

History: Brand-new in the box. Definitely old. 

Idea: A creative decor project in the future.

I spy with my little eye....

What? A 5-panel door with original hardware in decent condition. Oh yeah, and it's also almost the right size...just needs to lose a few inches in height (it's 83.5 inches tall!). The BEST part...it was only 20 bucks. Habitat for Humanity Re-store in Elgin is our new fav store. I feel that I will spend many Saturday mornings scouring all their inventory! We also nabbed a white marble slab for topping the dining room radiator for 5 bucks.


I have to applaud the volunteer staff at the Re-store. They are most accomodating. I was waiting for Chris to pull the Focus up to the loading area and one of the volunteers asked me if I had a truck...or a car. I smiled and said "A car" to which his response was "That little one right there?" Me, "Uh huh." He chuckled and then demonstrated his expert twine-tying skills as we got most of the door into the actual car/trunk. My favorite part...the "peligro" ("danger" in Espanol) red tape we used as a red flag on the end of the door hanging out of the trunk. Very chic.