Happy Trash Treasure Day!

Are you wondering what in the world do I mean?  Let me explain, I am writing this blog entry Wednesday night and our trash is picked up on Thursday.  I am proud to admit that I am a trash diver.  Now, not in the “free food” type of way (yuck!).  No, I have found some amazing pieces of furniture on the side of someone’s curb waiting for the trash pick up. I have found a total of 10 solid oak chairs, a dining table with a leaf, a “buffet”, a dresser…, the list goes on!

Last summer we stumbled upon a treasure trove of chairs sitting on the curb.  Mr. Cabana left me on the side of the road to guard my FREE treasure trove while he took the kids home and took seats out of my SUV.  I always feel a little weird waiting by someone’s house with their “stuff”.  But not so weird that I won’t do it!  So Mr. Cabana loads the chairs and asks me if I also want the cabinet that is on its side.  I say no, because really, where am I going to put another piece of furniture in my less than 1,200 square foot house?

Flash forward to 1:30 am.  I have been laying awake “dreaming” of what I could do with that cabinet.  I think I have the perfect place~ outside of my living room window on the side of the house.  Yup, OUTSIDE!  But, I actually start to panic because I just KNOW someone else is going to see the potential of that piece and it will be long gone by morning.  So I do what any reasonable wife would do.  I wake Mr. Cabana up and tell him that “I absolutely HAVE TO HAVE that cabinet!”  Being the good sport that he is, he told me he would get it for me in the morning.  I told him of my “fear” and because my birthday was a couple of days later, he could do this for me as a gift.  So Mr. Wonderful Cabana, gets out of bed and drives to load the cabinet for me at 1:30 in the morning!!!

Do you see what I see? Isn’t it going to be great!!!

Mr. Cabana decided he liked the cabinet better underneath our bedroom window.  I have to admit, it is the perfect spot!

I sanded the entire cabinet with a medium grade sand paper with my electric sander.  Removed all of the dust.  Primed with Kilz Primer.  I painted two coats of  Home Depot‘s Behr brand paint in semi gloss Negro.  I then sanded the whole piece, concentrating on the edges and detail work to give it a nice distressed look.  It is going outside after all!

My MIL sewed a skirt using fabric I had been drooling over from Ballard Design’s. The Indoor/ Outdoor French Script fabric  was on sale for $14.99 per yard (x 2 yards), so I justified the purchase because it was going to “make” the piece . I purchased a cafe rod and clips from Jo-Ann‘s for approx. $15.

What do you think?  Not bad for FREE, right? Isn’t it fabulous?!?  I now have storage for all of my glass apothecary and candy jars. I still plan on purchasing a piece of glass for the top when the budget allows.  For now, it is pretty protected from the elements because it is under our house eaves.  This is another reason I love living in Huntington Beach, I can have furniture outside!!!

Well, I have to run.  It’s Wednesday trash night after all…

Until Next Time,

Butterscotch Lady