My roommate Julia came home today after orientation meetings to inform me that she saw a couch abandoned on the side of the street along 14th and 1st Avenue. Grabbing my shoes and keys, we rejoiced at the prospect of finding a treasure that would soon be a much needed piece of furniture in our apartment. By the time we made it to the corner only four blocks away, however, someone had claimed it for their own. With heads hung low, we sulked back to the apartment, dismayed and a little downtrodden that we missed this great opportunity. Unexpectedly, however, we found two chairs (pictured above) sitting next to mountains of garbage bags along 14th street. Sneaking a quick look around, we each snatched a chair and took it up to our place. They're a little beat up, but honestly not all that bad; only a mild amount of chipping paint at the bottom of the legs, and the dust on the seats was quickly remedied by a scrub down with some Clorox disinfectant wipes. Who would have wanted to get rid of these? we asked ourselves. They're simply perfect!A few hours later, Julia called to say that there were two more chairs, and should she grab them too? Hell yes, I said. Even though our housing is providing us with a table and three chairs on Friday, at least now we can have a few guests for dinner.
This inspired me to go on CraigsList, where I found a six piece L-shaped couch for free five blocks down from us. After three trips, Julia, Maria and I made it home with half of the couch, and decided to keep it at that. This couch too was quite grimy, but it cost us nothing except sweat and soar forearms. Below is how the couch looks with some extra sheets thrown on it...we're going to decorate it with colorful sheets and a staple gun later this weekend.
It's amazing how easy it is to turn waste into wonders.
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