A couple Sundays ago, Alex got a request.  A neighbor needed his help (and his truck) to pick up a bedroom set from an estate sale down the street.  Both Alex and the neighbor arrived with a truck.  Yes- two trucks- for one bedroom set.  Which may have seemed like overkill, however, the set came complete with mattress, headboard, side tables, and a dresser.

As we were leaving, the woman running the estate sale said, “We are shutting down and giving the rest of the furniture to Goodwill.  If you want anything else you can take it for free.”  Huh?  Everything is free?  Well, the neighbor in need just happened to have purchased a little vacation property, so the timing of this offer was quite lucky.  Maybe I might find a treasure too, I thought.

Out in the garage was enough furniture to furnish his whole house.  A hutch, a coffee table, a dining set, a couple more dressers… all of it solid oak.  All of it free. (Good thing we had the extra truck!) Six truck loads later and he had all the furniture he needed, and I had found a new project.

In a little corner of the garage, under a pile of boxes was a chair.  A perfect French chair.  Which was perfect for my French home.  She needed some TLC, but I knew she would be perfect in my hallway.  Given this was a free chair, I wasn’t really interest in spending hundreds to have it refinished.  So, this would be my project.

I deconstructed, I sanded, I primed, I painted, I upholstered, I nail gunned, I reconstructed.  I used up every spare bit of upholstery fabric in my stash, free. I finished with braided twine, also free.  In the end, I had a new treasure of my own… She’s not perfect, but she sure is priceless. (And totally free.)