Introduction

Last week my brother and I had an idea.  Often this is a dangerous thing.  We tend to plunge headlong into our imaginative dreams, going balls to the wall until we realize our follies.  Last time we had a collective idea, we started ripping up his kitchen floors while his wife was at work; thinking that we could refinish the hardwood under six layers of linoleum.  Three weeks without a kitchen later he had a new tile floor.

                Foresight is not our forte.  We are, however, creative, capable, and willing to learn from our mistakes.  This makes us much better suited for projects that can be finished in only a few hours or days.  With the knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses this idea was formed.  We are to start a company; part hobby, part moneymaker (hopefully).  This blog is to trace origins and operations of that company.

                Our company (still fishing for a name) is based on the principles of reduce, re-use, and recycle.  What we are doing is finding old furniture and construction materials and transforming them into new, different pieces of furniture.  Old beds become chairs and benches.  Windows, doors and chairs become tables.  Benches become windows and doors (no they don’t, but you get the idea). 

                Most of our materials are found at yard sales, Craigslist, Freecycle, or at my favorite store in the world, the Habitat for Humanity Re-store*.  Finding materials in this fashion makes sure that they don’t end up in a landfill wastefully rotting away; it also limits the amount of new materials we need to purchase.  The less new materials we purchase, the less materials that need to be harvested and processed.  For this reason, and the obvious economic reasons, we try to use as much reclaimed material as possible.

                Thus far, we have only put together a few pieces (I’ll get pictures up soon.  I don’t own a camera yet).  We are trying to build a decent portfolio before we put anything up for sale.  Tonight we are building a bench out of an old oak headboard we found at the ReStore.  Wish us luck.

*Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a building material and furniture thrift store run by the non-profit group Habitat for Humanity.  The ReStore accepts material donations and sells them for incredibly low prices.  The money they raise goes towards building homes for families in need.  Check out their website: http://www.habitat.org/restores/default.aspx?tgs=Mi8yOC8yMDExIDM6MTI6NDEgUE0%3d