Someone else's trash is...

Well, still trash. But it can become treasure with a little effort. I used to laugh at people who'd enthusiastically rummage through my council clean-up pile five minutes after we'd finish lugging it onto the street (do these people have the council's booking sheets or something? How do they know?) And then, one day walking past someone else's, Steve and I saw this chair.

BEFORE: The chair's third look since moving into the Graham household

We stopped for a few seconds while I checked its potential and then walked on. I basically wanted it but refused to be the one to steal it. So in the cover of darkness, my husband, my hero, went back and grabbed it for me.

It was originally a dark wood frame with velvet green seat. After a while, I decided I'd paint it gold with a pinkish jacquard fabric seat. I don't quite know why I figured gold would be a good idea, but I had fun with the spraycan (turning the grass gold in the process!) and then staple-gunned the fabric on. It looked a bit cheap, so sat covered in clothes in our bedroom for around six months before I painted it white while trying to use up the excess from Zak's shelves. I think I just made it look worse, so I went back to my original plan that got lost somewhere in my goldrush phase: to paint it glossy black with a black and white fabric. And here is the result.

AFTER: A lick of glossy paint and cool black and white fabric can do wonders

Now I love it and it sits proudly in my loungeroom. Not that it can really be used for a seat... the springs aren't in the best condition, but for the cost of the fabric (US$7.95 - I already had the black paint) I think it's a great little feature.

My other attempt at a council clean-up raid wasn't as successful. A lounge frame I thought would make a brilliant daybed for my deck literally fell apart when Steve tried to move it so I could start staining it. And this was after I spent DAYS sanding it back. I guess that's why they put it in the chuck pile! I've since gone back to giggling at the people who pull up with their trailers as soon as the junk hits the sidewalk and wonder what on earth they're going to do with a three-legged chair, a Roman blind that's been slashed from a broken window and an ant-infested fridge with broken drawers, shelves and virtually no side as the only way we could get it onto the street was to push it 150metres along the gravel ground!

Just in case anyone cares, I'll attempt to caption things like we do in the magazine. So... Madison fabric in Black/White, US$7.95/yard, from www.fabric.com (awesome site - particulaly if you love Amy Butler as it's really cheap). Living with Deborah Hutton Easy Art Timber Frames, $7.99 (small) and $10.99 (large), from Kmart. The large print I left as bought, the smaller ones I filled myself.