Confessions of a Trash Picker

I am a trash picker. I have been for years. I have a huge list of items I have rescued from the curb. In our family we like to call them curbside treasures. One I'm proud of is my fashion model which I've bragged about before.

Here she is in the garden earning her keep, modeling an apron.

The cool gal from Henbogle ( I still haven't figured out the link thing but you can go to the sites I love and click to her site) talked about this topic on her February 12th blog. I left a comment and she requested a photo of my dresser drawer bookshelf I made. So here are many photos and the story behind it all.

My home, if you climb the stairs to the upper floor, has a bathroom straight ahead. To the left and right are my kids bedrooms. There is a small landing with not much room but I invisioned book shelves on both sides. We have tons of childrens books and I figured it would be nice for the kids to just walk out and pick a book at bedtime, also saving valuable floor space in their rooms.

Very narrow.

One side is deeper than the other and I was trying to find a bookshelf narrow enough to fit the shallow space. I didn't have any luck size wise or price wise. My husband is a busy man with many projects of his own. I am an independent woman and only ask for help when absolutely necessary, but my building skills are piss poor. (sorry if i offend, but it's true) I didn't want a bookshelf that looked like I built it.

I live on a beautiful tree lined, semi rural, dirt road. One of the bad things about it are not so nice people come out here and pitch their trash on the side of our road instead of throwing it away in a proper way. Not nice. Luckily people on our road take pride and it usually doesn't stay for long.

One sunny day quite a few years back, I was driving home on our beautiful tree lined road and saw a crappy, particle board dresser with a pile of other house hold items strewn about. But as I mentioned before, I am a trash picker and hit the breaks. The dresser and one of the drawers was wrecked but 5 of the drawers were fine. I put the dresser on it's back, took the good drawers and emptied them into the dresser and stacked the rest of the discarded items on top. I'm not strong enough to lug and dispose of the junk but I can at least make it a little neater/easier for someone who can.

I took these drawers home and when I get a wild hair, I have to do things right away.

First I screwed the drawers together using the holes that were in the drawers for the handles. Lucky for me the screws that were in the handle were pointy so I didn't have to scrounge for just the right size and amount of screws.

I made sure to use the holes for the bottom side of the "shelf" so the screws would be covered by the books.

Once done, the "shelf" was very wobbly since they were only connected in the center.

I scrounged some trim pieces from hubbies stash and covered where the 2 drawers connect to make it purdy. I put the flat side up so it would be level with the shelf.

On the side facing out (remember it's fitting into a corner) I ended up using 2 bigger trim pieces to cover the joints of the drawers and to make it look nice. With all these it made it very sturdy.

I used nail filler and caulk to fill nail holes and gaps. I primed it with about 2 or three coats since the particle board sucks in the paint. I never did get around to painting it, I couldn't decide on a color. Someday.

It fits!

I got together with my dad who is a builder and made one with scrounged lumber to make one for the other side. (pay no attention to the messy books) I still need to prime and paint that one. Someday.

I liked this project because even a gal with piss poor building skills with good tools, can build a sturdy, straight bookcase that even impressed the real builders in the family. I also saved a bit of trash from going into the landfill. Best of all it was FREE!