Shockingly, according to the EPA, home construction and demolition projects produce 58 million tons of waste annually, 90% of which could be reused. If you renovate, consider donating your discarded materials (doors, toilets, cabinets, sinks, light fixtures, tile, and more) to one of the re-use centers in your town. I donate all of the unwanted items out of the homes I renovate to the Habitat for Humanity Restores in my area. For the small task of driving the donations to the store you get a sizable tax deduction, and the proceeds from resale often go to community charities. Habitat for Humanity builds homes for families in need as well as many other considerable nationwide charitable actions. Many donation centers also sell donated home supplies to the public at a discount. So, while you’re there dropping off your unwanted items you can look around for anything you might need to complete your home upgrade and save some cash at the same time. Here are some items I have found and put to good use in my homes:
The bathroom cabinet in this picture is one of the many great items I have found at Habitat for Humanity. It was brand new and the perfect size for the spare bathroom in the Culver Canal home. I used travertine tile for the countertop and put in a vessel sink. I still came way under budget for this bath renovation. It’s a great feeling when you can achieve a great look for less!
The vanity light in this picture is also a Habitat for Humanity find. I actually found the vanity light base (without the glass) at one store and found the 2 glass bulbs at another HFH store. Plus, I found 3 more similar styled hallway lights that were BRAND NEW and were useful for the hallway lighting.
This lighter bathroom cabinet was also a Habitat for Humanity find. It went into the master bathroom at the Culver Canal home and with the savings I was able to outfit the bathroom with travertine tile flooring and a few extras like this white vessel sink and fancy faucet. I also chopped off the bottom of a desk I found and re-purposed the top into a counter top for this bath vanity… And I got the desk for free! With a little elbow grease, stain and Polycrylic it was a perfect fit for this bathroom.
You too can design on a budget! You can find a lot of useful items at these stores that are really inexpensive. Make sure you call about the stores sale days. I went on a day when everything was 50% off and I hit all 3 stores in our area on the same day. In one trip I found all of these treasures and many more. Re-use, repurpose and help others is a great combination for me! Find a re-use center near you at Habitat for Humanity or your local directory. You can also google “donate housing materials” and your city’s name and you should be able to find a donation center near you.
If you liked this post please support me by following one of my social sites or signing up for my newsletter below. Happy Renovating!
You must be logged in to post a comment.