Salvàge

Bid on these items—and more!—now. Be generous: All proceeds go to Housing Works.
UPDATE: The auction has closed, and our bidders raised a grand total of $3,893.50 to benefit Housing Works.



kingly customized luggage
A rock-steady task lamp
A pimped-out couch
…and more!

Start browsing:

• Page 1: Items 1-5
• Page 2: Items 6-11
• Page 3: Items 12-19
• Page 4: Items 20-28

A word from the renovators

Because the city’s inhabitants are constantly renewing and reinventing their lives, and because practically nobody has enough space to store all their stuff, the streets of New York are dotted with castoffs and detritus. This “junk” can often be resurrected to its former glory—or even stylishly reinterpreted. Your neighbor’s trash could be your next dining set or light fixture.

To prove this point, we roamed the town for two weeks—rigged out with hope, garbage-truck schedules and a few gallons of hand sanitizer—to gather abandoned diamonds in the rough. The Upper East Side didn’t provide much material, so we had to get creative with an old Bloomingdale’s bag. The Upper West Side was better—especially on Thursday nights, for some reason. The Lower East Side must have the city’s smallest apartments; the sidewalks are spilling over with prematurely tossed treasures.

With so many brownstone renovations and condo conversions going on in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, temporary Dumpsters are a reliable source there. And the whole borough is great on trash collection day.

But it’s not only about the garbage schedule. Tables, chairs, various cuts of lumber, milk cartons and bagels are always out there for the taking. Yes, bagels; we covered one with plaster of paris to make a great paperweight. With the right materials and a little imagination, even stale breakfast items can be turned into home brighteners.—Linda and John Meyers, Wary Meyers Decorative Arts (warymeyers.com)