Housing Works auction items: page 4

 TIMOTHY cart

Found: 88 Bergen St between Hoyt and Smith Sts, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn; Sept 19 at 11pm

Yikes: This aluminum rolling cart was utterly caked with old, dried curry. We took it to a carwash and powered off all the food remains, then had two pieces of pine cut at Lowes to form the two butcher-block tabletops. We then spray-painted the rack with metal primer and white paint.

Materials: Shell-station car wash, Third Ave at Bergen St; pine from Lowe’s

Recommended starting bid: $30

WINNING BID: $63

Found: E 75th St at First Ave, Oct 2 at 2:45pm

It was just a run-of-the-mill bag that had been tossed, but since it had such an interesting graphic, we thought it would look great in a frame. We had a piece of glass cut, and used a black frame made by Nielsen Bainbridge. Everyday printed material like flyers and menus can look great under glass.

Materials: Frame and glass from Pearl Paint (308 Canal St between Broadway and Church St, 212-431-7932)

Recommended starting bid: $40

WINNING BID: $219

Found: W 79th St between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave, Sept 29 at 10:15pm

These boards were too outdated to be of use to an actual skier. We attached two L-brackets to each ski, making them into perfect bookshelves—especially for a collection of old Penguin paperbacks.

Materials: L-brackets from Home Depot

Recommended starting bid: $20

WINNING BID: $67

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BRUCE paperweight

Found: Seventh Ave at 5th St, Park Slope, Brooklyn; Sept 28 at 3pm

Normally, we’d steer clear of a discarded bagel. But we had the idea of mixing up some plaster of paris and pouring it over the bagel to make a paperweight, à la the Kiki Bridges character’s artwork in Scorsese’s After Hours. Perfect for a New York office.

Materials: Plaster of paris from Home Depot

Recommended starting bid: $5

NOT AVAILABLE

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 NANCY door handles

Found: E 68th St between Second and Third Aves, Oct 3 at 9am

This teak napkin holder had loose dowels. We removed them with pliers and attached opposing L-brackets to each half, creating two door handles like the ones Alvar Aalto once made for the Stockmann store in Helsinki.

Materials: L-brackets at Home Depot

Recommended starting bid: $25

WINNING BID: $25

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 LEANNE table

Found: E 75th St at Third Ave, Sept 27at 3pm

The decorator’s table was missing the glass top, and it needed to be draped with fabric. We found a beautiful old Pierre Frey chintz, draped it over the table, surged the edges and had a glass top made.

Materials: Glass from Mega Glass (51 Fifth Ave between Bergen St and St. Marks Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-638-7511); chintz from Park Slope’s Seventh Avenue flea market.

Recommended starting bid: $20

Item did not sell

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 CLARE magnetic ashtray

Found: Hudson St at 10th St, Sept 30 at 1pm

Seeing past this object’s dirt and orange peeling paint, we sanded it with steel wool and applied paint thinner. Then we primed it with Rust-Oleum metal primer and spray-painted it white.

Materials: Paint, primer, paint thinner and steel wool from Home Depot

Recommended starting bid: $15

WINNING BID: $64