This challenge started and ended a loooooong time ago, but you still get to enjoy the freestyle finds that went in to making this grad student bedroom and functional and low-cost space.
My original goal was to find as many of the following items as possible:
-desk
-mirror
-dresser
-bedside table
-metal bed frame, full or queen size
-shelving, (for closet or bedroom)
-desk lamp
-other light fixtures
-hangers for closet
Below is the story of how we ended up with this fully functional dresser, for free!
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One of the first finds for The Challenge was a wooden dresser, from only 1 block away. It is a solid piece with nice lines and all drawers intact, only missing some drawer pulls. I think this dresser may have been sitting in a basement before coming in our life. Once we hauled it home (thank goodness it was so close) the dresser got a thorough cleaning and a few days of baking powder treatment to absorb any lingering musty odors.
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| The ornate outline of the missing drawer pull hardware is visible on the drawer front. |
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| Putting other FREESTYLE drawer pulls into service. |
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| Detail: drawer pull originally salvaged from a discarded dresser in Brookline, reused for this dresser. |
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| Detail: drawer pull from a previous find, reused for this dresser. |
Some of the drawer corners were a bit loose so they got a glue treatment.
There were a few of these cool old porcelain knobs on the dresser when we found it. Below is a comparison, the knob on the left shows the original condition, the knob on the right has been cleaned.
Below is a detail of the top section.
Voila! The finished dresser, in service on a sunny afternoon.
Happy freestyling!