Feb 28, 2011

Hello and welcome.

The end of the month is usually an exciting time for treasure hunters, and tonight's hunt was especially fruitful. Check it out!

(Lisgar, west of Metcalfe)

This looks like one of the nicest chairs I've seen in the garbage. There's actually another one just like it in the background, behind some other interesting pieces (including a shelfless desk, an accompanying chair, and some table tops).

(Lewis east of Cartier)

As you can see, this stuff isn't in the greatest condition, but I figured the item in front is sufficiently unique to merit being posted. I've seen plenty of sofa beds in the past, but never a chair bed! Maybe this is more common than I had realized, but either way, to me the idea was unheard of.

On a related note, I also saw what appeared to be a recliner couch elsewhere, but it seemed to be in even worse condition than this bunch, so I didn't bother photographing it. Also, I didn't want your Garbagems experience to be too mind-blowing.

(Cooper, west of Elgin)

So apparently if you're throwing out a desk, the fashionable thing to do is to remove all the drawers. Though from the one remaining example, we can see that the drawer's dimensions don't match the facade. I have very little patience for such dishonest storage units, so I guess it's no big loss.

In case you didn't notice, there's also a very charming vinyl cube-shaped bag resembling a dog's head.

(Maclaren, west of MacDonald)

If you don't know who Joe Fafard is, then judging by this poster, you might assume he's a cow who works for ING. Well that's a pretty good assumption, but it turns out he's actually a bovine NDP representative.

But seriously, this is a pretty high quality poster, mounted on some kind of foam board, giving it structural integrity while keeping it lightweight. There's also a leather / leatherette / pleather* love seat behind it, but it didn't seem very lightweight.

*Note: In case you were unaware of the difference, pleather means fake leather; leatherette means female leather. I'm pretty sure, anyway...

(Maclaren, west of Elgin)

That's a lot of shelves! I decided to post this mostly for the sake of novelty, but you might see something that interests you. Naturally, I'm wondering what happened to all the crap that once inhabited these shelves.

(Metcalfe, south of Lisgar)

I once saw a wicked set of chairs in this same location, and like always, I took a photo and went home. After losing several hours of sleep, tormented by the thought of such precious gems ending up in a landfill for the remainder of eternity, I decided to go back and pick them up. To my surprise, they were already gone.

Please learn from my mistake.

(Maclaren, east of Metcalfe)

This is a very nice table. From the photo, it looks a little worn, but that's mostly due to snow. I would say it was one of the best finds of the night.

(O'Connor, north of Somerset)

This struck me as a particularly interesting item. It appears to be a futon without a mattress, but what really caught my eye were the arms. I'm not sure if they're designed to be end tables or wings, but either way, they look pretty snazzy... and aerodynamic.

There's also a very charming table in the back. Here's a closer look:


It was hard to get a shot that accurately displayed the quality craftsmanship and oddly impressive condition of this table. Although half of them are obscured by the snow, all of the legs appeared to be connected in the right place.

You may also notice the bicycle post on the right, which includes some helpful directions for those of us who just can't figure out how to use one of these: "Lock bicycle to post." - City of Ottawa

Thanks, Ottawa!