Reduce, Reuse, Recycled Materials Stores!

We are in full materials gathering mode!! Every single day Mutt wakes up, does his cardio, then “shreds the list” looking for any new posts on Craigslist.  After that its on to sifting through emails from amazing people who have responded to our post on Craigslist.  Some days this turns into a FULL day of running all around the front range gathering supplies.  If that’s not the case for the day, then we take advantage of the wonderful recycled resource stores in the area.  Some of our favorites are ReSource in Boulder and the Habitat for Humanity ReStores all over the Front Range and Rockies. We’ve found gems at ReStore’s as far away as Glenwood Springs and Vail Valley!  We have a BIG shout out to give to another all time favorite, Uncle Benny’s in Loveland!  All of these places are full of friendly and helpful people as well as tons of treasures for us to sift through.   We have gathered everything from windows to bedding from these places.

Our front Door! (Still needs to be cut to size)

It was really important that we started with finding windows and doors so that when Mutt is ready to start building we have them and he can build accordingly.  Luckily, I have him as lead contractor on this project, because I so easily get wrapped up in all of the little details of decorating and organizing, windows and doors were not even at the top of my list!  I now know its going to be imperative that we have them when we start to build so we can plan accordingly.

Thanks Jeff in Lakewood, CO for this gem. We will be using it at the back of the house as our main window! Can’t wait to see the views from this bad boy!

With that in mind, windows it was, they were our first mission and I think we picked the coldest day in December to hit ReSource in Boulder “just to look”.  When we showed up and heard they were doing 50% off of the entire store that day for all of the people who came out to brave the weather, all bets were off, remember, WE LOVEEE A GOOD DEAL!  As we walked through their yard and the sifted through the MANY window options ruling some out because of size, and others because of insulation, we couldn’t resist picking up a few!  We ended up with a pair of adorable non-opening, small, wood framed, double paned windows!! I’m picturing these to be perfect for the bathroom and perhaps the other for the main living room, maybe behind the wood stove (we have yet to acquire the perfect one).  This was the first major trip we took, dedicated to the Tiny House and it was a SUCCESS, there was no stopping us now!!!

This is one of the non-opening windows from ReSource Boulder, CO and another from HFH ReStore Glennwood Springs, CO

The Dado blade! Nice find, Babe!

In the beginning of January, on a trip to some Hot Springs for our anniversary, Mutt and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stop at ReStore’s in Glenwood Springs and Vail Valley.  There we were able to secure another window and one of Mutts’ best finds to date, a Dado saw blade, brand new, for $5!!! We instantly thought of Mutts’ dad Parker, knowing he would probably be the second most excited person about it, behind Mutt of course! This apple did not fall far from the tree. My favorite score from that trip however, were the $5 skis I found! Woo Hoo! I’m not sure how they will help us build our Tiny House but when I’m living in the hills I’m sure I’ll  be able to find a use for them 😉

With every find, our reality is becoming more and more real! Through our article on Craigslist we were directed to another amazing resource for recycled materials, Uncle Benny’s in Loveland, CO.  We heard from a friend that they sometimes accept trades and even will give you credit at their store as payment for useful materials.  Because we sometimes find ourselves with extra materials from our Craigslist adventures, this is appealing to us as trading is a wonderful way to help alleviate some of the costs we’re going to inevitably encore during this project.  Uncle Benny’s is a treasure in itself because of the FANTASTIC people who work there, let alone all it has to offer in materials and opportunity for us.  Uncle Benny’s has acres of yard full of adventure.  This place is piled high with every material you could think of for building a house. Some old, some new, EVERYTHING is full of character, having their own story of use before and ready to be used again! We explored for the first time overwhelmed with all of the opportunity.

On our first trip there we were able to find our bathroom sink. Finding sinks has proven to be more difficult than one would think.  Not only do we want it to look nice but it also has to be small enough to fit into our space.  This is an issue we’re really running into with most things. However, the bathroom sink we recovered is PERFECT! coming from an old RV counter piece, it came set into the counter with a stove top.  Having a good eye and keeping an open mind allowed us to see the potential in this adorable, retro, sage green RV sink. A lot of the fun is seeing the potential in pieces, I’m falling in love with the design aspects of this beautiful home.  Mutt is in the process of building us a counter top and matching shelves out of reclaimed wood from a Craigslist Friend. The sink will be finished off with a brass faucet from Luke in Englewood, CO. Just like that ta-da, a custom bathroom sink is born.

Great job Mutt!! Bathroom sink is lookin’ good!

Our second trip to Uncle Benny’s proved to be even more fruitful, believe it or not!  This time, we had some extra material to trade and Mutt was able to secure an AMAZING table saw and a double stainless steal kitchen sink, again, the perfect size for what we need! Mutt and I are huge believers in manifestation and putting positive energy into the universe, letting it come back to us.  We feel like this project is allowing this to come to fruition.  Mutt, for weeks, has been talking about needing a new, bigger, table saw to efficiently work on our house.  A few days after talking about it and finding one deal that fell through, the one he ended up with from Uncle Benny’s almost fell out of the sky and into his lap.  We couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities that are coming our way!

Mutt’s new beefy Tablesaw, ow ooowww!

If you think these finds are fun and exciting, you just better stay tuned for the stories we have for you.  When it comes to meeting new people and finding amazing finds, our Craigslist experiences top them all! I can’t wait to share with you next week some of the wonderful stories we are collecting.  I also look forward to answering some of the questions we’ve been getting along the way as far as our future plans, dos and don’ts, etc, so keep the questions and comments coming!

Thanks for keeping up with us, sending love to you all!

xoxo,

Mapes