apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I wish this idea had come before the bedbug epidemic. I'm too scared to pick up stuff off the street these days.

OH MY GOD i just scanned my way through their newist finds and there was the most daring little Bombay Co. Tea Table! it has bee exactly what ive been looking for! a little TLC and it would be great to place the scotch and glasses! :(

too bad there are some lovely finds pictured on this particular entry, but no location or time to go with them....

So this is different than NY Scavenger in that you must go to a separate blog to see the items being listed along with their information. Is this post just an ad for another blog or will this be a regularly featured item within Apartmenttherapy.com?

That's really cool, except I wonder if the stuff stays on the curb long enough to make the site useful. In my neighborhood things go really fast and I'm in a place with *much* less foot traffic than NYC.

I'm chuckling because here on Deer Isle, Maine half the "antiques" stores scavenge the dump and resell the stuff in their stores! We found an incredible patio table that is stenciled all around for $2 at a yard sale (the owner found it guess where? The Dump!).
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

I think this might be more useful if it were a little service that could send you text alerts about new stuff with the time and location. Even better if you could specify which neighborhoods or areas and type of item you're interested in.

I'll second the bedbug comment with a little story. While walking back from dinner last summer, my sister and I noticed a stack of seven or eight stretcher canvases in perfect condition. We split them up and carried them down the block to my apt in Sunnyside. Before taking them upstairs, we paused at the entrance to my building and I said to my sister, "Let's give these a good slam against the wall, just in case." No less than 5 different species crawled out of the wood -- white ones, red ones, brown ones! We could not believe our eyes.

I'm sorry guys, but take home stuff from the curb with caution. Years ago I lugged home chairs, bookshelves, even artwork found outside on garbage day. No more. Any money saved could end up being spent on exterminators.

this is probably a stupid question, but do bedbugs live in just upholstered furniture, or is solid wood furniture at risk too? is there a cheap/easy way to get rid of them before you take the furniture into your apt (ie spray it down with something?)

yeah, I am sure this seemed like a good idea in theory.
but some smart reasons why freecycle doesn't allow posts for 'curbed' items:
-you get there and the item is gone.
-uh, it will rain and the item gets ruined.
-evidently, people have been known to fight over free stuff in the street.
-This is random, but rumor has it a guy moved his stuff from a storage space to the sidewalk just to clean his storage. People began taking his stuff.

In addition to upholstery, bedbugs can live in wood cracks, corners, you name it. And even if there are no live bugs, there could be eggs.

amers, bedbugs can be in almost anything - I've heard of exterminators finding them in alarm clocks. And they can live without feeding for a ridiculous length of time - up to a year. I'm in NYC and I have dropped the practice of curbside scavenging altogether.

I'm going to join the party-pooper bandwagon. It's just not worth the bedbug risk. Unless you are going to put these items in real, professional quarantine somewhere, it doesn't make sense.

Sadness.

well, i hate to bring this up but as a homeowner in san francisco, i've received notices from the city for items *other people* have left out in front of my building. the only tree on the block happens to be in front of our place and people apparently like to use it as a place to drop off their mostly useless items.

let's face it, most of the stuff you see on the street is crap. i like a good find (especially a free one) as much as the next person but most things people tend to leave out on the street are not awesome: futons and mattresses, old computer monitors, old microwaves, broken chairs, old TV's, stained cat-clawed sofas... and yes, the occasional piece of furniture that can be turned into something nice with some elbow grease.

but this is comes at a cost. our quality of life suffers when our streets are filled with garbage that other people are too lazy or irresponsible to dispose of properly.

i'm a bit disappointed to see apartment therapy endorsing this un-neighborly practice.

folks, find a thrift store that accepts donations and donate your items. you get a tax write-off, the streets are free of clutter and folks like me don't have to spend their time navigating the city's bureaucracy to have a notice/fine cleared up. and, in addition, the money people pay to buy your item at the thrift store will help a worthy cause.

Oh, for the days before bedbugs when I decorated entire apartments (fabulously) with the Gifts of the Garbage Goddess.

Alas, alas. There's just no way. Even thrift stores are just too scary now.

Has anyone checked out freecycle.org/?
You can post your curb alerts or things you're giving away, along with things you've been looking for. It's neighborhood specific too - and you can get a daily newsletter with all of the newest freebies offered.

silvertoes- while a lot of things on this site could be considered ads, this is obviously just a link to a cool/possibly useful site... I doubt AT would start a blogger blog and there are no ads on it.

bltaug3 -- In NYC freecycle is difficult because there are so many people. It's great if you have a specific item and ask people if they're giving it away. Otherwise, chances are you'll never receive a response to your e-mail unless you catch them 3 seconds after they post-- Also, they don't allow you to post curb alerts.

I recently found an awesome old sewing machine on the street. If it hadn't been sitting outside the church, I wouldn't have picked it up and I haven't had any problems with bed bugs since getting it thankfully. I'm totally going to have to stop picking things up off the street, though. I've been lucky, but it's just not worth the risk... especially after
mjkitty7nyc's story. I live in Sunnyside. : /