Should you decorate your home with trash from the streets?

This college student found a great cast-off painting in a dumpster.

Those who know me realize that I care deeply about home design. A great interior can inspire a great life; a bad interior can bring you down. If you come home to a sanctuary that is personable, inviting, comforting, and both stimulating and relaxing -- in balance -- then you will be able to recharge your batteries and take tomorrow's challenges head on with gusto.

So why would I be "talking trash" when it comes to home decorating and design? I live in the Upper West Side (or UWS) of Manhattan, a very residential part of the City not unlike most residential neighborhoods everywhere. And on trash day, I can find practically anything put out on the streets: sofas, chairs, tables, bookshelves, desks, lamps, bulletin boards, beds and headboards, mattresses, art, and accessories. Some of these materials deserve another decorating cycle in someone's home, apartment, vacation place, or dorm room.

I posted a video on YouTube a few years ago called Freegan Finds, and it sparked many comments. I took a video of the trash (and treasures) put out for the sanitation crews to haul away, and people started to share their own experiences. The freegan movement is the art of "dumpster diving" brought to a higher social level. Many individuals and families, it turns out, dumpster dive for food and find perfectly wonderful, intact foodstuffs thrown out unopened. When I took my original video, I was repelled by the idea of recycling food, but my thinking has evolved. One young man just wrote to me:

I started raiding a bin today and this is what i found.
3 packs of blueberries
2 packets of pecan cookies
2 packets of donuts
iced buns
8 nets of minneloas (oranges)
cheddar
bacon
steak
lemons
leak
sugar
I think thats pretty good for my first time and i can't wait to do it next saturday. That might sound weird but i actually enjoyed the hunting element to it.

Today's economy may be forcing some people to turn to trash bins and someone else's cast-off items for survival. While I haven't yet gone diving for food, I have found some amazing items by the side of the street, waiting to be hauled away, and brought them home for decorating. An amazing oil painting by Rufino Tamayo was discovered in the trash in Manhattan, and it is likely worth a million dollars (see photo). The painting I found one morning while walking down the street of an old lady bent over a cane, hobbling through the streets of an abstract village isn't worth a million dollars. But it was free, attractive, and perfect for a nice wall grouping of other low-cost oil paintings that I've accumulated over the years from antique stores, flea markets, and country auctions.

Here are my freegan decorating recommendations:

1. Don't be a snob. There are great items that people throw away, and you could provide a great new home for them.
2. Be discerning. Just because something is free doesn't mean it's going to work in your home or that it should be in anyone's home. So use some commonsense and throw in a dollup of good taste.
3. Be cautious of upholstered items. Sofas, cushions, pillows, and other soft goods may have become infested with little insects and other critters while they spend time outside. There are ways to reupholster furniture if you're into do-it-yourself projects, so knock yourself out. I also have friends who have used fumigating bombs and other pest-nuking systems to make freegan soft goods safe for home use again.
4. Steer clear of old mattresses. I draw the line on recycling someone else's old mattress. I believe in a great night's sleep, and money should be no object when it comes to a new mattress.
5. Broken items like old china and chipped vases can be handily recycled with a little work. I've seen old china broken up with a hammer and the pieces inserted mosaic-style into new tabletops, decorative walkways and stepping stones, and works of art. How creative are you or how bitten by the DIY bug can you get?
6. Use Gorilla Glue or another strong adhesive to make sure chair and furniture parts are sturdy and strong once again.
7. Upholstery cleaner is a must-have for bringing old upholstery to life again. Likewise bring new life to furniture with a good product that nourishes the wood and brings out the grain. When in doubt about what to buy, look for cleaning materials that are natural, organic, and as free of harmful chemicals as possible.
8. Steer clear of recycling old wall-to-wall carpet. Most nylon carpeting houses zillions of dust mites, provoking existing allergies; so unless you love itchy eyes and runny noses, stay away. I also don't like the pollution that most commercial carpeting brings into the home, off-gassing chemicals into the air that you and your family breathe. But here's a chance to do a good deed -- check to see if there are any nylon carpet recycling centers near where you life and if there are some nearby options, tip off the folks throwing the old carpeting to the curb that there is a way to recycle the old product rather than waste landfill space.
9. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint will turn an old bookcase, chair, or table into something really fun for your home.
10. I have friends who took old pop-top rings from softdrink cans, used wire to attach them into long strings, and made some mod room dividers. African craftspeople have long been using discarded bleach bottles, telephone cable wire, aluminum cans, old bottles, and other trash into beautiful objects. I now regret not picking up an old piano keyboard that was in last month's trash. I could have made a great frame for it and it would have been a wonderful horizontal piece of art on my wall. An old door could be recycled as a tabletop. Look for opportunities to use your creativity with found objects, and even if you're not struck with an immediate use for something you spot on the streets, take it home if you find it appealing. Store away some of these items until the right inspirational idea strikes.

I like my young freegan's observation that there is an enjoyable hunting element to finding treasures in someone else's trash. Have fun hunting, and keep your eyes open for something you can bring home, too. For inspiration and some basic information about freegans, read the excellent New York Times article Not Buying It.