Hie Thee to The Salvage Yard

Going to the salvage yard is not for the faint of heart.

I, of course, find it thrilling and exhilarating. It feels like the cross between a scavenger hunt and a treasure hunt ~ of course, with less alcohol and no scuba gear. Generally though, it's not the place to wear your Manolo Blahniks.

In Seattle, my salvage yards of choice are Second Use and Earthwise. Over the years, in my trips to these salvage yards, I've bought tens of thousands of dollars of items for my clients.

Once, I made the mistake of taking a client to Earthwise and she spent the entire time recoiling from the dusty items as we went through what passed for aisles. Of course, we did find amazing things, but, even now, she shudders when we chat about our "field trip" which she characterized as a day spent rummaging through grimy merchandise covered with germs the size of golf balls! 

The thing about shopping at a salvage yard is to think in terms of "how can I use this differently?" Pay attention to the design elements of the item you are considering.

The people who work in salvage are really interesting. They have a tale to tell about everything they have. I love hearing the stories behind an item. For example, in the "school of thought" that says, "it's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody good," we had an earthquake in Seattle and the wonderful glazed Terra Cotta tile cornice from West Seattle High School became a hazard and needed to be removed. When I arrived at Second Use, they had several palettes in the yard full of these fantastic tile cornices. The problem was ~ where to use them?

I didn't have anything on the boards when I saw these amazing tiles, but, I bought several of them anyway knowing if I didn't, when I needed them they wouldn't be available. That's the key to salvage ~ when you see it, buy it. It's not like buying at Lowe's or Home Depot where they can order more if you need it. When you are dealing with salvage ~ if you see it, buy it. When it's gone, it's gone.

I decided to use the West Seattle High School cornice pieces on a rather plain vanilla Mid-Century project. A project that could really benefit from a little zing. When it was done, it was the thing that set this plain vanilla house apart from its neighbor. It wasn't so fantastic as to be out of place, but, it was a remarkable answer to what could have been a very serious design problem ~ being boring.

In this project, I embraced a design convention that says ~ for strength and interest, repeat the element. Keeping that repetition in mind, the cornice tiles became the step into the spa, the hearth in the living room and the plinth around the yard lantern.

Using the West Seattle High School Terra Cotta tile cornice pieces provided a handsome solution to what could have been an otherwise ordinary house.

The moral of the story is ~ when you need that one-of-a-kind item to make your project soar, hie thee to the salvage yard.