This storage cube is my favourite piece of furniture at my house (I think).  And I got it for free.

About 3 years ago Elise and I truly got into the ‘hard rubbish spirit’ and took a trailer with us to Boroondara hard rubbish. This was the first thing we picked up.  Someone had used this shelving unit in their laundry at some stage (they had some labels stuck on relating to laundry storage).

To fix it up I hardly did anything.

I removed the labels, washed it, sanded back the raw timber sections, lightly sanded over the sides that were half timber and half paint just to make them smooth … and then gave the whole thing a wax.

It was obviously painted orange at one stage, then painted over with mustardy yellow, and inside the white paint has a slightly pink hue, with a bit of maroon peeking through.  And you’d think all these colours would look yuk together … but they don’t.  I think the timber pulls it all together somehow!

And they are so handy.  I have 6 white Ikea baskets that happened to fit perfectly in them.  I use these for ‘front door storage’.  The swimming bag (with goggles etc) lives in one.  Two have ‘shopping bags’, one has umbrellas and the like.

I have an empty hole for library books, so I know where they are.  And I also use it to store all my magazines.  I have a good collection of home magazines that I regularly look at to cheer me up and inspire me.

On top of the shelves sits a little white set of drawers  that came from Darebin hard rubbish last year.  I keep things like keys and headphones in these.  And these drawers had even less work done to them.  Just a wash.  I love the handles on them, cute and a bit corny.  When I found them they were full of garage stuff (screws and bolts etc.).

And on topof  these is a plant and a blue basket, second hand of course.  I use it to store ‘things to go back to other people’.  I have an interest in old cane baskets with a blue stripe in them … some things a person just can’t pass by.

This all sits at my front door (clearly).  And I think it is an appropriate welcome to my house and my second hand life!!