The more I become aware of my own and my family's 'environmental footprint', the more I freak out about the amount of waste we all must burden our world with...every single day. Starting from a single bread loaf that for some reason has to ALWAYS come in a plastic package of some sort these days (more sanitary, right?), going through all the old computers (please wait a couple of days and you'll see how much e-waste we captured back in Vegas one day), clothes and...furniture. Can you imagine the toll of one single person and one single household on our fragile world? And what about all of us? What about cars, fuel, and...whims. 'Honey, I don't like this couch any more. We should buy a new one.' Yes, sometimes you'll sell the old one off but often you might just toss it on the road-side and wait for the garbage truck to pick it up.
Well, coming to a whole new country, not only did we have a concern about how much money to spend on all the new stuff we had to buy, but also we were mindful of how much more garbage we were going to generate. Additionally, having spent a couple of years in the 'old world' and...losing some dear to us people from our ancestors, we came to appreciate older stuff that much more. Rarely nowadays does a 'modern home' emit as much warmth and home-y-ness as the history of the past. So I present to you some of our home, which we furnished from scratch for under $1000 (which includes a fridge and a washing machine). This is what we now call home...
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| Couches are $50 each. Table is a box for $5. Small table is off the road-side with a wine box on top. Rug is a blanket/throw. |
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| Table with chairs - $25 for all. Small table in the back is a vintage table off an oooold house - next to free. Armchair as well. Stand on the left is $30-new. Stereo is $30 from a total Australian white trash. Candle-holder is $3! Tray with tea-pot was $10 from a garage sale. It's actually silver with a stamp! |
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| Kids' labour is free :) |
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| I had to have this plate! It's awesome for serving sushi. |
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| This stand is totally DIY made from pallets, purchased second-hand. |
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| Sami's tent is new. The carpet we brought from the UK (crazy). The fire-truck was $5 (new but reduced by mistake at the store). And the $20 bed, alkA sanded down and re-painted. |
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| This vase was super expensive but we loved it too much. |
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| Balcony furniture was a gift. |
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| Here's our exceptional late 1920's (top right sticker says 14-3-31) French box-suitcase for which I talked a woman down from $50 to $10. It has customs stamps from Canada, France, Alger, Scotland and...ended up in Australia. |
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| Vases were next to free. The pot-holder ladder on the balcony was at the road-side. |
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| Reuse! Reduce! Relove! Reenjoy! Live with history! |
