Shopping for Salvaged Goods

This time last month we went up to visit our site—and we got a lot accomplished in the three days we spent out of state. Namely, signing a contract with our builder, visiting area banks to chat about construction loans (different than mortgages!), and visiting a local salvaged materials store. The latter, of course, being my favorite stop of the weekend!

For those who may not know, a salvaged materials store is THE place to find used wood, stone, tile, doors, windows, mantels, hardware, furniture, etc. As old buildings are demolished or rebuilt, these materials make it out of the house and into one of these stores—before they make it to a landfill. Heaven on earth for any green homebuilder.

We are considering using salvaged materials in a few areas of our home. In particular, we have in mind some sort of large windows we could use to close off our master bedroom in the loft. The entire second floor has a railing open to below, except our bedroom which has a half wall. We’d like to build windows in above the half wall to create a bit of privacy when company is in town. Our thought is that these windows would be able to hinge open during the day or when it’s just us in the house. We found lots of beautiful windows, but not many that fit our criteria. (Shutters are another option we’re considering for this space.)




We are also looking for a wash table to use as the base for a sink in our first floor bathoom. Our thought is to place a simple sink bowl on top of the wash table and use a wall-mounted faucet, an idea we adapted from one of our most frequented blogs. We found a wash table we liked, but it was a bit out of our price range.


As we visit more recycled building materials stores, we’ll also keep an eye out for kitchen cabinets and a sliding barn door (to use as the master bedroom door).