Enviro Girl was at a party the other night and again found herself explaining Habitat ReStore to someone. It blows her mind that everyone living in her area isn’t already aware of this awesome shop. When a Dunkin’ Donuts opens up, people line up around the block. But Habitat ReStore, a place twice as fabulous as any donut shop, still seems to fly under everyone’s radar.
Habitat ReStore collects and sells new, used, and salvaged goods for your home. The proceeds from this amazing organization benefit Habitat for Humanity. Enviro Girl is in love with Habitat Restore because it’s the ultimate thrift shop for DIY fans. Their stock is always changing and she’s found some amazing stuff at her local Habitat Restore, including:
- paint
- plumbing fixtures
- furniture (tables, desks, shelving units, chairs, even old school lockers and theater seats)
- doors
- windows
- screens
- hardware
- tools
- lumber
- cabinets
Enviro Girl snagged two headboards for her sons’ bedroom and, with some leftover paint in her basement, transformed their room for $14. She scored four colorful vintage faucets for $1 which she re-purposed for hooks. She’s found fencing, outlet plates, flooring, and light bulbs at her local Habitat ReStore. Since most of their stock is either brand new or vintage, any creative person can find resources to make or build according to their taste. By reselling donated goods with donated time, Habitat ReStore operates with low overhead and sells its products at unbelievably cheap prices. Anyone starting a home-improvement project is foolish not to start at one before heading to a traditional hardware store or lumber yard.
Enviro Girl has seen some clever ideas online (she’s talking to you, Pinterest) and Habitat ReStore almost always has the supplies she needs to build a garden bench, wall art, or storage nooks. Plus, when working with vintage supplies instead of new materials from a big-box store, you end up with a more quality product. Old doorknobs, window frames, and shutters, for example, aren’t cheaply assembled. They’re made of cast iron or solid wood, not aluminum or plywood particle board or vinyl. Salvaged goods also look more unique than the standard materials available at almost every other building supply store.
Enviro Girl has also donated to Habitat ReStore. When cleaning out her garage last spring she discovered plenty of extra tools, a few spools of cable, and some incredibly random bits of hardware. Most thrift shops won’t have anything to do with this sort of stuff and Enviro Girl was pleased to donate it to Habitat ReStore instead of throw it out. Her local outlet also assists in property deconstruction, recycling electronics, celebrating Earth Day, and teaching people how to re-purpose salvaged goods through a variety of classes.
Habitat ReStore is environmentally friendly, too. Their mission is salvaging building materials and keeping stuff out of landfills. Whether your goal is to reduce, reuse, and recycle or save some money, it’s your spot to shop. And Enviro Girl totally supports the noble social cause of providing low-income housing. There are over 825 Habitat ReStore outlets in America. March forth and find one near you today — support their mission and our environment.
I love the Habitat ReStore in my town. Some of the materials used when we built our house came from there.
We have one in Greenville and have found goodies. Our son has a new front light courtesy of them, never used, which cost me all of $4. You can’t beat it if you can find what you need. It’s one of those places to remember to stop in from time to time and just graze~
We’ve found some great things there too. There are also some great (though much more expensive) for profit stores selling architectural salvage. There’s one in Toronto called ‘The Door Store’ where I found two vintage solid wood interior doors when we added a closet and powder room to our century home and wanted them to look like they’d always been there. We tried Habitat first, but because these doors are on the same wall, 3 feet apart, we needed two identical doors and they didn’t have them at the time. (Some advance planning and stockpiling works great when shopping at Habitat. We have a friend who found enough brand-new hardwood flooring there for his entire first floor – but he had to buy it a couple boxes at a time, and stockpile for a few months – if you do your research and make sure it’s something you can buy an extra few bits from regular retail if you need to, it’s a great solution.) I actually have to make a trip there soon to donate a few leftovers from our living room renovation.