I arrived in Massachusetts four years ago with 3 large storage units of furniture, belongings and painting/art studio items from my Asheville home and gallery. My goal was to begin living an even more sustainable tiny life.

It has taken those four years to down size and smart size in preparation for moving into my tiny house when its finished. Believe me, it is a challenge to make sure that every item is sold, repaired, repurposed, given away, composted and recycled without any of it ending up in a landfill.

But what is really great about this process are the emotional and creative experiences gained with the benefits of all kinds of community engagement.

Last year I inspired my local U-haul storage facility to set aside an area near all the interior storage units where folks could leave stuff they didn’t want instead of filling a dumpster destined for a landfill. I am specifically looking for items that are beautiful in design, functionality, easily repaired, and easily eco-refurbished. Here’s my latest find:

These stackable stools after I cleaned off all the mildew and grease would probably be great for most folks as is. They have a few small repairable scars I’ll deal with and then I hope to transform them into more playful and very light furniture for the Silver Bullet.

As I am finishing my interior with a whitish pickled surface, I will strip them, pickle them and rub a low VOC varnish into them. Maybe I’ll paint the other two the color of my double doors, one of my favorite greens.

So that the stools don’t chafe each other or the new tiny house floor while traveling , I’m attaching felt sections on the legs.

Here’s how they turned out, pretty good for my first project, eh?