How to Nail Street Scavenging

One would kick off this article by saying, “nothing beats a street find”, but let’s be honest – many things beat a street find. A sweaty kiss in the summer sun with someone you know to be at least 30% sexier than you; a gin soaked swing dance with your tail in the air; or even those last few kernels of pistachio nuts rattling around like old bones in the bottom of the cupboard, when you truly believed that all the snacks were gone. Fine. But nonetheless, a banging hot street find is still worthy of a little arse shaking and a hooplah. Because for one thing, it’s FREE!

Not to stereotype myself, but really, Scott’s are as tight as a firmly pursed set of withered lips. Give me a bargain, give me a discount, or sling your hook! My favourite place in Mannheim, Germany, well, even in Europe (aside from Paris) may well be the massive, curiously smelling warehouse that is Markthaus. Oh God, if you could see it! Meters upon meters of second hand bliss! Painted gypsy plates stacked up to your moist armpits! Fake flowers by the bundle draping flirtatiously from shelves of vintage heaven! And more colourful vases than you could hope to swing your dick at, even at if you spent your entire life in that pursuit. Power to you. Just to see it, you would thrust yourself into a powerful stretch, and hang the muscle strains.

So you have a feeling for my love of the cheap. Imagine then, the bliss, the glory, oh, the knee shaking joy, to come across such a treasure as this! Could it be Persian? Most likely not. Could it be Turkish? I’ll take it. For here it is, this carpet of dreams. Cream and blue and perfect, and nestled away on my un-hoovered floor like it was destined to be there. I’ll admit, I put up a bit of a fight about bringing her home. “Sniff her!”, I cried. “Smell the hell out of that bastard, because if I detect even one whiff of shite it’s staying on the street!”. Fortunately for me (and the carpet), she smelt of nothing more than slight depression and a faint hint of cat, and so now she resides majestically in the snug. Kudos to my extra handsome Brazilian for insisting on bringing home this particular stray, as I always have a somewhat creepy vibe about second hand feet fabric. I love me a vintage frock, but there’s something about a fiber that’s had a stranger’s hooves (most likely bare) slapping freely on it that gives me the shudders.

But feet phobia aside, I actually find so many totally delicious treasures from the urban terrace, that I think it’s worth listing a few pointers to help you do the same.

• Keep those beady eyes of yours peeled! Hard rubbish days, especially in Germany (for someone that still, pathetically, does not speak fluent German), can be confusing. I’m not the type of girl to drool over council announcements and get damp in the nether regions over the next recycling committee, and so I purely rely on spotting a dashing chair or disheveled lamp lying wantonly on a street corner to alert my scavenging brain.

• Spot one, start the hunt! If you see at least one house with a pile of, albeit relatively crappy goods panting on the doorstep, most likely it’s hard rubbish day! So don’t be put off by a dreary batch or two, go for a sunset walk around the neighborhood and see if there are any other goodies to be found. Bring a coffee or a nip of rum and your headphones to whisper you some suitably inspiring songs, and make the most of your monthly free fest.

• Look for the shiny things. It is really unbelievable what people will throw out. Most of the time, it’s true, that the vast majority of hard rubbish is piss stained mattresses, broken IKEA bookshelves and inexplicably abundant piles of apparently miscellaneous plywood. HOWEVER! Catch yourself a cheeky gleam of porcelain, or the faintest twinkle of glass, and you may well have on your hands a completely cleanable, totally adorable piece of crockery, or even a vintage vase or two. A solid 15% of my kitchen ware has been provided by my wasteful neighbors, for which I will be forever grateful.

• Check that wood. Seriously, check that wood! As afore mentioned, if you go poking around in a skip or a dingy doorstep, you’ll most likely be rewarded with regurgitated, simpering matter that could no more be sat on than it could blow you a kiss. But swivel those peepers around fervently enough and you may well encounter a solid piece of oak or a slab of maple left saucily on a street corner. Sometimes if people are doing a clear out they just don’t have time to take the good stuff to the charity shop, so little gems can pop up for free.

• Take a good sniff. If it’s been left outside, you have three possibilities:

One: It’s completely fine! Those lovely people just didn’t have room in their mansion of dreams anymore for those gorgeous things, and so they’ve left it out for equally marvelous people to find it and take home to enrich their lives. Brilliant! Or maybe, maybe, they’re just moving house and didn’t love their plates/bookshelf/banjo enough to bring it with them. Your. Lucky. Day.

Two: It’s broken/over worn. Who is vile enough to donate a pair of used knickers that have been taken round the track so many times that you may as well call them a colander? Not all of us, but definitely some! A lot of stuff left on the street is there for a good reason – it’s had its glory day, and now it’s time to go to the junkyard in the sky, or ideally, a massive eco-friendly bin.

Three: It’s cursed. Sorry man, but this one you need to leave behind. It may look like the perfect Victorian writing desk, but if you get a sly sliver of ghostly misery shooting up your arm as soon as you rest your fingers on the mahogany drawers, most likely it will come back to haunt you. I strongly advise that all seemingly blank faced dolls, levitating leather armchairs and shrieking black and white portraits are left on the street.

So, sweethearts! Happy hunting and delicious discoveries for you all! Feel free to share any fabulous finds on here, or indeed a brush with the afterlife in a pill box if it comes across your path.

Beloveds, farewell xxx

P.S – Can’t be arsed hunting for treasures on the street? Pick up some sweet gypsy goodies at https://www.etsy.com/shop/IntoOpheliasGarden?ref=hdr_shop_menu and save yourself some mileage!