This week I’m working on three outdoor spaces and I’m on the trail for some cool landscaping notions. One client and I already hit the Alameda Antiques fair to kick off her project (watch for an upcoming post about that), but I’ve also got a few small restaurant clients who want to develop their sidewalk appeal with seating and plants. Great excuse to get myself back to ~Building REsources~!
I hit the usual garden centers to check out planting options and conventional planters, but while I was on duty in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco I wanted to revisit the salvaged material yard off of Third and Cargo. As I recalled, they still have aisles of doors, windows, and cabinets like this thing, for example.
What was it? Intriguing! They are still stored outside – beware the season when shopping for materials here as most of it is stored in the open air. During the summer it’s totally dry.
A lot of the stuff isn’t affected by the elements, for example there is probably a square mile’s worth of large plate mirrors for the taking. My favorites, though, are all the deco bathroom fixture suites. A person could outfit a whole house, easily, with the cute pastel colored enamel and porcelain trios – tub complete with wrap-around apron, pedestal sink, and commode. Refit them with modern water-conserving fitments and you’ll have the most glamorous can in San Fran.
Best reasons to go:
Building Resources’ coolest, most unique, and most compelling offering, though, in my opinion, is their beautiful tumbled glass, tile, and pottery. Sold by the pound, you can create a dazzling effect with a layer or a mountain of sparkling, translucent, colored or clear pebbles of glass. Sizes range from pea-sized tempered pieces to larger dollar coin-sized chips in the various glass colors and mélange of broken tile and dishes. The tumbling takes the sharp edges off so that you can handle it without fear of being cut. The tempered pieces are the most inviting and fall through the fingers like coarse sand. Imagine using this in a modern rock garden, an ecosmart fireplace, in a water feature or aquarium, or as a shimmering top layer in a cool white planter…
Hidden Treasures
Of course, places like this never have the same inventory twice. On this occasion I found some pretty cobalt blue goblets missing the stems. I want them for my aforementioned residential client. They’ll hang in wire slings from an ornamental iron gate to cast blue light across her patio alcove during the day and be illuminated by candles from within after dark. I hope she loves that!
Visit Building REsources if you’re looking for most anything salvaged, but most especially for the tumbled glass – my favorite recycled product yet!
Building REsourcesP 415-285-7814
F 415-285-4689