shop peek: reuse hawaii warehouse

while home this winter, the mister and i finally had a chance to pop into the reuse hawaii warehouse to marvel at all the wonderful discoveries saved from deconstruction projects around the island. (tax day tie-in: material donations are deductible if your nest happens to be in need of a renovation.)

our dear friend selina co-founded reuse with her sweetie quinn a few years ago (their lovely cottage overlooking the honolulu city lights is a gorgeous lesson in decorating with roadside castoffs and warehouse finds), and the combined sweat equity of their crew has created one of the most eco-friendly resources on oahu for designers and diy-ers.

since reuse opened its doors, the coconut wire has shared stories of furniture designers crafting pieces out of reclaimed wood, eco-friendly event planners upcycling discoveries into rustic centerpieces intended to become post-bash planter boxes, and a friend's hubby who cobbled together their hillside chicken coop after a reuse shopping trip. and, more than a few indie shopkeepers have scouted reuse for supplies to transform into a charming perch for their merch.

with an ever changing inventory, chances are a delightful surprise is waiting in one of the many warehouse aisles which woo with salvaged flooring and doors, vintage delights from industrial light fixtures to old timey glass door knobs, boxes of ceramic tiles, bins of hardware, an outdoor lumber yard, and the occasional curious find.

join me for a tour after the jump!

happy hardware holdalls

charming french doors & vintage cupboards

project possibility?

while lounging by the warehouse entrance, my camera snapped a little boat which seemed just right for recreating this dreamy pillow filled boat hearted on my pinterest (mahalo betty for pinning!).

new arrivals can be peeked online (oh, how i coveted the gorgeous farmhouse sink rescued from shangri la last year) but do remember that the first shopper to show up at the warehouse scoops up the goods.

• where: 200 keawe street, kaka'ako
• shop hours: mon to fri, 8a to 6p & sat, 9a to 4p

p.s. reuse is always on the lookout for good peeps so click over to the job board to inquire about joining the team.

building salvation

yay! re-use hawaii, a non-profit which a friend recently co-founded as a way to bring sustainable deconstruction to the islands has been getting some much deserved buzz lately. it just may be the first organization of its kind in hawaii offering a much needed alternative to sending vast amounts of construction waste to hawaii's ever shrinking landfills.

if you're not familiar with the process, after a site inspection, the re-use hawaii team breaks down a structure in a way that allows as much of the building materials as possible to be reused or recycled. salvaged materials can be purchased by the public at a fraction of the cost of buying virgin products thus reducing the impact of projects made from secondhand lumber, etc. by conserving energy and natural resources.

[after all, trees don't magically transform themselves into 2x4's. it takes a significant amount of manpower and machines (and lots of water and energy) to get it from the forest to your neighborhood home center.]

of course, not everyone has a building waiting to be deconstructed but re-use hawaii is definitely a
resource that should be on the radar of all island architects, contractors & designers for future clients concerned about the impact their projects will have on the local environment. and, if a different kind of green makes your world go round, you will be happy to know that donated materials are also eligible for a tax deduction.

take a peek behind the scenes via the rh project gallery.