The Cabinet Liberators

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It’s not ‘beautiful’ but it is useful!

For 3+ years, our old kitchen cabinets sat in the basement, gathering dust, taking up space.

Last week, I finally got around to removing all the stuff I’d piled inside them and moving them out into the middle of the floor so I could take photos and C.C. could put them on a social media market site.

Fifteen solid walnut kitchen cabinets. For Free.

The only caveat was, they had to take ALL of them.

And they needed to be able to carry them up from the basement and out the front door.

The first couple who arrived drove up in a big SUV trailing a small trailer. I was curious how a man and woman in their 60s, him with bad knees, her with a bad back (they told me) were going to navigate the physical labour part of the deal.

In the end, they chose not to.

The second cabinet liberators were two very fit, younger men undaunted by the prospect of carrying the cabinets up the stairs and out the door.

They filled their trailer with the first 6 cabinets and said, “We’ll have to come back for the rest.”

And they did.

Except, as they finished carrying up the 10th cabinet one of the men told me they needed to go pick up lumber and would be back. Tomorrow.

I needed to believe him so I smiled and said, “Great! See you in the morning.”

They never returned.

At first, I was ticked. I mean seriously? The deal was ALL the cabinets, not just 10 of them.

C.C. put the five remaining back up on the market site, but they were a disparate lot. There were no takers.

Finally, seeking to find value in all things, (and having no desire to rent a truck and haul them to the landfill to create more waste) I decided to make use of the remaining five.

And that’s when the true gift of The Cabinet Liberators deception became my reality.

After three days of sorting, moving, clearing out and shovelling out things that have been cluttering up the basement, I have a fabulous (albeit not beautiful) new work space where I can keep things like my big paper cutter, my Cricut, Big Shot and other paraphernalia I use occasionally. (but would probably use more often if they were more easily accessible). I also have wall space to hang some old paintings!

And here’s the thing, the man who said he was coming back for the rest of the cabinets and didn’t… I have a feeling he is carrying the guilt of lying. I could see it in his face when he told me they would be back the next day. His eyes looked down. He was flushed and gave me a nervous smile.

So… just in case he is feeling guilty, I forgive him and his partner ‘in crime’.

Ultimately, they did me a favour. Had they taken all 15, I’d be trying to figure out what to do with all the paraphernalia that needed a home.

Yes. It would have been nicer if he’d just told me the truth. But his deception only created a momentary pang of annoyance before I got to work making it work for me.

So… I set my pangs of annoyance free and embrace the feeling of gratitude and relief that comes with finding a solution that is a win/win for everyone involved.

And I say, Thank you Cabinet Liberators. May the cabinets you took be of great value to you. May they fill your home or whatever space you’re using them for, with a sense of joy in their usefulness. And, may you know peace.

And if he’s not carrying the guilt I suspect, that’s okay too. A little gratitude and forgiveness goes a long way to easing any burden I might be carrying!

Namaste.

27 thoughts on “The Cabinet Liberators”

  6. Hi Louise,

    I have in the past three years cleared out my in-laws home in London and then my mother’s place. The difference was my mother-in-law was a minimalist and my mother was a ‘collector’. In the end my mother’s home yielded 45 banker’s boxes of books, several bins of her collections focussed around strawberries (in every form you can imagine) along with antique furniture,paintings,sculptures. All those thing that were precious to her but really did not turn the crank of any of my siblings. I called her friends, neighbours and then donated to organizations that she supported for future auctions.

    It has now become a regular thing to do a clean and clear at least twice a year. Today I looked at my china cabinet and decided I would create small flower arrangements in tea cups and pass these out to friends when they visit.

    It’s lovely when you can re-purpose anything. Kudos to you. June

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    • Ooohhhh…. I love the idea of flower arrangements in teacups June! I hope I get an invitation to come visit one day! 🙂 Just saying… 🙂 ❤

      And what a good idea to do it twice a year. Wow! As a mixed media artist I can make a really good case for why I need to save even a tiny scrap of paper. I am weaning myself away from the act of keeping it all! 🙂

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    • June, I did that often with ‘old stuff’ – the filling with flowers or little chocs or sweets, with biscuits and more – my best offering so far has been a white porcelain coffee filter in which I PLANTED primroses from my garden in spring time and of which I took a photo. For Easter I offered odd egg holders with an empty egg and some tiny daisies from my lawns.
      We are just back from a weekend at friends who collect teddies. I offered them my original English cast iron & wood bench and a ditto rocking chair, a painting from our scenery when they came and visited, one large sturdy basket and a painted wooden one for their many flowers they love – and it gave me joy to have found new kind owners and them for having yet more souvenirs from our time we spent together!

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  7. I have a huge issue when HGTV shows just bust the cupboards and they become landfill. As someone who has “recycled” an entire house and did not throw out much at all I firmly feel we all need to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible so KUDOS for doing both!

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  9. I find this a splendid idea and salute you for re-using those old cabinets. For me the problem is the lacking space. Furthermore, here in Switzerland we pay quite heavily for any ^throw away^ article from wood or such. I once bought, at the beginning of our ‘return’ to our home country, a small wooden crate with strawberries and had to pay the minimal charge of 2CHF to dispose of it! I’d better put it in a household bin (for which we also pay 1.70CH per 35l bag!) because I could have added quite a lot of other household debris and kitchen stuff…. But it teaches you one thing: Be very careful using ‘stuff’ – you pay twice for it, when you get it and when you wish to get rid of it!

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