Hours of entertainment and unique, stylish furnishings

I'm sure most people based in the Bay Area already know about Urban Ore. I have been hearing about it for years, but somehow never actually made it there until yesterday. Most likely that's because it requires a car to get to the lot and haul away all the stuff you wind up buying. Still, I can't believe I missed out for so long, especially since Urban Ore is only about two blocks from my office.

In a nutshell, Urban Ore is like eight hundred garage sales in one. Their idea is to promote reuse and recycling by selling stuff as-is that would normally be tossed. You clean it up, fix it up, make it into an art project, whatever. They have clothes, art, every type of furniture you can think of, records, books, dishes, knick-knacks, plus stuff you would use to finish a house, like toilets, doors, fireplace mantels, pipes, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of is stacked up in this big old warehouse in Emeryville. It's cool stuff, too. Most of it is pretty old -- at least from the eighties or earlier.

Yesterday I came home with about five pieces of framed art and a fabulous pink armchair for my office -- all stylishly retro and all for around $60. If you're a Bay Area kid, you should check it out. It beats Ikea any day.