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Flea Market Flip has nothing on the first-ever ReSource Wars! design competition, going down live this weekend (September 21 and 22) at ReSource Boulder. The challenge? Nine teams will create permanent installations—an entry way, retail displays, a mobile retail kiosk, fixtures, furniture—for ReSource’s new 1,500-square-foot showroom and design inspiration center at 6400 Arapahoe Road. The catch? They have 15 hours to do it, using only upcycled materials from ReSource (donated construction and architectural supplies normally sold at affordable prices to the public, from plumbing fixtures and French doors to insulation, flooring, and reclaimed barn wood).
The showroom will be closed to the public during the construction portion of the contest, but crews will be filming the teams—composed of local design talent from groups such as the University of Colorado Boulder’s environmental design program, the Phoenix Asylum, ReFab Renovation, and the Scrapsisters—as they work. (Psst: ReSource customers can sneak a peek at the action from a roped-off area in front of the warehouse between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.)
We’ll be switching off HGTV and heading to east Boulder Sunday night for the awards ceremony and unveiling party (4 to 7:30 p.m.). For $25, you can get your dose of design inspiration while grooving to a live DJ, enjoying bites from the Big Red F restaurant group, sipping an adult beverage, and watching a highlight reel of the competition. Supporting ReSource can always be considered a good cause—as a program of the nonprofit Center for ReSource Conservation, ReSource operations in Boulder and Fort Collins diverted 3,811,400 pounds of materials from landfills in 2012 alone. But in light of the destruction from recent flooding, ReSource will also be donating half of ticket sales to the Foothills Flood Relief Fund.
Can’t make the unveiling party? Swing by ReSource’s family-friendly Community Open House on Saturday, September 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to check out the redesigned showroom. The free celebration will feature food carts, games, prizes, music, tours, and complimentary beverages, and will replay the video documenting the showroom’s transformation over the course of the contest.
Flood Relief Update: “We want to let the community know that CRC/ReSource are reaching out to offer our support and resources,” says Michelle Barnes, Executive Director of the Center for ReSource Conservation. “We intend that our ReSource Wars! events on September 22 and September 28 will provide a way for all of us to come together and support each other in this time of rebuilding.” ReSource will be waiving the membership fee for its ReSource Tool Library—which provides access to more than 2,000 tools, including plumbing snakes, flooring nailers, carpet kicker, and more—and granting 10 percent off materials purchased for those repairing from flood damage. (For more information, contact Jared D’Arcey, senior manager of ReSource Boulder, at 303-419-5418 or jdarcey@resourceyard.org.)
What’s Next: Starting this month, ReSource is accepting consignments of your upcycled furniture. New to DIY? The space will begin hosting upcycling how-to classes in 2014.
—Photo Courtesy of ReSource Yard/City of Fort Collins; Matthew Britt turns a salvaged gymnasium floor into a table
Follow copy chief Jessica Farmwald on Twitter at @JessicaKF.