Clutter transformed

Talk about junk in the trunk. The authors, a couple of self-described hard-core junkers, are hooked on stuff such as rusting cheese graters and discarded doors.

But in their book, the dumpster divas set about repurposing those forgotten tennis racket presses and tractor gears into inspired-looking pieces of furniture and accessories that speak cleverness, not cobwebs.

Here, automotive wheels come back as groovy fruit bowls, an upside down bird cage is reincarnated as a great looking planter, a milk bottling machine gets a glass top to become an industrial looking coffee table, and just about everything -- wooden drawers, croquet balls, three-legged casters -- finds its second act as a candle holder.

After countless TV shows ordering us to purge every ounce of clutter, the authors bring a refreshing and original take on stuff: Have fun with the junk.

-- Alexandria Abramian-Mott