These Rooms Appeared Where You’d Least Expect Them, But They’re Pretty Amazing

If you’ve ever thought that people throw away perfectly good, useful things, you are not alone. Photographer Justin Bettman and stylist Godze Eker thought so, too. So, they started collecting discarded items–furniture, bedding, bathtubs, and more–from sidewalks across New York City.

Cleaned up and arranged, the items look good as new, and in their recent collaborative photo series, Set in the Street, Eker and Bettman have created mock-ups of cozy, stylish homes using the very things that other people have thrown away.

“We pay so much money for rent, but there’s so much available to us for free,” Bettman told New York Magazine in an interview.

The collections of furniture and decorative items, when placed all together in the guise of a living room or dining room make passerby more aware of just how much is tossed out with the trash. Bettman and Eker describe their project as “curating furniture that has been disposed of and putting it all in one area for the community to see.”

To see more photos, as well as the changes to the sets, search for the tag #setinthestreet on Instagram.