One of my greatest pleasures is getting together with like-minded friends and talking trash. A typical down-and-dirty conversation goes like this: “I’ve turned that rusty old wheelbarrow I paid a dollar for at last weekend’s flea market into a planter. looks great in my backyard.. “I did the same thing with a ratty old wooden trunk. It’s now filled with geraniums.” “Hey, maybe that’s what I’ll do with the aluminum breadbox my neighbor threw out with the garbage. I went over right away and scooped it up.” You were expecting something spicier perhaps? No, the kind of trash I. m into is clean, all-American junk. Well, maybe not always clean, but nothing a good scrubbing and a fresh coat of paint can. t remedy. To me, anything that. s been trashed has potential.

If it’s unwanted, ancient, damaged and hopelessly out of style, my salivary glands go into overdrive. In every dusty reject I see a world of charm screaming to get out. There’s nothing strange about my lustful pursuit of trash (really, there isn’t). I’m just one of millions who has latched on to a gigantic decorating and furnishing trend known as Shabby Chic, a term coined in 1989 (and since trademarked) by a transplanted English designer named Rachel Ashwell, who introduced a revolutionary concept to interior decor: Furnishings don’t have to be new and expensive to be attractive. A dent here, a scratch there, some chipped paint…so what? Imperfections add an invitingly lived-in look to a room. The subliminal message was that you don. t have to be rich to have a beautiful home. All you need is imagination, a sense of adventure and a bucket of elbow grease.

Ashwell’s irresistibly presented theory that shabby could be chic, which she continues to elaborate on via bestselling books, a chain of boutiques and a web site (www.shabbychic.com), sparked a nationwide rush to flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops. Today, the home improvement market is bursting with how-to publications with titles and cover lines like “The Salvage Sisters,” “Dirt-Cheap Decorating” and “Turn Junk Into Gems.” Moreover, cable TV has spawned numerous budget themed home fashion programs, from “Design on a Dime” to “Junk Brothers.”

And it’s not just the budget-conscious who’ve gotten caught up in the second-hand hoopla. Even the affluent are flea-bitten. “This trend isn’t necessarily driven by a need to save money,” says Karman Hotchkiss, executive editor of a Better Homes and Gardens quarterly called 100 Decorating Ideas Under $100, a recent issue of which explored the joys of transforming discarded tin cans into whimsical flower pots’. It’s more about the desire to express yourself creatively, to have something nobody else has and put your spin on it. It’s about making a personal statement.

For me, it all started in the summer of 2002, when I was suffering from a severe bout of cashflowitis, if you will. I needed two chairs to flank the large window in my living room, but I was too broke to scout retail establishments. One afternoon, while driving through a profoundly upscale neighborhood, I saw a man and his little boy putting out sundry household items for trash collection the following morning. Among the throwaways were two ladder-back chairs with slightly damaged rush seats. In a moment of wild abandon I pulled over and blithely asked if I might take the chairs home with me, explaining that I restored used furniture in my spare time (when I wasn’t organizing charity galas and having the Trumps over for tea).

Not only was the answer a gracious yes, but father and son helped load the chairs into my car, doubtless thrilled to be rid of the relics. Several days later, my curbside finds. scrubbed, sanded, painted green and adorned with striped discount-store cushions (to cover the minor flaws in the rush seats)- were providing just the right touch in my living room. From then on, . shopping. quite literally meant hitting the streets. I began routinely prowling various communities for castoffs, bagging all manner of treasures for my increasingly eclectic and ever so stylish abode. I’ve transformed a large wooden stereo cabinet with a splintered leg into a handsome bedside table, using wood putty to repair the leg and removing the interior electronic equipment to create bookshelves. With the aid of stenciling, a badly bruised cedar chest has been converted into a fanciful container for fire logs. Grimey wooden shutters have been spruced up and are now serving as a mounting for an oil painting. the perfect solution for that problematic blank wall.

It quickly became clear that my talent with trash was boundless. Eager to investigate all options and refine my techniques, I expanded my trolling territory to include flea markets and yard sales and started devouring the countless books, periodicals and websites devoted to junk rehab and shoestring decorating. At www.AllThingsFrugal.com, I learned how to instantly turn sheets into lovely curtains. When I visited www.123Movers.com, I clicked on “Economical Decorative Tips” (under the “Moving Tips Catalog” tab) and zeroed in on an ideal use for an old ladder, which now graces an exterior wall of my home, each step displaying bloom-filled flowerpots. From www.TheBudgetDecorator.com, I got the nitty-gritty on how to create a fabulous faux-leather floor with brown-paper grocery bags. My favorite site, which I log onto every morning with my first cup of coffee, is www.Suite101.com, which features a lively chat room whose participants (one of whom goes by the screen name . ShabbyQueen. ) exchange junk-recycling success stories, pointers on how to haggle at flea markets, etc. But if I really want to gorge myself on the latest news and ideas in the realm of junk, I go directly to Home & Garden Television’s “Trash To Treasure” web page (www.hgtv.com), which brims with wondrously clever projects, from transforming weathered mailboxes into colorful birdhouses to making an end table from four washboards and a window pane.

On my weekly visits to local flea markets, I never leave home without the 4th edition of Warman’s Flea Market Price Guide (edited by Ellen T. Schroy; KP Books, $21.99), a fat paperback that provides average prices on a vast range of typical flea market collectibles. But the true value of this book lies in its advice-packed introduction. One particularly sage nugget: “Play with a poker face” conceal your enthusiasm until after you’ve purchased the item.. Another book that I consider essential is Decorating Junk Market Style: Repurposed Junk to Suit Any Decor, by Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer (Meredith Books, $19.95), which offers easy instructions on how to turn the most ordinary and unlikely objects, from bottles to shoes, into extraordinary decorative pieces. But of all the resources I look to for quality tips on junk, the one I absolutely cannot live without is HGTV. s . Decorating Cents,. a weekly program hosted by the thoroughly professional Joan Steffend, a lady who really knows her trash. The show. s gripping closing segment focuses on the transformation of a specific piece of junk (often unearthed from the trash heap) into a thing of beauty.

I’m so hooked that if Brad were to leave Angelina and ask me out on a Friday night, I would have to decline, explaining, “I’m sorry, darling, but that’s the night Joan Steffend does a room makeover for under $500.”

Fab Fleas

The thrill of the hunt, the scent of a deal…there’s nothing quite like a flea market to bring out your inner bargain hound. Here are 10 top spots for secondhand treasures.

Rose Bowl Flea Market Pasadena, CA: a mega browsing experience featuring more than 2,200 vendors. 323-560-7469; www.rgcshows.com/rosebowl/fleamarket/tabid/52/default.aspx

Antiques Spectacular Charlotte, NC: everything from suits to nutcrackers. 800-824-3770; www.dmgantiqueshows.com

First Monday Trade Days Canton, TX: more than 6,000 dealers make this a truly Texas-size event. 903-567-6556; www.firstmondaycanton.com

Atlantique City Holiday Megafair Atlantic City, NJ: world’s largest indoor flea market. 800-526-2724; www.atlantiquecity.com

Tennessee State Fair Flea Market Nashville: dealers hail from 30 states. 615-862-5016; www.tennesseestatefair.org

Broad Acres Flea Market Las Vegas: acres of Indian and Western wares. 702-642-3777

Fleaworld Orlando: boasts 50,000 shoppers per week. 407-330-1792, ext. 224; www.fleaworld.com

Traders World Dayton, OH: biggest in the Midwest. 513-424-5708; www.tradersworldmarket.com

Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market New York City: simply the most famous urban flea market on the planet. 212-243-5343; www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com

Festival Flea Market Mall Pompano Beach, FL: 400,000 square feet of air-conditioned buys!954-979-4555; www.festivalfleamarket.com

- J.E.