From old tables, worn out chests, broken chairs and everything in between, there’s no such thing as garbage to those who recycle. And one local woman is proving week by week that no project is impossible when it comes to transforming the old into the new.

Diana Durkes is the face behind FineDivingChicago.com, a recently launched blog that takes readers step by step through her weekly journey where she finds unwanted items around the city and brings them back to life. Though she had another similar website prior to this one, Fine Diving Chicago concentrates on objects found solely around the city. Along with Durkes, several Columbia faculty are utilizing the idea of reusing found items as well.

“One of my goals is to inspire others to do the same thing as me-rescue furniture and materials from the curbs and alleys around town and turn them into something personally satisfying and useful,” she said in an e-mail interview. “I’m attracted to one-of-a-kind and individual-looking things.”

With no need for helpers and partners, Durkes works solo on all her projects no matter how big or small because she hasn’t found anyone who will be completely dedicated to this.

Growing up, she would watch as her mother and a friend would upholster things in a short time span. She hasn’t forgotten their passion for doing it, and she now shares the same view when it comes to recycling old appliances.

Besides reducing landfill, she said everyone should spend time making their living space into their own creations instead of throwing out things if they can be fixed.

“It’s a key to happiness, to surround yourself with forms that make you happy,” she said. “I’d rather wake up looking at a vibrant wall than a dull one.”

Theresa Kerr, associate director of Administrative Services at Columbia, helps out with the recycling program at the college. She’s in charge of sending back all the used toners and inks to the vendors.

“Recycling is helping to save the planet for the future,” Kerr said in an e-mail interview. “My goal with the program is to reach 100 percent toner/ink recycling. I think other people don’t recycle because they are lazy.”

Durkes said her projects wouldn’t be as successful without the Internet because it gives her motivation, and it’s the perfect place to get ideas, look at other people’s projects and share how-tos.

Though she has recreated countless amounts of items, her biggest project has been a chest of drawers someone made from orange crates.

“I painted a farm scene on it-barn, pasture, in a sort of Grandma Moses style,” she said. “It’s now in my dining room.”

David Dolak, an environmental science professor at Columbia, has been recycling since he was in high school in Northwest Indiana. As he lived by the steel mills, recycling was a family project. Before coming to Columbia, he worked as an environmental consultant for various industries and worked on assessing recycling possibilities for various industrial chemicals, materials or wastes.

“In the old days, one had to make a conscious choice and effort to recycle,” Dolak said in an e-mail interview. “Now, public programs are definitely a plus to get more people involved because they are easier. However, these programs are in danger now because of low commodity prices for recycled raw materials.”

Finding things to recycle is not difficult for Durkes. She goes all around the city finding new things from garbage cans to yard sales. Her rule of thumb is to never pay more than $20 for a piece.

As for her next step, she wants to build a community within the website, find places to sell her designs and create a product that would allow people to eat at their desks using orphaned silverware rather than plastic cutlery.

“I find that there’s a world of possibilities in a chair or chest of drawers to make it into something original,” Durkes said.

For tips on how to redesign old furniture and to see how Durkes recreates what she finds, go to FineDivingChicago.com.