From trash to treasure (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

A woman is turning trash into treasure – and coming away with a huge profit.

Cameron Gallegos, 23, quit her corporate job to start ‘flipping’ discarded furniture full-time – and now makes between $3,000 and $4,000 (£3,365) a month.

She’s always had a skill for upcycling, so decided to take the plunge and go full-time with it nearly two years ago – and she hasn’t looked back since.

The savvy seller makes use of ‘Bulk Trash Days’ in Austin, Texas, US, which is when local government officials go to a different neighbourhood in the city every weekend and collect unwanted furniture.

Cameron turns up with her truck and spends the weekends scooping up any free furniture left in front gardens and driveways.

She also uses Facebook Marketplace to find any free gems.

Cameron usually spends a few days on each piece in her garage – giving it a new lease of life before selling it on Facebook Marketplace for a profit.

With her biggest outgoing cost being on petrol at $300, Cameron spends no more than $200 a month on the materials and supplies that win her back a fortune.

Cameron, from Austin, Texas, US, said: ‘I get a weird adrenaline rush out of it. I just get so excited when I see a piece of someone else’s junk.

‘I quit my corporate job as a Subsidiary HR Manager for an Engineering Company and started flipping furniture full-time two years ago. I just really went for it.

‘I realised I was doing it all the time anyway so I just thought I should give it my all.

‘There was more pressure, but it was good pressure. I felt in charge of my own destiny. Scary but worth it.

‘It’s pretty low risk high reward if you can make it work. I’m making three to four grand a month through selling. I’d love to try and grow that.

‘I’m only spending around $200 a month on paint and tools which I buy from hardware stores, but my biggest outgoing cost is petrol which usually costs $300 a month.’

Cameron drives around different neighbourhoods every week to find items.

‘I’m really fortunate enough to have the Bulk Trash Day where I live. I source most of my pieces through that. I think Austin is kind of famous for it,’ she said.

‘People throw away everything – fridges, sofas, cupboards.

‘So I find these neighbourhoods and go and find these pieces and a lot of them are still in normal working order.

‘I’m never without a piece of furniture. Sometimes I will find a perfectly fine piece and sell it as it is.

‘For example, if it’s a table and chairs I’ll just sell it for $200 to $300, and it goes. I don’t even need to touch it.

Cameron Gallegos with pre-upcycled piece of furniture (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

Cameron Gallegos working on a chair (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

‘Everyone needs furniture.’

She works in her garage two to three times a week.

She explained: ‘The painting, layers, priming. It takes a good day to really dedicate that to a piece.

‘I’m getting into more of a floral transfer which really adds a different element to my pieces now.

‘I’m getting more into the artistic side of furniture now – not just the paint job.

‘I like to describe my pieces as quirky. They usually have a bit of colour and I think that’s why they sell.’

Cameron told how she once found a table to accompany a rare set of chairs she got her hands on just days earlier.

She scouts items out (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

An upcycled piece of furniture (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

‘I found these chairs on Facebook Marketplace about an hour away,’ she said.

‘They were these amazingly rare Marcel Breuer chairs – damaged but completely free.

‘I knew I could replace the cane on the back, but I didn’t know how to do it. But I quickly decided that I was going to learn.

‘The girl selling them said she had so many people asking about them, so I was really glad I managed to get them.

Cameron Gallegos working on a chair (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

Cameron Gallegos with her collection truck (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

Some of Cameron Gallegos’ upcycled goods (Picture: Cameron Gallegos / SWNS)

‘Each chair once fixed can be worth up to $700 or $800.

‘So I got them, fixed them and then right down the road from me a neighbour was getting rid of a one-of-a-kind granite table.

‘That stone can be worth up to $10k.

‘So I put the two pieces together. The pictures were amazing.

‘I listed for $1,500 as a set which is cheaper but you’re never going to get the really big bucks.

‘However, I decided to keep them in the end.

‘I have such an attachment to each piece because so much heart and effort goes into it.’

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A woman is turning trash into treasure – and coming away with a huge profit.