Craigslist has some good stuff right now!

I haven't been trolling Craigslist in a couple weeks - but today I found a few great nuggets. Check these out!

$65 each or 4 for $200
Great deal on these cool modern chairs.

Etagere- $295
Very cool!

Mid-century slipper chairs with a little bit of a Chinese feel.
$450 for the pair. I love these.

Yep, sucker for nesting tables, these are $45 bucks. Awesome.

Love this green velvet head/footboard set. I think I would recover it in another fabric,
but it's pretty cool as is at only $175.

And this is my favorite. I thought I finally found the cabinet for the dining area in the apartment - totally perfect
except that my wall to wall space is only 65", and this says it's 65" - which makes me worry that I would
have to totally WEDGE it into the nook and that might look bad. I'm remeasuring when I get home.
But it's a great cabinet and it's only $125.

No brainer or Cheap-ass?

I want this chair. This is it, the perfect chair for the corner of the apartment by the window. Kit can sit in it, sipping his cocktail, watching the ferries go back and forth to Bainbridge. Ahhh, so nice. Reading, relaxing, feet up on this good looking lounge chair. Can you see my dream here? Drawback, this little beauty is approximately $6000. Eames, I love you, but you have got to be kidding. I can't afford you.

$5,999 - crap!This was Design within Reach, but it's available in lots of stores like Room and Board, etc.

So, here's the alternative I found. Seems like a pretty good reproduction, but....is it too good to be true? The photo doesn't reflect this, but yes, it is available in the same walnut veneer - so I can get it exactly like the original, but at a fraction of the price. $1,599 seems a lot better than $6000. 

$1,595 - thank you Baby Jesus!This company is called Rove Concepts. I hadn't heard of them, but with this price, I'm liking them so far.

Anyone know anything about this company or this chair, cuz I think it looks pretty good, and for a reproduction, this this looks exactly the same, no changes to the style or anything. Maybe I could pretend I'm super high-end and just went ahead and spent the big bucks, but you know if I get it, I wont be able to keep my mouth shut about how awesome the deal was. 

Thoughts?

Really Good vs. Really Affordable

We are in major major need of new patio furniture at the farm. Right now we have a mishmash of old teak folding chairs and old director's chairs - plus an old Ikea table that has now been recovered with a large piece of plywood. Sounds super classy, I know - you're not going to see old Martha running this kind of shit-show are ya?!

We've been checking out some options, the first REALLY GOOD one being the Thos. Baker Furniture Outlet near us in Poulsbo. We've driven by it every weekend for years, and finally went in and let me tell you, it is fabulous. I had no idea. Also, this company is based on Bainbridge Island, so it would be great to support a local business. The furniture is great quality and there are beautiful things to choose from, and not cheap in any sense of the word. We are currently admiring the huge Craftsman Teak table that has a butterfly extension, and the Veranda chair - which is really comfortable and looks great with this table. The Craftsman table does have chairs that match but we prefer the Veranda chair. 

Thos. Baker Craftsman Table - now $1295

Thos. Baker Veranda Chair - $395

The outlet store has great pricing (often some reduction from regular retail), and there is also a ding-and-dent room with some sets and sometimes onesies of various items in various states of damage, sometimes so little that you can't find the problem. That's a great little room, worth checking out again and again!

The other option is the REALLY AFFORDABLE one - straight from Cost Plus World Market. Their outdoor furniture is all on sale now, and it's so well priced - I'm wondering if maybe we should save a bunch of money and go that route - even though the table I like below doesn't match the chair I like. I think I could fix that with a quick paint or restain - but take a look and see what you think. Good looking and pretty great pricing - 

World Market Laguna Chair - now $79.99

World Market Laguna Pool Lounger - now $199.99

World Market Bali Table - $149.99

Obviously the Thos. Baker furniture is more sturdy and will probably last the rest of our adult lives. But, in thinking about having a full dining set and what that would cost, and then thinking that in the next few years we will expand our patio to add more lounge area, etc.... should we wait on the expensive and go for the affordable now, and then when we have the "perfect" patio - go for the really good quality later? I'm kind of leaning that way, but ahhhhhh, I love the nice nice quality. 

The bigger question - does anybody care? I think the less expensive can look just as charming as the fancy, and I probably wont have a fit if someone spills on it or stabs it with a knife or lights it on fire..... so that is probably the smart move. Thoughts?

Chandelier-ious!

I am on the lookout for some hanging chandeliers for the condo. I have a couple of places for hanging lighting down the center of the kitchen/living area – and another one above the liquor cabinet in the living room. I don’t have photos yet of the condo and its “look” so far, but stand by, I’ll document the progress soon. We moved in last August, and it really does take a while to adjust to a new place and sort out what our traffic patterns are and how we like the furniture arranged, lighting hung, etc.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to find lights with some wood features–I want a modern style but still a somewhat “pacific northwest” feel.

What do you think of these? Most of the ones I like are enormously expensive – story of my life![Groan!] But, so far I’m really having a good time looking!

This one is super 60's mod - kind of like it - but it's $2,267 - that's a lot, especially if I wanted two of them.

This one is from West Elm - I like the "city" quality of it - and it's affordable at $399.00

I love this one too - but at $1,072.00 - yoikes!

This one could be great at $398.00 - modern, industrial, yet still Northwest-y

And this one is kind of interesting too at $279.99

Hey Craig – Nice List!

I have a ton of patience for scouring Craigslist for treasures. Most people do not. But, if you take the time, you can find some great stuff and great prices. Most of it will need a little bit of love from you when you get it home, but look at the things I found this week. Excellent!

 Chair - $60

 Sofa - $FREE - note the awesome faux bamboo detail - 

this could be beautiful with new upholstery!

 Old Stereo cabinet - pull out the guts and make it into a bar - $50

 Mid-century chair - $60

 Tiny table - refinish and paint - has cute pull out shelf - $25

 Pair of chairs - reupholster in mohair - beautiful - $180 for the pair - great deal

 Walnut table - $80

Desk - $80 - This would be gorgeous in a solid color like white or grey

Here are a couple tips when searching. Go straight to the Furniture section, and then do a search for “vintage”, “antique” or “mid-century”. You can also reduce your search based on budget parameters too, but I don’t because I like to see it all – cheap and expensive! I’ve noticed in the past few years that more and more dealers and mattress sellers are listing on craigslist – so you have to navigate through them to get to the good stuff but that’s ok too. Craigslist will now let you browse in grid-style with photos, so that can speed up the process. Also, you’ll find a lot of things for sale that have clearly been “fixed-up” already. If you are ok with that, great.  I don’t usually go for those – I want the thing in its original condition – good or bad.

Don’t forget to check the Free section. I have found great stuff there. There are a lot of people who just want to get rid of stuff and they don’t care to try to sell it – they’ll just give it away. Especially if it’s a piano. Lots of piano’s in the free section. You should get one.

If people don’t post a photo, don’t waste your time. Move on. I still don’t understand how anyone could sell anything these days without some photos, but you will still see listing with no photo, don’t get sucked in. It’s not going to be good.

Most sellers on Craigslist are very nice people and willing to make a deal – but ALL of them will want cash, and soon. And most of them aren’t going to deliver you a sofa or carry it down 3 flights of stairs. That’s on you! If you want it bad enough, you’ll figure out how to get it.

Also, just because you’ve seen news stories about bad people using Craigslist to lure people to their house to do bad things, trust me that most of the Craigslisters just want to clean out their basement or garage and have no evil intentions. If you feel unsure about any transaction you should bring someone with you when you pick up your purchase. You can also exchange enough email or texts with them to get a pretty good idea of their character. If someone is emailing you with a legit work email, or is willing to give you their phone number or let you google their address, you’re pretty safe. But, having said that, use your gut instincts, if it feels weird, don’t go.

Now, get on Craigslist and start shopping. By the end of this weekend you could have new end tables or a summer re-upholstery project! As Macklemore would say, “F*-ing Awesome”!