Success at Last!

I'm obsessed with the CraigsPro + app (though still annoyed that I didn't read all the details before buying the CraigsPro and then had to immediately buy the + version) and it's pretty much replaced sleep in my world since I can lay in bed and flip through it.

So in the middle of the night the other night I responded to a general "I've got a bunch of stuff, what are you looking for?" ad with a list of things I currently want.  A pair of upholstered stools was at the very top and I figured there was no way he'd have any of the items on my list much less the stools.

I was lucky enough to bring a pair of Parsons benches home for TEN dollars.  I'm dying over the price, I actually feel a little bad and like I should go back and give him more money for them.  Ebay and Etsy pricing is definitely inflated but I'm sure he could have gotten more for them.

They aren't x benches but they are the 2nd best thing in my world, and the price literally could not be beat (so glad I didn't settle for the $25 metal stools a few weeks ago).

I bought a few other things from him as well but these were definitely the highlight of the day (or month??).    Finding them was hard but making a decision on fabric may be harder!

What's the worst thing to see on Craig's List?

Something you've been hunting for endlessly, posted days ago, already picked up but the posting was never deleted.  It always seems to happen to me the one or two days I don't check the new postings everyday, even though I had been in the months before.

Worst.thing.ever.

For $50.00.  I'm DYING inside a little right now.

Rococo Headboards

I pinned this picture on Pinterest recently.

And instantly thought of it when I saw this ornate gold headboard for $225 at an antique store.

I've spent far too much time trying to figure out how to get this into my guest room..............

Desperately Seeking Benches

I've been looking for a set of upholstered benches forever (to put under my console in our entry) but I so rarely see ONE bench much less a matching pair that I'm not all that optimistic.  I've done everything I can, short of offering a kidney, to get a friend to part with her pair of vintage x-stools (that she picked up at a local auction for something ridiculous like $115, makes me ill to even think about it) with no luck.  I can't bring myself to pay ebay prices either. So I'm still benchless.

I came across these last weekend and only considered them for about 20 seconds before moving on.  They're just not what I really want.

Then I started thinking about how they aren't totally unlike some of the Paul McCobb styles like these:

My wheels started spinning along the lines of painting the bases and having a box cushion top done on them.  Then I remembered the likely cost of that cushion and that these aren't want I really want.

Then I came across this photo from Jenny's moving sale on LGN and I started thinking about the benches again.

via Little Green Notebook

So now I'm back to pondering the little metal benches.  Who knows when I'll finally come across the perfect vintage upholstered pair?  Am I nuts for thinking that $75 seems like a small price to pay to feel like my house is ever so slightly more together?

Vintage Scores of the Week

I'm on the hunt for a pair of matching upholstered benches/stools/ottomans so I'm trying to get to all of my local thrift/consignment/antique stores as often as possible these days.  Still no luck on the benches but did pick up a few things I'm really excited about!  

I could not get this Pagoda mirror out of a local antique mall fast enough.  The owner of the booth had it marked "gothic" and $55, he happened to be there and I offered him $40 (knowing full well I was happy to pay the $55 for it) and took it home for $45.00.

Pagoda mirrors are high on my (mental) list (of almost impossible to find locally) obsessions.  I love the details on this one along both the top and the bottom.  Clearly it'll be getting a fresh paint and I have no idea where it'll end up but I'm smitten nonetheless!

A few days later I was running a few errands near my house and stopped in another antique mall and came across this little Moroccan style table (or at least I think it is!) for $50.00.  It was labeled as a "Victorian Carved Side Table" and referred to as a plant stand by the cashier.  Whatever.  I can't wait to put some wood filler on the top and get some paint on it (yes, gasp, the horror, I'm planning to paint it).  I think the detail on the sides will look amazing painted!

The ironic thing is that I typically really dislike the local 'antique' malls.  Too many knick-knacky items, too few furnishings and far too little turnover and little new stock.  There are a couple of local consignment shops that mark items down 15% every month they're in the shop and at 6 months it either has to be picked up or it gets donated (wish I knew to WHICH thrift store!) and I typically have much better luck at those places.   Don't get me started on the consignment shops where the prices never move and items sit for years.  Lesson learned after this week though, if I'm in the neighborhood and have the time, I'll walk through the antique malls just in case!