What I'd Buy on Craigslist This Week - In Dallas!

Hi friends!

Once upon a time I asked some of my Facebook peeps if they'd like to have a post on what I'd buy on Craigslist done in their cities. To my utter shock, people jumped at the offer!

So better late than never, per the request of Heather from Queen of Everything, we are off to the Dallas/Fort Worth area!

1. If you're in the market for a piece to reupholster, but you kind of, well, don't really know what you're doing yet, you need a guinea pig piece. I nominate this one.

Adorable, right? And ten bucks! Get a good staple gun, some cute fabric, and get ready to YouTube your brains out.

You can SO do this. And, as a bonus, I also nominate this cute ottoman/footstool to become your new chair's partner in crime.

And since you asked so nicely, here's my pick for a fabric to upholster them both:

If that doesn't scream "Spring!" I don't know what does. Happy dance!

2. I've never picked a quilt rack before, but this has a few things going for it.

It's got very pretty legs, known as "barley twist" which is something I'd never heard of before Heather said she liked that style of furniture. You've got expensive taste, girl, because everything I found that was called "barley twist" had several zeros behind the list price!  This little gal is only $45, and would make a charming addition to a guest room or family room. It's been painted a bright white, and looks like it's lightly distressed. Hope you like it, Heather!

3. What a great deal on a bright chair! It could be the fact that I'm plotting a redo of my guest room in red and white, and this chair would be perfect, but I just think this is so cute!

It's currently on the Pier1 website for $80, so this, my friends, is a true steal!
Put it in your entry (like this one) for an instant pick-me-up.

4.  Maybe you have an old light fixture you want to switch out.  I think this wicker pendant is adorable, and they are everywhere right now.

Remodelista compared some higher and lower end lights, but even the "steals" out there are no match for the $20 price tag on the Craigslist find! I love the idea of hanging it over the living area like this.

5. I don't yet own any campaign-style furniture, but I sure would love to, one day. And if you would, too, then I suggest scooping up this coffee table for $20.

You can clean it up, and use it as-is. It comes with a glass top, too, which is super nice and prevents you from worrying about spills, etc.
And, you'll get the look of this coffee table, which retails for almost $3000. Yes, there are three zeros in that price tag.

Or you could paint it a bright color, in a lacquer finish, and have a showstopper.

via Desert Domicile

Painted campaign furniture can be such a stunner. 

via Etsy

I love the pops of brass against the colors.

So there you have it. My picks for you crafty, thrifty, awesome Texans out there.  And here's the disclaimer I always feel the need to include in my Craigslist posts.  I've been buying and selling from Craigslist for years. I have yet to have a problem. I always use my common sense. Take a friend or relative with you (especially the large, male type if you have one.) If a piece is small enough, you can ask to meet in a public spot, like a well-lit grocery store parking lot.  Be careful. Be safe.  And have fun.

Hope you've enjoyed this!
If you would like to see more of these kinds of posts, you can catch me at these spots:
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XO,
Anne

Reviving an Heirloom Rocker

Hi friends!

I recently had a classmate from high school contact me. She was expecting her first baby, and had a rocking chair she wanted refinished.  This is what it looked like when I got it.  It looked like someone had previously stripped it. So it needed a good sanding before I could get started.

 It has this beautiful carved detail on the back, but the carvings are not in wood.  It looked like plaster, or something similar, and had cracks throughout.  I didn't worry too much about the cracks.  I think it added to the charm of this piece.

 I think there have been a lot of babies rocked in this chair.  It was passed down through my client's husband's family.

My client/classmate was not finding out the baby's gender, and wanted a bright, bold color that would work for either a boy or a girl.
We decided to go for a color like Annie Sloan's Emperor's Silk. It's been a long time since I painted anything red.  In fact, it had been long enough that I had somewhat forgotten (OK, really completely forgotten) how HARD red can be!  I wanted to give my local Sherwin Williams a shot. So I chose SW Positive Red in their All Surface Enamel (Acrylic Latex in Satin finish).
Here's what it looked like at first. Uh Oh. Someone forgot to get a tinted primer.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to the paint counter I go.
One can of pink primer later (they tinted it as dark as they could - thank you to my trusty old Home Depot paint folks) things were looking better. You can see where I added the primer, on the right side. On the left, you can see how transparent the red went on.  Yikes.

In order to achieve the deep, rich red in this paint, the base has to be translucent. Which means the paint is not opaque.  Which means you have to keep adding coats, and adding coats, and adding coats.

Which is exactly what I did.
So... 17 coats of red paint later.....

Positive Red was actually looking positively great.
I wish I could tell you there was some other way.  I can't speak to other kinds of paint (AS Chalk Paint, etc.) but for regular old latex, that is what you can expect.
LOTS of coats.

I added a coat of wax when I felt the color was even enough.  And here we are.
Now, for the glamour shots.
:-)

 I foresee many, many snuggles happening in this chair.

There is something special about the things passed down.
Thank you to my client Jessica for trusting me with this piece.
And best wishes for that little one!

XO,
Anne

What I'd Buy on Craigslist this Week - First edition in 2014

Happy New Year!!

I hope you have been savoring winter break as we have - with lots of family, friends, food, church, naps, football, and presents. Not necessarily in that order. :-)

There are some cool finds this week…here we go! (If you are visiting for the first time, I live near Cincinnati, Ohio, so these items are all local to me.)

1. Vintage white cabinet listed for $250.

I know that's more than I usually spend on Craigslist items, but I like this one for its size, its condition, and its flexibility. Here's why.
First, its size - dimensions are 70 " tall, 30 " wide, 12" deep. You can fit a lot of stuff in that.
Second, its condition looks good - not perfect - but not like it would need a complete overhaul before you could put it in your house.
And third its flexibility. I love this for a kitchen or bath, as the listing suggests, but I think you could also store extra linens, books, or household supplies in it.
Here are a few pics to get your juices flowing.

Midcentury Home Office by Other Metro Media & Bloggers Aesthetic Outburst

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I'm not sure, but this may be an old medical cabinet, and my Uncle Dan & Aunt Pat (who are walking encyclopedias of furniture knowledge and have a booth here in Lexington, KY) just told me that medical items are hot right now. 
(READ: I think this could easily sell for more than it's listed.) 
I can't tell whether it's metal or wood, but if I had room for it, I'd buy it.

2. "Old school" desk chairs or office chairs. I love 'em. Metal, wood, doesn't matter… they are just SO superior to those newfangled things they make now. (wink) So, that said, go scoop these up. 
Cosco Propeller Chair $35

Vintage wood chair

Think about how cool they'd look in a boy's room!

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3. How cute is this old toy piano? 

It looks beautiful and would make an adorable addition to a nursery or playroom. 

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The two like it on Etsy are more expensive than this one. They are asking $45. Go for it!

4. OK this item has been on Craigslist for a while now. In my mind's eye there is a boy (what is it with boys rooms in this post?) who has an awesome vintage-y train room. 
Maybe like… this one.  
(Because HELLO it has a train track running around the top of the room. Please don't tell my son. Thank you.)

And in this mythical train room, folded over the back of a cozy chair, you'd find this cool blanket.

It's from a Pullman sleeping car!

I totally have a movie-like image of men dressed in suits and women in pearls taking a trip, eating and sleeping aboard a train in the heyday of rail travel. 

That's the era these blankets belong to! 
It's stuff like this that takes a room from catalog-designed to uniquely personal. They are conversation pieces, and they are a way to pass on some history to the next generation. 
So someone please buy this cool blanket and do up an awesome vintage train room.  Again, thank you.

5. Last, here's a gal after my own heart. Cute side table, all painted and ready to go. Would make a great addition to a living room near you! $80

This winter weather and ridiculously cold temperatures have me dreaming of yard sale weather….

Just saying.

:-)
Anne

What I'd Buy on Craigslist this Week

Hi friends and Merry Christmas!

What an awesome time of year. I've taken several weeks off from doing this post, but I missed it, so here we go!

1. Beautiful King size caned bed

You cannot go wrong with a classic like this. Ballard Designs has a gorgeous option that will run you $1000.
So the seller's asking price of about $200 seems like a good deal to me!

2. The gift of a dollhouse is timeless and what little girl wouldn't love a house like this one?

It does say it needs some work, but isn't that what January is for? A good project to pass the time… For $80, I just love this.

3. I've shown you chairs like these before, but as I have also mentioned in the past, finding things in pairs can be especially difficult if you are buying secondhand.  And things in pairs can be especially helpful when it comes to decorating and staging your living spaces.  Symmetry is your friend.
So GRAB these for $35 and run.

And you are already imagining them with new upholstery, aren't you?
This Etsy seller did a fantastic job.

Never gets old, does it? :-)

4. I love a simple wooden bench like this, called a deacon's bench, I believe.

It is beautiful in its spare design... so unfussy.  Great in a foyer or bedroom or hallway if you have room.

What about using this at your kitchen table for a change? Just a thought.
For the life of me I cannot find a good photo of a room where someone has done this, but I think it would be really great looking.

5. What fun is this table?

We put our crack team of investigators here on the case to find out what this is, and in case you didn't already guess, it is a sewing machine table.  According to this woman, who also found one, 

it dates back to the 1890's.  Very cool. And so striking with the cast iron bottom.

No sewing machine included in the one for sale now, and as you can see the pedal at the bottom is missing, as is the original cabinet on top, but the stand alone I think is worth the $65 the seller is asking.

I found old ads for these machines… here

How cool is that? 

Even if you are not a sewing type person, this would make a fabulous addition to your home.  Instant history.

Try this:

And I cannot read one word of this, but I don't need to.  This is gorgeous in any language.

So there you have it. 

As always, if you choose to buy from these sellers or anyone on Craigslist, please be smart, be safe, take a friend with you, and as the song says, "don't outsmart your common sense."

To anyone whose eyes are on this page, I just want to say thank you for taking a few minutes to spend with me here. This is more fun for me than you'll ever know!

And Merry Christmas.

May all the blessings of the season be yours.

XO,

Anne