Craigslist Finds

I have been a slave to Craigslist lately and it's kind of becoming an issue.  I spend my last waking moments while laying in bed on my tablet in between playing Words with Friends, scouring the furniture section on Craigslist.  I am not really sure what I am looking for, but I know that a gem of a gem is going to pop up one of these days and I am going to have to buy it.  This keeps me up far past my bedtime, but I can't help it.  While many of the things on there are decent but just not my style or are out of my price range, there are those rare finds that make you scratch your head and say 'What the hell?'  I am here today to show you first hand, some of these finds.

Pottery Barn Retro Rockers.  The fact that this person had to add "Pottery Barn" to the post title to boost the possibility of a sale tells you something right there.  What exactly are these things??  It looks like two cushions from a college dorm room couch that had been sitting on a curb for three weeks ended up in someones basement and then were slept and trampled on by large animals for another six years.  If these are in fact from the high and mighty Pottery Barn, they sure as heck don't look like it.  And I am sorry, but I am afraid Pottery Barn and "Retro" don't belong in the same sentence.  Nice try though.

  

JUST Shut UP and Dance Sign on Antique Window.  Can I get a 'huh'??  Who's talking and what music should they be dancing to??  Not to mention that the the title of the post doesn't match what the window actually says.  Who in their right mind would buy this?  And for 48 bucks, you would at least think the person who painted the really tasteful saying on the window would have spaced the words and letters out appropriately.

 

Long & Tall Dressers Antique Shabby Chic.  These next two items I strictly blame Pinterest for.  Pinterest is great but it gets people paint happy.   Got a large dresser that you hate?  Paint it!  Don't want to take the time to prep it and make it look decent?  Distress the shit out of it 'on purpose', call it "Shabby Chic" (because apparently that is cool now) and pretend it looks great!  Don't get me wrong, antiquing something can be great if it's done right but this just looks wrong.  Clearly this dresser is from a decade when the shabby chic term had yet to be Pinned to death and it just looks out of place in my book.

 

Headboard Bench/Shabby Chic.  Clearly this is the same owner as the long and tall dressers but this may be an even worse offender.  At least the long and tall dressers are consistent with their shabby chic-ness--this one just looks like it has a really bad paint job and someone ran into the bottom with the vacuum cleaner a few hundred times and didn't bother to fix the nicks.

 

Just Another Ordinary Custom Made Barnwood Sign.  Ok, I am sorry but who made this?!?!  And better yet, who would buy this??  Everything from the mis-matched lettering, the weird saying and the fact that just because it's barn wood, they think they can charge thirty two bucks for this sucker (again, I kind of blame Pinterest).  I would love to know what Miracle they are referring to.  Is the miracle that they fit the word 'today' in after mis-spacing the letters in the word Miracle?  Or is it a miracle that whoever made this sign had the guts to actually try to sell this thing?

 and I may have saved the best for last, you be the judge...Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you....

POLAR BEAR COFFEE TABLES.  These remind me of something that would be in a really bad 80's movie.  I know one particular person who loves polar bears and even she wouldn't be caught dead with these tables.  Can you please tell me what is going on with the bear on the right?  Are those supposed to be his legs?  If so, how is one of them behind his head and what is the weird shaped one coming out of his stomach area?  Or are they supposed to be tree trunks and he is inside the cluster of three trees, sliding through the snow?  One may never know.  I may have considered buying these though if the seller would have placed a bottle of Coca-Cola on each one.  ;)

 Cheers to a great weekend!

 

Guest Quarters

This is long overdue, but better late than never!  Awhile ago I got a wild hair to update my guest room.  I put the blame solely on this bench:

 

You see, months ago I saw this bench at Target and knew it had to be mine.  Did I have a spot for it?  No.  Did I care?  No.  Was it over-priced?  Yes.  So I waited for this beauty to go on sale.  It finally did so I bought it.  It then went on sale even more, so after a couple store swapping scenarios, I got the bench I wanted at the final clearance price.  It was a win-win situation if you ask me.  :)  Now all's I needed to find was a perfect spot for her.  I decided the spare room would be the spot.

My spare room was needing attention.  Little did I realize how much attention it would get because of this small bench.  I still have a couple more things to add, like a possible headboard, replacing the picture on the side of the bed with something else and probably a bigger side table, but other than that, I can happily say that the room is just about complete.  Looking back at the picture below, I didn't ever realize how boring the old room was.  Nothing like a good bench find to get your butt in gear and spice up your old space!  

I started by taking out the carpet to expose the wood floor, painted the trim white and ditched the old, metal mini blinds to larger, wood blinds.

 

 

Of course I had to keep a basket of toys out for when my four legged brother and niece come over.  And see that pink-legged stool in the second picture up from here?  I bought that thing at a flea market for $2.  It had a ripped seat with fabric from the 80's, and the legs were black.  I cleaned it up, gave it a fresh coat of paint and re-stuffed and re-covered the seat and called it done.  Not too shabby for a $2 stool.