Parlor Set?

Does anyone else watch Hart of Dixie?

It isn’t the most realistic show, small town living is not really like this. Nevertheless, I’m still hooked, I want to see where all the plots lines lead. Last night I watched the most recent episode and they kept talking about a “parlor set.” Am I the only one that doesn’t know what a parlor set actually entails? I had to Google it. The web definition is: Term used to describe a settee with matching pair. Essentially it is antique furniture, Victorian typically, that is used in your parlor or sitting area. Just in case you are in the same boat with me here are some local Raleigh versions via craigslist…

Victorian Three Piece Parlor Set with Rockers – $2000 (Goldsboro, NC)

Set of 2 Antique Parlor Chairs – $100 (Clayton)

Antique love Parlor Seat and Chair – $375 (Greensboro)

You’ll notice that set says it is in Greensboro. Recently I’ve seen an influx of out of town adds on the “Raleigh” craigslist. I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I’m sure people see certain things and love them so much they are willing to drive two hours. Thus, it is a great marketing technique for motivated people to sell their pieces. But on the other hand, if I was searching for something that I was willing to drive a few hours to pick up, i.e. Greensboro, I’d look on the Greensboro Craigslist. That is why they have the column on the right hand side called “nearby cl.” Anyway.. moving on…

Pair of Refinished Victorian Parlor Chairs -$299 Each (Circa Furniture- Clayton)

That is all she wrote on local parlor furniture. I wouldn’t mind having a set for myself, if only I had a parlor. I’ll add it to my list for my next home!

I hope everyone has a Happy Thursday!

The Brass Look For Less

So… I’m a frequent One Kings Lane shopper. If you haven’t heard of OKL it is essentially a flash sale site for home decor. They feature both new and vintage items. I check the sales everyday just in case something awesome and perfect for the house pops up. I have a wish list though and I try not to let myself stray. But believe me there are days when I want to buy one of their sales in its entirety.

I stumbled upon The Brass Menagerie sale and was blown away.

I love the items, but man are they expensive! Not to mention, they are all sold out.

Over at The Union Jill, we’ve been selling a lot of brass items lately. I couldn’t help but notice some of the items we have in the store right now are identical to the items listed on OKL.

So head over and check them out.

PS… we have a LOT of items we need to post.. it overwhelms me. Our shelves are full but our store is empty. #slacker

Have you heard of Scowters?

I had never heard of Scowters until today. I read about their big announcement on three different blogs. Tonight at 8 pm EST is their ground breaking debut of their first Facebook Flash Sale. I plan to check it out.

Local Craigslist Finds

I mentioned on Tuesday that I would be filling you all in on the microwave install and cabinet moving deets. I wasn’t able to accomplish this because Brian and I ran into some complications. They have all been solved so I’ll be able to give you the full run down next week. Here is a little  iPhone teaser…

Since I’m not able to bring you DIY instructions today I thought I would hook you up with some local Craigslist finds…

Faux Bamboo Dresser for $495 (Not a great price, but it would look killer painted!)

Faux Bamboo Bar Cart for $195 (This was listed by Triangle Honeymoon! If only I had the perfect place to put it!)

Bamboo Table for $60 (Am I the only one that likes this? Again, would be awesome with some paint!)

To move out of the bamboo trend… Danish Modern Credenza and Hutch, $650 for the pair.. not too shabby.

I found this next beauty last week. I didn’t share because I was hoping it would be my new jewelry box. I decided I can’t splurge right now but I hope one of you can! All it needs is a little TLC. Check out the brass accents! $95. You couldn’t build it for cheaper.

I love old sideboards. You could snag this painted one for only $150 or go all natural for $250 (you’d still have the option to paint and customize later).

I like these basket weave lamps. You could clean them or paint them. Only $30 OBO. Great deal if they are solid, not so great if they are plastic.

If I had a bigger office or a garage right now I would be buying these… $75 for the pair OBO.

Hope you all have a great Thursday! I’ll see you tomorrow for some Friday Favorites.

Let’s Play Catch Up

1. I found a few good items this weekend while thrifting. Do these candlesticks look familiar? $3! The clock and barometer will definitely show up in The Union Jill.

2. I also found a J. Crew Pave bracelet knock-off for cheap. The Crew from Charles Emerson Designs. Half the price!

3. I decided to commit to the “No-Commitment Blogger Book Club.” So, the first Monday of each month I will post a review of the previous month’s book. Anyone want to join in? So you can give thoughts and ask questions? I’m sure I’ll have many. This month we’re reading Bossypants by Tiny Fey.

4. I’m on to week 2 of the couch to 5K!

5. My new elastic hair ties came in and I love them. I would highly recommend them.

6. I added some recently crossed off wardrobe finds to the Wardrobe Wish List page.

7. Brian and I started working on the microwave install. I’ll be sharing DIY deets tomorrow.

What have you guys been up to?

Did you guys already have the craigslist app?

I was reading Emily Henderson’s blog yesterday regarding her secrets to shopping on craigslist and I learned two new mind-blowing things.

1. Craigslist has a “pic view” now. This is definitely a new option on craigslist but I’m not sure how new. I might have just been overlooking because I was content with my frustration of clicking through every item. This totally made my day!

2. I’m sure there has been a craigslist app forever but I hadn’t thought of downloading it. I did yesterday and now I’m addicted!

The viewing is easy and if you notice the screenshot above you can save “Favorites.” This is amazing! Here are a few items I found last night using my new app:

Mid Century Modern Shelf for $225. Would look awesome holding a TV or lining a wall with some styled books!

Bassett Campaign Chest of Drawers for $280. I’ve really been wanting some campaign furniture! 

Eames Era Tulip Chair Knock-Offs $100 each. Since these are knock-offs I don’t think these are a great deal.

Mid Century Modern Sideboard for $100. This is a great deal depending on how great of condition it is in.

Milk Cans for $35 Each. These would look awesome with a fresh coat of paint in the corner of a room.

Vintage Wood Double Chair from Courtroom for $125. A bench with some character!

5 Vintage Candle Holders for $15. If these weren’t in Durham I would have these. I think they would look awesome in a cluster on a mantel.

Industrial 10 Drawer Cabinet for $150. This would look great in an office! Or for storage in a garage!

Two Faux Bamboo Glass Display Shelves for $200. Polished or painted gold these would be perfect! If only I had the space for them.

Wood Desk for $50. With some TLC and some paint and hardware this little guy could shine.

Fan Belt Holder for $30. Anyone else think this would be a killer coat rack by your front door?

Old Egg Baskets for $25 each. You could probably find a better deal somewhere else, but these are still pretty cool.

Federal Hepplewhite Sideboard for $435. If this were cheaper and I had more money… it would be mind. It is gorgeous!

Enough sharing for today. Happy Thursday. I’ll see you tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

Anyone need some old windows?

This past weekend Brian and I went to my Dad’s house to help him with some miscellaneous things around the house. One of his recent projects was replacing some windows. So after our day of projects we returned with 14 old windows!  Anyone need any for some cool crafty projects?

Disregard my reflection and my shadow, Bauer. BTW he is huge now, 50 lbs. Also, thanks for all the thoughts last week while we struggled with his hurt leg, very much appreciated. He’s on his way to a full recovery.

Back to the deets… I posted the windows on Craigslist for $10 for a small one and $15 for medium and large.

I was searching the web and found some awesome things you could do with them. There are some amazing Pinterest boards. Check them out here, here, and here. There are so many great ideas I might have to keep some of these bad boys! A display case made from windows, a coffee table that opens, a chalkboard display, a large mirror… the list goes on and on…

Estate Sale Love

I’m aware that I haven’t completed my project #1, beautification of bathroom shelves (past posts here and here). I promise my intention today was to give you an update. I went to a few estate sales this weekend looking for some great items. The long and short of it is that I didn’t find anything that would rock my shelve’s socks off.

But I did find this awesome clutch for $1:

Has anyone heard of Andrew Geller?

I also found this AMAZING faux bamboo teapot that will soon be at The Union Jill.

I’m ashamed to say that I bought an amazing Webster Collegiate Dictionary with a leather cover from 1933 but I forgot to get a picture for you guys. I’ll grab one at lunch and hook you up later today. It is a dream come true for my coffee table.

Background story for the last item purchased:

Last Friday in my ‘Friday Favorites /2‘ I listed Orlando’s blue velvet chair. I didn’t however tell you how obsessed I was with it. Check out what I purchased Saturday….

This estate sale posted pictures online way back when. The sale kept getting rescheduled. I felt like I had been looking at this chair for months! So when I read Orlando’s post showing his amazing chair for his client, it just reinforced that I needed this chair.

But wait… it gets better..

And then there were two..

So I didn’t actually have a location in my house in mind for these chairs. I wasn’t really planning on coming home with them. But when I saw there were two and they were in great shape and they were CHEAP (I’ll just go ahead and tell you, $90 for both) I knew they were coming home with me space or not. So that is why they are currently in my dining room. They might have to live there a while. I’ll be the lady with two blue velvet AMAZING chairs just chilling in her dining room, I’m okay with that.

So no shelving items bought I’m sad to say.

Did you guys buy anything amazing this weekend?

PS.. The wall on either side of the hutch (above the blue chairs) is where I’ve decided to create my gallery wall as mentioned here. So tons of white pictures frames is my next project. I promise to finish my first one before I begin. Cross my heart!

Craigslist Fiend

I love furniture. It makes or breaks a room, a house even. It can be a little pricey. One day when I earn those big bucks, furniture is close to the top of my list, behind traveling the world and paying for my kid’s college. That being said, I need to find another career, being an engineer is not going to get me to the top of the food chain, not even close. Can I just dream about being Emily Henderson and buying all the furniture I want?

Snap out of it MB, let us talk about the present. Currently I try to find awesome furniture for my space on the cheap, usually using craigslist. This means used furniture that sometimes has a few defects and isn’t perfect, I view this as character. I try to stick with the 50+ year old furniture. I love thinking about all the stories the furniture could tell, that is, if the pieces could talk. I suffer from thinking of inanimate objects as people, please forgive me. This explains why I name my cars and become so attached to them. (I’m not the only one; Orlando from Hommemaker shares his suffering here.)

Back to the purpose of my post, I recently bought a new piece of furniture for my dining room. I had been looking for something with character that could store my kitchen overflow and keep the room bright. It is competing with an amazing yellow 1950’s diner table, so it needs to hold its own.  My walls are white and grey, so I needed something as close to white as possible so that it wouldn’t stand out and scream, “I am cream!” I searched long and hard. This included a lot of waiting for the perfect piece and the perfect price. I originally was looking for a vintage sideboard kind of like this from Etsy’s cbensten,

or this from Etsy’s paintedcottages.

But then I found this beauty.

The fact that this picture is taken in my dining room means it is no surprise that I bought it. (Please disregard my lack of decorating in the dining room, that is on the list of future projects.) I fell in love with the queen anne legs and the glass front. There is storage on each side of the door which means you can also hide some unsightly stuff. When I went to check out this piece I was the weirdo that borrowed one of the seller’s big red wine glasses to make sure it fit.

I have basic woodworking skills enough to restore simple furniture and I can paint a solid color on anything, but when it comes to a distressed polished look, not my cup of tea. Nick, the seller, was very enlightening when it comes to painting techniques. Painting at this level is definitely a science, a science that I hope to learn one day soon. He spent a half hour going through the process in detail, and I couldn’t get enough! When he was done I didn’t have the heart to talk him down on the price (which was a first). I could see the love and care he put into it and I almost wanted to overpay him (not really). I knew that paying his full asking price was still a steal for this piece. Nick has a blog of his own; you can check it out here.

Just like Etsy, Craigslist comes full circle; you buy some and you sell some.

This little guy was just posted by yours truly today, check it out here. It is a piece that held my TV and components at my old house. It is a little small at my new house and it screams, “I am cream!” It has a great teak top on it that just needs a little love.

You guys also craigslist feens? Found anything good lately?

PS.. If you went and checked out Emily Henderson’s One Kings Lane sale last week you saw brass antelope bookends that were identical to mine. $125! Crazy! (yea, I have the app on my dying cell phone.)

PSS.. Emily Henderson’s store is going to be an online store. She reveals this here. So, no amazing road trip in my future after all.

PTripleS… My darling Lucy sold that I mentioned here. She was amazing! I hope she is loved by her new owner.

Amazing Finds, FOR FREE!

This past weekend was slam packed for Brian and I. Yes, Brian is a new name for you, he is my partner in crime, my better half!

Back to the story…

1.We had to help my parents move some furniture. (Which was complete with a spotting of my nephew!)

2. And we had the really rough job of relaxing at the lake!

(both are complements of my instagram @mymorningcoffeeblog, follow me to see more pics)

Whilst completing these two tasks I came into the possession of some awesome vintage items. Best part is that they were free! AKA.. while helping my parents move they decided they didn’t have a place for these old friends any longer. I won’t lie, this is how I come across a lot of cool items.

1. An awesome light. He was really tall so I had to take some precautions when getting this guy home!

He will probably reside in my living room once I find the perfect shade.

2. A footstool.

This little one just needs some tender love and care, complete with a face-lift that includes new fabric. Endless possibilities! Did I mention it opens up like a treasure chest!

I’ll keep you updated on their progress.

Any cool shade ideas? Should I paint the stool white? What about fabric? Do you guys liked the tufted trend?  (My color pallet in the living room is navy, yellow, and orange.)