Craigslist And Estate Sales Are My Friends

Yes, indeed they are.

I needed to refresh the stock at my antiques booth,

so a couple of weekends ago, my daughter Anne and I hit up several house sales,

and picked up a washstand, ca. 1870, from a Craigslist posting.

(The washstand in our sunroom, awaiting
its beauty treatment.  The top drawer is out.)

We stuffed the minivan; Anne has excellent packing skills.

But we had to pass up an Eastlake bed.  That was painful.

A very BIG Eastlake bed, it was in excellent, gorgeous condition, 

with rails, and already converted to queen size.  I know!

Why didn't we take it?  

I negotiated the price from $275 to $100 

-- it was the last day of the sale, and I was buying other things -- 

but when I stood next to the bed, and realized that it was taller than I, 

and certainly wider than 48" . . . I knew I couldn't fit it into the minivan.

Dang.

But we got an adorable old cherry one-drawer stand, with uber-patina.

And an antique repair to its top.  

(Please excuse the sneakers, dog toy, and vacuum in the picture.

Real life is messy sometimes.  Or, always.)

Not a very professional fix-it job, and it may win the prize for 

most nails used in any furniture repair ever, but I just love it.

It cracks me up.  It would have given my father fits.

Also in our house sale haul, a wonderful old chestnut drop leaf table, 

with three original leaves.  A rare bird, indeed.

The picking gods were with us that day.  It has not just 3 leaves,

but a holder to keep them protected.  I never saw one of those before.

It's possible I have lead a sheltered life.

Haha ... those are Howard's feet on the left; we were in the parking lot behind the shop, 

delivering these things to the booth this past Sunday.  

I have shrunk my booth down to 1/2 its former size, 

so it was a tight fit to get the new things tucked in.  But we did.

The rustic little one-drawer stand sold today, one day after its arrival.

And someone put a "hold" on the drop leaf table.

Yup, house sales are my friends.

And ... I just noticed my giant handbag on the drop leaf table.  Well, at least I didn't leave it there.

The house sale also netted us a nice sturdy country Windsor chair,

and a sweet pine desk/vanity/hall table that needs a teensy bit of TLC

before it's ready for its closeup, Mr. DeMille.

Sunday was such a lovely day.

Maybe Howard and I should have had lunch al fresco in the parking lot!

Side note:  A couple of days after I got the washstand from a home in Chatham, NJ, I got an email from the owner; she had found the bail of one of the brasses in her garage.  Did I want it?  Yes!  I was ready to hunt for a replacement.  Instead ... this lovely lady mailed it to me.  I know people worry about Craigslist dealings, but so far I have only met the very best people in my Craigslist purchases, or sales.  Even the hermits.  :-)

And it isn't much of a collage/mosaic that I've done, but even so ... 

I'm hitching it to Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

Confession:  It's been SO LONG since I've done a blog party linkup that I forgot how.

True.

A mind really is a terrible thing to waste, isn't it?  See you soon! 

-- Cass