Trolling Craigslist… Eugene!

We are BACK trolling Craigslist. I’ve always had someone (Thank you Abby!) helping me with these posts (she does the first round of picking for me – she sends me a list, I say ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘find more’ etc, then she puts the photos together and add the links and I write). She was out of the country but now she’s BACK and we are trolling again. In my college town, Eugene, OR. GO DUCKS!!!!!

I have to say I missed these posts. It’s always sooooo interesting to see where in the country you can find good steals and Eugene, Or is apparently one of them. I went to college there. My college education was a bit of a steal ($3500 tuition for the year back in 1997). So maybe Oregon is just an affordable place in general.

1. $285 Vintage Kilim I went to check on this size to make sure that $285 is indeed a good deal and this has already sold so say goodbye to your powder blue kilim fantasies. The colorway was really interesting but it’s gone, y’all.

2. $50 Burl Wood Side Table YES YES YES. I don’t know if this thing is solid, but it is a good kinda side table that can go anywhere – next to a sofa, under a console, as a stool, as an occasional table. And for $50? Not bad, Craig.

3. $120 Bamboo Desk This should be $80. And then paint that thing – unless the natural bamboo works in your space. It could be any color really – powder blue? mint green? heather gray? White will make it go a bit Palm Beach-y but that isn’t always a bad thing.

4.  $85 Industrial Side Table – Good lines, functional shape. I wish it were $60 but it looks useful in a lot of different capacities.

5. $35 Mid Century Shell Chair YES. Buy this one. That bright pop of blue could look incredibly cute in so many different spaces. And $35 isn’t a lot of pay for that kind of happiness.

6. $125 Scandinavian Sling Chair A steal. Get this. If there were a pair I would be shipping them home.

7. $250 Mid Century Chair I just bought two exact chairs for a client for $600 so this is even cheaper than those. One is more challenging to deal with certainly, but if you have a smallish living room it could be a nice little addition.

8.  $150 Pair of Mid Century Bamboo Bar Stools These can go Tiki real fast, so I think that painting them a color (navy? hunter green?) will help. Recover that seat in a solid since there is so much going on with the lines of the chair – unless you are insane and just want to embrace the tiki-ness and get a nutty pattern on them. It’s your funeral/party.

9.  $60 80’s Deco Couch I love when sellers call things ‘Deco’ when they are really just 80’s and disgusting. YES, if you invested $1500 into this sofa and you have the perfect space, then it could be awesome, but I’d say pass unless you are that person. It needs new fabric and foam ($300) + labor ($800) and transportation to and from ($200). I just don’t think that this is the piece to invest in, but when I first saw it I was like ‘ooh … The Fig House ….’.

10.  $85 Set of Brass Tables Can go 80’s really fast, but  if you have really simple furniture and a pulled together room these can look more elevated and less ‘cheap brass and glass’. If you have a thrift store style space, then skip these.

11. $140 Vintage Floorlamp Oh hell no this should not be $140. I like it, don’t get me wrong. In a more masculine kinda bachelor library-style space this could look so chic, but I think on CL it should be $65.

12. $50 Pair of Club Chairs I LOVE these. And that is a great price. Perfect for an office on the other side of the desk or in your dressing room. Those slim little arms are pretty darn adorable. Something like that should be between $200 – $350 to recover.

13. $300 Eames Style Lounge Chair Always a classic. Never a bad thing to hoard these suckers. The color of that leather (or vinyl) is pretty great.

14. $80 Hans Wegner Style Folding Chair YES. I have one of these that I will probably never part with – they are just so easy to throw around.

15. $40 Campaign Style Desk – This is on the little side so it could be the perfect nightstand next to a bed as opposed to a desk in an office. Paint it white or keep it wood – its cute either way.

16. $25 Vintage Sofa Now these lines are a bit more approachable, certainly, but it’s still an expensive risk once you calculate in all the labor, fabric and delivery. I think I really like this sofa, though.The cute little curve of the arm, the slimmer lines of the frame – it has wayyy more character than most sofas you are going to find at a furniture store (see this post for details on what to avoid) but it will take more work on your part. I would budget in $1200 worth of expenses, although you might be able to get cheaper fabric and cheaper labor depending on where you live.

Where to next, folks?

P.S. How to shop Craigslist,  How to shop the flea market and Everything you need to know about recovering vintage furniture