Dear Vegas,
You are a tricky city, indeed. There are some things I love about you – the freedom, the insanity, your ‘let loose-ness’ … and the vintage. I explored it a couple of years ago with my friend/former assistant Rebecca, and I was surprised by how good it was but also how expensive it was (the stores, not Craigslist). So I was happy to find that the Craigslist is here and waiting for me to troll all over it.
1. $65 Vintage Sofa Oh what, this beauty? You think its ugly? Whatever do you mean? But here’s what you do – scrap all the seat cushions and those super intense back cushions. Whats great about it is the upholstered frame and the shape of the back, but all that hoo haw is distracting you. Then get the seat cushion to be divided into just two, not three. The back could be tricky because its curved, but you could recover and make it a tight back but with more padding than it has nownow. Recover this bad boy in a non-80’s color (no matter how trendy they are right now, unless you have the best style in the world and call yourself Kelly Wearstler then a sofa like this needs to be in a safe/masculine neutral like navy, gray, ivory or even a forest green …. woah, that is 80’s aint it?)
2. $85 Geo Coffee Table Very good. Great in black but paint that sh*t gold and you have yourself a very pretty and inexpensive architectural table.
3. $299 Curved Back Sofa Again with the curved back. Try it in a heather gray linen or if you are bold and can handle it, go for a dark teal linen. This guy will be anywhere from $800 – $1500 to recover and will need around 12 – 15 yards so it’s a bit of an investment.
4. $50/each Deco Chairs You had me at deco and $50. These are hideous right now, but go all Fig house on them and put that sh*t in an emerald green velvet. Trust.
5. $50 Mid Century Side Table Way more interesting and with more integrity than most big box stores and much cheaper. Grab this round little sexy man.
6. $175 Mid Century Dresser. Dressers are hard and expensive. So if this is your style then it could be a good deal. The lines are simple, but it’s not crazy beautiful or anything. Just basically WAY better than your average piece of garbage dresser.
7. $35 Set of Retro Chairs Y’all. That is a good price. I really want something like these for me – to recover and powder coat the bases. I would do them in three shades of the same color or do the inside different from the outside or pipe them a contrasting color – just do something fun with them because they are so simple and plain. A total blank canvas.
8. $75 Mid Century Chair Pretty lines. Daring color. Grow a pair and buy this chair.
9. $20 Brass Desk Lamp Ooh, hey cutie pie, you could sit on my desk any time. Especially for $20.
10. $75 Queen Spindle Bed Frame Yeah, paint this frame virtually ANY color and it will feel smart and updated. Black = edgy and cool, white = open and airy, nude/blush = trendy and hot, emerald green = bold and graphic, navy = sophisticated and masculine. You get the idea. Go for it. This is a can’t lose.
11. $185 Vintage Sofa Good lines, simple shape. The legs are a bit retro, but could be totally fine if the color of the sofa is good. Maybe the legs are gray-washed? Dunno, just throwing that out there.
12. $250 Crazy ‘S’ shaped 80s Sectional Oh I’M SORRY, but you are shaped like an S????? You are like a hollywood story, you are – all big, bulky and kinda ugly when we found you. Then cut to 6 months later and you will be on the cover of US weekly with a before and after that nobody would believe. But I knew it. I had your back. I saw your inner beauty/weirdness.
13. $40 Vintage Barstools Again, my obsession with barstools continues. It’s because I can’t seem to find the right counter height vintage upholstered stools (3 of them) for myself, so whenever I find them I get excited and then sad.
14. $60 Set of Lucite Benches & Side Tables UH, yo Jen Gotch (the Ban-do founder/creative director) too bad these are probably sold the second these go live. I mean, that is A LOT of lucite for $60. Geez. You are welcome, America.
15. $125 Pair of Ladder Back Chairs I know these don’t seem like me but if I had a more classic style house I would love to have these flank the perfect classic/simple credenza – because that’s what they are – classic and simple.
16. $35 Pair of Chrome Arm Chairs The price is right, but the color is ugly. Recover them (pink? aqua?) tuft the back and those bad boys could make any simple white desk look super stylish.
17. $40 Twin Headboard This is a cheap recover – like $100 and 4-5 yards of fabric, and your child could be sleeping in fabulousness.
18. $35/set Bent Wood Dining Chairs If this is only 3 chairs then its a travesty, hopefully its four. But even for two this is a good deal because these have such good lines and are so pretty. They need to be refinished, sure, but those pretty curves could rival Kim Kardy’s – pre and post baby.
Happy Friday, y’all. Now go get your Vegas Craigslist finds.