Yesterday, I set up office and worked upon my new leather Chesterfield….in a crop top!
I’m sorry you can’t see the true color of the leather. It’s not my fault it’s such a glorious day in Dallas. I guess it’s making up for those twisters that bounced through here on Tuesday.
So, just to recap about this awesome find, I found it on Craiglist in Ocala, Florida using www.SearchTempest.com. I found a shipper using UShip.com where I received bids. I accepted the $300 bid (Uship adds on $24 for service fees). The couch was picked up on a Sunday night (the guy called and arranged shipment with the couch lady) and it arrived on Tuesday morning at 7am! In A MINIVAN! I was expecting a huge truck to roll on up, but, well it was more like a church van and two burly ladies stepped out. They were very nice and VERY strong. She asked how much I paid for the couch ($275) and almost fell out of her jellies when I told her (Yes, she was working in jellies). She said she ships these sorts of things all the time and she estimated it to be $6,000-$8,000 new! I don’t know about all that, but I’m certainly pleased. It’s WAYYYY more comfortable than I expected. The only bummer is that she thought she was going to be delivering to a law office. Somehow that bummed me out. Maybe because it means I’m going to have to start practicing law? Well, at least I’ve got the outfits.
Side note: In case you want to ship something (and not in California or New York…they don’t ship there for some reason), contact Don at Sooner Ships. They can quote you 15% less and will not charge you the $24 Uship surcharge. It’s a nice, TIMELY, family run business and I would definitely use them again. (405) 485-2304
Now, back to business…
I’ve had a resurgence of project ideas. Ty and I went to the Canton Flea Market last weekend and it was AMAZING. It has all the quirky cool stuff that the Pasadena Rose Bowl had, but for crazy low prices. We walked for HOURS and saw only a portion of the grounds. If I felt like being a gypsy, I would load up a truck of treasures and drive it to California, where the hipsters lose their shit over this stuff. Because I’m trying to edit my purchases, I only ended up with $17 of crystal chandelier pieces:
I have bags of these! For $17! The sweetest old lady in a church hat and a sundress sold them to me. I should have taken a photo with her. I’m going to wire these together and make my own chandelier, dammit! Remember my birdcage chandelier project? I found a chandelier at an antique mall, but call me crazy, the baby in a noose kind of turned me off.
At the Canton Market, I also found this sweet vintage milk glass desk lamp for $5. I just need to clean it up a bit.
I’m almost embarrassed to write this next part. I imagine my blog following plummeting from 62 back down to 37. I found another couch I want. Locally.
IknowIknowIknowIknowBUTHEARMEOUT! It’s $70 including delivery and I want to use it as an upholstery learning opportunity project. I can find turquoise linen for about $9 a yard and for a 7foot couch, you need 11 yards of fabric. But wouldn’t it be awesome to have this in my office? You can’t deny how much you loved this photo I posted, right?
I swear I’ll never mention the word “Chesterfield” again. Think of this couch as a new opportunity to learn upholstery. In fact, I have some dining room chairs to re-do (easy), and large wingback weird chair to do (medium) and now this couch (hard). I won’t be using a print, so that will make it easier. I’ve reupholstered 2 wingback chairs before (they’re still in Tennessee and I need to road-trip them out here sometime soon). My mom will tell you she did the whole project for me, but she has an exaggeration problem. Or a brutal honesty problem. One of the two.
I’ve always just kind of winged it (PUN!), but I’ve ordered a book so I can do it right this time. Maybe I have too many reupholstery ideas? I want to copy this bench from West Elm ($499)
The cheapest option would be to find a bench that you can just reupholster. Alternatively, you can buy the legs, wood platform, nail studs, etc at Home Depot. Actually, I saw legs at the Canton Market for $1 each.
Ty doesn’t like this print, but how awesome is this before/after Suzani chair I saw on DesignSponge?!
Anyway, all I’m sayin’ is that I want to learn a new craft. Ty sails boats, works on his truck, goes running, and cooks me dinner. I want to upholster things and spend money at Home Depot.
Thoughts? I haven’t pulled the trigger on the couch yet. We’re leaving for NYC in…oops..3 hours… but if it’s still here when we get home next week, should I do it?!
I should pack.