First Richmond Craigslist Purchase

As I lurked around the internet, stalking all things craigslist, I found these beautiful things:

Gorgeous, no?  I love the shape and this is probably the first time I haven't hated beige fabric.  The seller wanted $200 for 4 chairs.  I wanted to pay no more than $40 each.  I took Mr. 3 with me, because...hello?  stranger danger!  Don't ever craigslist alone!

The seller lived in a gorgeous row house in the Fan part of Richmond.  I had to refrain from asking if some of his other furniture was for sale as well!

The chairs were pretty, but had a fair amount of staining/water spots.  There wasn't any horribly dark staining, but there was a few red marks (probably from markers based on the rugrats I saw walking around) and stray pen marks.   The seller told me that the other stains were dog slobber....charming.  After a thorough inspection, I found the chairs to be comfortable and firm enough.  The springs were fine and the webbing on the bottom was still intact.  The wood bits had a bit of scuffing, but no major issues.

He wanted them to go to a "good home" and get a few dollars for them.   I talked the guy down to $25 each! I plan on trying to clean them up (future post to come!).  If they clean up pretty well, I will use them, as is, for kitchen chairs.  If they don't, I will look into having them reupholstered sometime next year...either keeping them as kitchen chairs and using the same fabric orrrrr recovering them in different fabrics and stashing them in different places around a future house.

I'm super excited to have found such a great deal on craigslist for such pretty chairs!  Even if I wind up recovering them, they are still quite the steal!

The Barn Antiques

If you ever find yourself near Lake Alfred, Florida, you must check out the Barn antique store. Even if you don't normally visit central Florida, this store is so wonderful that you might as well make a special trip. After you look through rooms up on rooms of antiques, you can take a lunch break at the Back Porch Tea Room located on site. There are a few gift shops on site as well. I visited in October and the gift shops were decorated for Thanksgiving and Christmas (so many trees!). My more recent visit (when I bought stained glass) was a few weeks back, and the gift shops were decorated for spring.

Here are some of the items that caught my eye. You may notice that I got a little caught up in all the pink art deco mirrors. I managed to escape the store twice without buying one, but I doubt my strength for a third visit.

Craigslist Crush: Volume 1

As I mentioned on Monday, craigslist Richmond is crushin' it to say the least.  I have no qualms in showing you all the goods since I have no place to store any new treasures...yet.  We are still paying rent on our apartment in D.C. until it gets rented out, so until that is taken care of, I'm window shopping only.  Pray y'all, pray.  

A lot of these items are big ticket pieces and the prices are reflective of that, but I think these finds are so so good and still pretty reasonable.  First up, this awesome antique ice chest which would be a fun and functional addition to a man cave:  

Antique Ice Chest
$100

This stately screen is awesome and if you didn't care for the patina...you could spray paint it, but I like it as is in the right home.

Iron Screen
$200

Be still my heart!  This stained glass door is gorgeous and needs to be in a 1920s house ASAP.

Stained Glass Door
$250

Y'all know I dearly love a good chandelier and this is an awesome price if it is indeed crystal as described!  If it's not, light fixtures are insanely expensive, so you should snap this one up anyways!

Crystal Chandelier
$300

Pedestal sinks never go out of style and this one looks to be in great condition!

Pedestal Sink
$150

If you happen to buy that goregous stained glass door above, I might also suggest this Art Deco wall unit.  Great price and looks like it is in excellent condition!

Art Deco Wall Unit
$299

I love love love my the craiglist finds, but don't think it's all beautiful.  I found this gem and I think my exact words were "Lord Almighty."  Thank you craigslist for continuing to come through with the good, the bad, and the painfully bizarre!

Asian Lacquer and Mother of Pearl Armoire
$1750

Boston Restoration Hardware Store

While in Boston last month, J and I visited the new Restoration Hardware store. The company renovated a very old building in my favorite part of Boston that I used to walk past all the time while attending MIT. I always wondered what was going on inside as I scurried to H&M. **Note: scurrying is necessary because Boston is perpetually frozen**

Here is a video if you want to learn more about the Boston store, but if you are like me and prefer pictures, just keep reading this page. I have been into plenty of Restoration Hardware stores and own a few things myself, but this was the first time their largest pieces actually fit the scale of the space. You should definitely visit if you have the opportunity.

figuring out how it was made

kids' section is in the basement

this is the only furniture that looks small compared to him

the famous ridiculously deep couch

Chairish Collaboration: Our Ideal Home Bar

Chairish recently contacted us to partner with them on creating a style board for our ideal home bar.  For those of you that haven't heard, Chairish helps design lovers buy and sell pre-loved decor to one another.  In addition, Chairish also holds curated shops with design heavy hitters like Emily Henderson.  Briana and I have admired Chairish from afar for quite some time and we were really excited to work on this project.

Our challenge was to pick from a selection of Chairish barstools and get some inspirational goodness together.  Now, y'all should know by now that Briana and I would dearly love to have a butler's pantry/wet bar area for entertaining in our dream homes, but we think it would be awesome to also have an area for seating to serve up some champagne cocktails (Chairish challenge = right up our alley).

I immediately gravitated towards these beautiful rattan barstools...for some reason, they made me think of that Elvis Presley movie, Blue Hawaii,...which I may have watched a thousand times growing up (I went through a movie musical phase, but only the classics.  My mother may still have the songs trapped in her head from watching them with me on repeat - I know she especially loved it when I screeched out the lyrics to the theme song of Bye Bye Birdie.).

Counter Height Swivel Barstools

Image Source: Chairish

After selecting these barstools, and doing a lot of online window shopping on Chairish, two themes quickly emerged: Tropical Elegance and Tropical Fun.  Both themes use some of the same key pieces, but one is subdued while the other is more eyecatching.  Both are a bit glam, a bit retro, and will work in a lot of different types of homes...which is just how I like it.  I also had a vision in my head for the back bar wall to be covered in a luxe printed wallpaper with a big mirror flanked by two sconces on either side.  I imagined a gorgeous chandelier hanging over the bar area and a set of five barstools set up against a gorgeous natural stone countertop.  I also fully believe that barware should be beautiful so it can be showcased and set out to admire rather than hidden away.  With those ideas in mind, I set up my style boards.  First up, Tropical Elegance:

Chandeliers/Sconces/Mirror/Cocktail Set/Ice Bucket/Counter Height Swivel Barstools (all sold on Chairish)

Acanthus Stripe in Tumeric Wallpaper by Celerie Kembel for Schumacher (Image Source: Schumacher)

Marquis by Waterford Cocktail Shaker (Image Source: Bed Bath and Beyond)

Dorset Champagne Coupes (Image Source: Williams-Sonoma)

Oooh! I love that wallpaper, the lighting, and the cocktail set soooo much.  The gold design of the wallpaper and the brass ice bucket tie in nicely to the golden tones of the barstools.  The wallpaper and barware keep this home bar looking modern and classic.

Chandelier/Sconces/Mirror/Divided Platter/Chip & Dip Dish/Ice Bucket/Counter Height Swivel Barstools (all sold on Chairish)
Brazillance Wallpaper (Image Source: The Greenbrier)
Tortoise Glassware (Image Source: Horchow)

So.much.fun!  I think this style board kicks the tropical theme up a notch but without being cheesy or overdone.  Of course, I know that banana leaf prints are popping up everywhere, but it's for good reason.  They are AWESOME!  Y'all know how I feel about some Georges Briard servingware, so I'm really loving the divided dish and how it mixes in with the other barware.

I had the best time working on this project for Chairish and my favorite part was choosing the lighting from their great selection.  Which do you like best: Tropical Elegance or Tropical Fun? Or would you pick a totally different set of bar stools for your home bar?

***Posh Purpose was NOT compensated by Chairish.  We simply believe in the company and like a good styleboard as much as the next obsessed fanatical avid Pinner.***

DC Big Flea Purchase Round Up

Last week, I shared my experience at the DC Big Flea and I promised I'd show you my finds. Unfortunately, I did a bit of Christmas shopping so I can really only show two of my purchases. BUT, both of them are awesome!  First up, I finally found a vintage Pyrex refrigerator dish in pristine condition, with a pattern I wanted, and I could live with the price.  This Butterprint pattern is actually turquoise rather than the dusty blue it appears to be.  I've been on the hunt for a refrigerator dish for quite sometime to store bacon grease.  It's a southern thing y'all and adding a bit to your hot cast iron skillet before pouring your corn bread batter in makes an amazing and tasty crust.

My big purchase of the day was two of these sling arm chairs with attached cushions and brass trim from a super sweet retired couple who go to these shows for fun.  If you recall, I have been in mourning after I let two chairs get away, BUT in spite of that lesson, I still waffled back and forth on purchasing them.  After a text message picture sent to Mr. 3 who told me to buy them and we could find a spot for them and a conference call with Briana (which J helpfully interpreted while Briana was driving around St. Pete), I decided they were a must have!  As with all second hand goods, I made sure to smell them for smoke and check them for wear and tear to the fabric and the seat bottoms.  Aren't the brass bits on the legs awesome?

I talked the lady down by $100 by offering cash and playing hard to get (but super interested).  Playing hard to get means coming back to see the chairs twice and check them out for damage.  The seller had already knocked $50 off for me when I made my first pass (probably because it was the end of the first day), but then I told the lady that I had sent a picture to the my husband who said that he liked them (true) but they needed to be $50 less (not true).

Her super sweet husband then offered to carry the chairs out for me and waited with me at the curb until my friend Amy pulled the car around to load 'em up.

Even though I originally had no clue where I would ever fit these chairs into my house, I found out that it was meant to be after all!  I had two previously undiscovered nooks in need of seating!

The black leather (pleather? unknown.) works great in the living room and I plan to keep them this way for quite sometime...however, I have briefly thought how awesome they would also be in dark blue leather orrr banana leaf fabric with green leather sling arms.  Future home, perhaps?

Do I still mourn for my thrift store chairs?  Yes, a bit (Briana has taught us that one can never have too many thrift store chairs after all), but I can console myself with the fact that these pretty pieces don't need their seats replaced and they fit right in with my current furniture.

Between my great finds and the Christmas gifts I picked up, I'll be headed back to the DC Big Flea for sure!

DC Big Flea

Last weekend, I went to the DC Big Flea, which is a huge flea market that is held several times a year at the Dulles Expo Center.  For the low, low cost of an $8 admission fee, I went with my friend Amy to peruse all the glory.  We didn't have to pay for parking; and, unlike most flea markets, it was 100% indoors which was awesome considering it rained aaaall day on Saturday.

Although Briana and I have big aspirations to go to the Scott Antique Market in Georgia as a part of our Cousin Bucket List, most of our second hand adventures have been limited to Habitat and Goodwill.  So, I was really excited to go check out the DC Big Flea, because I originally thought I would be getting a larger variety of goods for flea market prices.

What I didn't realize was that "flea market" was a blatant lie and there would be no rock bottom deals. What there would be is tons and tons of beautiful antiques in excellent or mint condition with decent but not cheap prices.  When I say tons, I mean TONS...rows upon rows of fantastic furniture, home decor, and oddities.  Heaven.on.earth, my friends.  There would also be many specialty vendors selling only fur coats and estate jewelry or booths containing niche items...like these hat pins, a massive and creepy collection of Hummel figurines, book pages from the 1800s with hand colored artwork, and Victorian linens and dresses.

FYI - This is only about 15% of the Hummel booth.

I also found a few items that had been upcycled, but not necessarily in a good way.  Check out these sweet shell pieces.

Another upcycled piece, that was really interesting and neat, but I'm not sure how likely it would be to wind up in someones home.  I present to you a chicken incubator turned kitchen island?

When I first spotted it, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was...and when I did, I wasn't sure you Posh Purpose readers would believe it, so I took a photo for evidence.

 There was also quite a few beautiful pieces of furniture, BUT I was really displeased when I investigated further and found that they often didn't have dovetailing but did have a $2,000-$5,000 price tag.  I feel there should be a rule that you can't call it antique if it does not have dovetailed drawers.

Beautiful design.  No dovetail.  You are so pretty though, that I ~may~ forgive you...but only if you ditch that creepy mannequin head.

This beauty was only $375!

There were also a number of just flat out fun, cool, and interesting pieces that I'm not sure I would ever want to own, but I had so much fun checking them out!

Refinished parlor furnace..so you don't get a chill whilst darning your stockings.

Beautiful and FUNCTIONING gramophone!

There were also a number of booths with with newer items like these IItala candle holders from the 1960s.  These ALMOST came home with me; but, after making a larger purchase, I had to pass (even though I'm having a serious case of regret about letting them get away).

Finally, there were scads and scads of beautiful glass and dishes and estate jewelry.  We found Baccarat decanters for $350 and $500 which sell for $500-$1,300, Fenton glass, hand painted oyster plates, and Tiffany, David Yurman, and Chopard jewelry. I also tried on a diamond ring for fun while another lady tried on a 1.55 carat diamond ring...probably for real.

I'm really glad my friend Amy went with me, because I'm not too sure Mr. 3 would have made it.  It was soooo overwhelming.  If I had bought nothing, this was totally be a $15 Happiness post.  I had the best time looking around and talking with the vendors.  It was also super easy to get around the expo center and it wasn't too crowded.  We were there for four hours, but we didn't see everything.  I've decided that I could spend one whole day just looking at jewelry and then go back the next to look at the other vendors (I said there were scads!).  The $8 admission was also actually good for two days, so I could have gone back Sunday.  Everyone was super friendly and willing to negotiate on price.  I only had one vendor that said she couldn't do any better, which I knew to be true for the particular item based on my Ebay recon.

If you haven't been to the DC Big Flea, I highly recommend you check it out!  Even if you have no room for antiques, it's a great resource for Christmas gifts!  If you don't live in the D.C. metro area, there are also shows in New York City and Fredericksburg, VA.  The next show is in New York, September 27-28th and then again in D.C., November 8-9th.

Check back on Monday when I'll be sharing a couple of my purchases!  Have a great weekend everyone!