Craig's List made me do it, really!
Well, I've just made another Craig's List purchase. It wasn't anything I desperately needed, but once I saw it just had to have it.
I just gave a deposit on a gorgeous, down-filled french country style settee/sofa. I was looking at my local Craig's List a couple weeks ago and saw it. It was located in a very nice neighborhood not too far from me, and after deliberating for over a week I decided to go take a look. I told myself I wouldn't buy it unless it was spectacular. It is less than two years old, custom upholstered in a gorgeous creamy white damask pattern chenille, has a single down filled cushion that is reversible and two down filled toss pillows (which I'm not crazy about but will recover the down forms). There beautiful carved oak cabriole legs in both the front and back of the sofa. It's quite tall--41" high so will look great with my 9 ft. ceilings. It looks much more beautiful in real life than in these pictures--especially the color and fabric. The owners are older with no children, the piece has been sitting in their formal sitting room and is in perfect condition. They paid almost $2,500 for it on sale at a very, very nice local furniture store. They showed me all the original receipts and paperwork. I got it for $400!
It's either going in my formal sitting room (I have a 12 year old "matchy matchy" couch and loveseat that was purchased for my previous home and is really too big for the small room) or it will go in my master bedroom when I redecorate this spring. I'm decorating around a 19th century french armoire and a gorgeous 1920's upholstered headboard with handcarved oak trim.
I'm picking it up the week after Christmas. So I guess it's my Christmas present to myself. Only problem is--I haven't told DH that I bought it yet. Will be hard to sneak this baby into the house--especially since he's on vacation all next week! (Does anyone know if there's a 12-step program for Craig's List addiction?)!!
Comments (21)
teeda_2006
16 years agoRelated Discussions
How do you search Craig's List?
Comments (22)I love all of the advice here. I LOVE the idea of opening up each listing in another tab. Who knew you can do that?? I tried it, and it saves so much time. I have been addicted to tabs since I started using Firefox years ago. And now Internet Explorer and other browsers also use tabs. I have been surprised to find out how many people I know don't know how to use tabs in their browser. They are a huge timesaver. Not so much back arrow clicking, makes shopping and surfing so much easier....See MoreHow do you clean your upholstered CraigsList purchases?
Comments (8)Heat will kill bedbugs as well - I've left CL sofas in my car for a day or two in the heat of summer as well as in the middle of winter - both temp extremes will kill any cooties. It's supposed to be quite warm this week in this area and I assume yours too since you aren't that far away from me - if you could leave it in a closed van parked in the sun on a sunny day, I doubt you'd have to worry about bugs. Smells and such are another story. I've bought a lot of upholstered pieces on CL and at thrift stores and got burned once, with a sofa that had a smell that just wouldn't go away (I smelled it in the store but thought it was just the thrift store background smell that I was smelling). I febreezed it, set it in the sun, put dryer sheets in the cushions -- NOTHING got rid of that smell so I eventually got rid of the sofa. Now I make sure that any upholstered piece I buy passes the whiff test. I also size up the people and the house where it's coming from - if it's a gross looking house or the furniture looks like it's had a hard life, I pass on the furniture. But in the past 2 years, I've bought 2 sofas, a big sectional, and a chair from CL without a problem or any bugs. All of the pieces came from spotlessly clean houses, look brand new and cost about a tenth of what I would have paid for them new so I have only positive things to say about buying upholstered stuff on CL. And re: the bedbug paranoia -- just because you buy something new doesn't mean it can't also have cooties -- most new furniture is shipped over from foreign countries in shipping containers that can harbor bugs. And there was a big stink on the news lately about new mattresses picking up bedbugs on the delivery truck (because its the same truck they use to haul away old mattresses and they often have old mattresses and new mattresses on the truck at the same time as they make all the deliveries/haulaways for that day.) Bedbugs skeeve me out to no end (I make my dh strip and leave his luggage and clothes outside when he gets back from business trips to cities that are known to have a bedbug issue in their hotels) but if you obsess about it enough, you'll be afraid to go anywhere or buy anything, so at some point, you just have to roll the dice and hope for the best....See Morecraigs list table and chair / what do you think?
Comments (3)You know I'm not sure what kind of chairs I was looking for. I want fabric in the chairs I'm just not sure about being "locked in" to slip covers. I'm going to try to see it in person sometime this week. Maybe that will help. It feels like a good deal to me but maybe not... Thanks for your input - it helps to get other opinions! Lori...See MoreWhat do you think of these chairs on Craig's list?
Comments (18)I am so upset! The seller said he would hold them for me until I got off work this afternoon, and he sold them to someone else this morning! I really wanted them. I guess I will start looking for something else, but they would have been so perfect for what I wanted them for. Thank you everyone for your help! It has given me the courage to ask for advice more often....See Morebungalow_house
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