5 Items You'd Never Guess I Found on Craigslist
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I'm so thrilled to be compiling this list of five of my favorite home decor items that I found on Craigslist! I'm thrilled because I am darn proud of sifting through all the white noise on Craigslist to find some real gems! Also, I'm proud that I lived to tell about it...just kidding, kind of.
So, I'll start off with a quick "best practices" statement. When communicating with strangers, obviously don't give your full name and address or anything personal like that. If you're going to pick up the item from the seller, you should normally bring someone with you. If that's not possible, just be sure to meet in a well lit, populated and safe area. I actually did not 100% follow that advice, but I'll explain more later in the post. Those same rules should apply to having the seller deliver the product to you. Try to get the item to your garage or outside so that the buyer doesn’t even have to set food inside your home. Just use common sense and caution!
Now, I'll just try to list these off in order of when I purchased them:
Bar Height Patio Dining Set
Shortly after we moved in to our house, my husband and I found this bar height outdoor table and chairs for our pool area. We like to sit up higher, so a tall table and chairs were a must. I had other specifications too, like mesh fabric and no cushions so that sitting in the chairs with a wet swimsuit on would be no problem and also they had to swivel. We have a TV on our patio and it's a social area when we have guests staying with us, so the swivel comes in pretty handy. ;) These images are from my Blue Palms and Pineapples Outdoor Tablescape post.
This is a glass top table which we purchased without the umbrella and 6 matching sling back swivel chairs for around $250, if I remember correctly. A brand new set matching my criteria would run us somewhere between $1,200 and $2,000. To me, that was completely insane. We may upgrade the set in the future, but for a new couple at the time, about to get married, having zero outdoor furniture, this Craigslist find was a win!
Round Mirror
I'm sure you've seen this one if you follow along on Instagram! I wrote a quick tutorial about how I salvaged this large and heavy round mirror and hung it in my foyer. I paid $20. Actually, my husband did, since I sent him and his dad to pick it up from a lady in a Walmart parking lot. Safe area, populated place, daylight...check, check, check. You can read my $20 Craigslist Mirror Makeover tutorial for the super easy way I updated this once hideous mirror.
I linked an assortment of large mirrors below, but as you might guess, these are a little more than $50. ;)
Dining Table
Our dining room was one of the last spaces that I actually filled. We used to refer to the front half of our house as the "Dance Hall", because there was no furniture in what I now consider the "Living Room" and none in the formal dining space, either. Our neighbor's kids used to find any excuse to come over just so they could twirl around in the emptiness lol. I must admit, I've surely danced there while vacuuming and washing the floors a time or two. ;)
You might get tired of hearing this, but it's pretty much the same story for this room, as well. Have you seen the prices of a trestle dining table? Good grief. I can totally understand spending a nice chunk of change on a table that will actually get used, but we have eaten at this table together a total of two times. So, when choosing where to throw my cash, I definitely don't invest it in something that will rarely get used. Basically, it just had to look pretty and be large enough for our family if/when we hosted a holiday dinner or something like that. (We did actually host Thanksgiving last year and luckily no one had to sit on the floor. Success.)
When I found this table on Craigslist, I did a Google search since the seller listed the exact brand and model. Boom. It was still sold online for about two and a half times what I bought it for, and it just so happened that I’d seen the table before and liked it! So, I was just able to review it online like I would any other new purchase and contacted the seller. This is the time I mentioned earlier where I went to pick up this table alone. HOWEVER, the seller gave me her full name and I completely stalked her (duh) before going to her home where she and her husband would help me load the table piece by piece into my SUV. I was familiar with their community which was by the beach and gated. The guard takes your full name from your ID upon entering and the person who lives there puts your name on a list for entry. I knew that they would be the dumbest criminals ever if they tried anything slick, since the whole event had been documented. So there you go! There are certain times I'd say it's safe enough to go alone. Again, caution and common sense, people.
This is my exact dining table if you click here. The ones below are similar.
Cane Side Table
I just really love cane furniture. Lately, it's made quite a comeback from its days of being featured on The Golden Girls with the help of brands like Serena & Lily and their gorgeous selection of cane, rattan and woven furniture, but I just wanted a little side table for my living room and didn't want to pay the high price tag.
My husband and I picked up this vintage rattan/cane table for $50 from a really bizarre home with bunnies on the front porch and the windows open at the same time an AC unit sticking out of the window was clearly turned on full blast. It was like they lived on a farm. Except they were definitely in the middle of a very populated neighborhood. But to each their own! At least I have their table now. ;)
The table actually did not fit with the living room furniture because it was too tall, so I ended up using it as a nightstand in our back guest room. I have contemplated painting it, but for now it remains its original brown wood color.
I did actually swap out this table with my cane bar cart to create a coffee station in my living room for fall.
Faux Bamboo Lamp Bases
I love searching for bamboo on Craigslist. It's like online thrift store shopping and it finally paid off. I found these two wooden faux bamboo lamp bases as a set for $40. They had no shades or harps, so I picked up both the tall white shades and harps at Walmart for around $30 total. So, this set of lamps cost me around $70.
These lamps are now on our bedroom night stands since getting new ones for our Coastal Chic Foyer Refresh.
I can't actually find this lamp online, but I was told they were purchased at Target, originally. Below are some lamps that have a "bamboo" shape or style to them.
I’m sure my days of perusing Craigslist are not over. It’s always fun to see what’s for sale and if you’re patient and lucky, your perusing will definitely pay off!
Sending Sunshine,
Jessica
