Mystery Purchase and Therapy Tuesday
8:06 PM Edit This 13 Comments »Anyhooters. Today I am sober, I am mostly sane, I am single, have two cats and live in Gay Boyfriend's basement. Which is just fine. Not what I want, but just okay for today.
My parents are into antiques. On any given day in the spring and fall, my mother is out in the garage, stripping or staining some "find" that they purchased on a whim. My bedroom set came from an old hotel in Ottumwa, Iowa. My kitchen table came from a dump in Nisswa, Minnesota. My lamps, from various and sundry garage sales - stripped and repainted, rewired and redone.
I like that I'm a bag lady like that. I pick things up on the fly and make them mine. My father decided to start making bookshelves in his old age, and I was the first recipient of such bookshelves. They are incredible. And if you haven't noticed by now, I have a strange affiliation for books. They are my friends. But Santa gave me some money. And I freaked out. My money is ear marked anymore. I'm trying my dangdest to pay off my credit card debt and every dollar is budgeted for it's purpose. So when I got monies that I was supposed to spend on something I was unable to afford - I felt a little out of sorts. I asked "Santa" several times what he thought I should do with it. Car payment. No. Credit card payment. No. I was to spend it on something I wanted but could not afford.
Ack. What to do? I've long wanted to get rid of the coffee table which was at one time Jason's. The combining of our households necessitated me getting rid of things and embracing his. But in Tiny Apartment, the coffee table just didn't fit. I had this idea that a big old ottoman would be better suited to the comfort. And when Santa told me to think about furniture, I glommed onto it. So we went to "look."
First off, we went during the Vikings game, and none of the salespeople wanted to help us. But one guy begrudgingly came and helped me unstack some of the ottomans in a corner, then went back and told us he'd come help us at halftime. Ha! We looked, I pointed. "I like that SIZE, but not that COLOR." and "I'd really like leather, but there's no way I can afford that." and "Oh! I like that this one has storage in it." By halftime, we were ready to leave and the dude pipes up. "How would you feel about cream leather?" and I'm all like, "Sure!" Thinking, there's no way, but I'll look. He leads us to a dark back corner and from behind this huge couch he pulls the perfect creamy leather three foot by three foot square ottoman that the top comes off of and has storage in it. I look at my friend and give her the eye that says this is it! This is TOTALLY it! Everything I had in my mind's eye, but I can't tell HIM that because I have no idea how much it is! And she's nodding and asks him FOR me, "How much does something like that go for?"
"Hundred bucks." And I start squealing! And then say, "What's wrong with it?" Because clearly there has to be something wrong with it. And he says it came with a set and the owner just simply didn't want it and left it there. And I was sold. Completely and totally sold and I bought it and after much rigamarole of finding someone with a large vehicle, I got it home and it's perfect. Completely perfect and exactly what I wanted. And people? This is only the second time IN MY LIFE that I've bought a piece of furniture BRAND SPANKING NEW! And I'm ecstatic.
Because I can be.
13 comments:
I've often said that the places I've lived are decorated in "Early Somebody Moved"... Over the years, I've gotten tables, desks, couches, etc. when people moved and had stuff they no longer wanted/needed but knew my impoverished self might like. My former garage houses AT LEAST two couches that we had upgraded from but the trash people want $100+ to take a couch and we never had the $.
Congrats on your new ottoman! And I covet your bookshelves...
What a fun purchase! It's so versatile. Buy a cool tray or two and you can set food and drink on it. Pull it up to the chair and you can rest your feet on it. Push it away a bit and others can sit on it. Love it!
Awesome! Isn't that a great feeling! Looks fab. It would be perfect for a toddler to walk around too. No sharp corners....you know, just in case you want to borrow one for a week. ha.
Ottumwa, Iowa! The home of Radar O'Reilly!
Well done on your purchase. WTF? The salespeople won't help during the football game? Amazing! (And I'm a big football fan!)
That is an AWESOME find!!! Way to go grown up!!
It looks nice, good thing you waited until half time.
What a great find! It looks perfect for the space in the picture!
It's beautiful! It was waiting just for you. I believe that sometimes things as well as people have their own destinies.
Women are weird. I like weird. That's all I got today...
I like that old clock on your bookshelf. You better hide it if I am ever in the vicinity because I will be taking that bad boy home.
We've got a few things in common -- I just turned 37, I've never been married, and I'm living in a small apartment (but, sadly, not with a Gay Boyfriend). And most of my furniture is hand-me-downs. So you can imagine how delighted I was a couple of years ago when I bought my first piece of furniture on my own, a camelback sofa. It changed my life. Really. I felt very grown up and mature when I didn't have to sit in a canvas chair anymore. :) My next big purchase will be a new mattress, so I can FINALLY quit sleeping on the one I've had since high school.
My apartment is a mish mash of furniture. Some of it's mine, some of its Mr. Dingo's and some of it we have no idea where it came from. Sure, there are things that I'd like to replace but overall, I love the eclectic look we have. It makes the space ours and not some Pottery Barn/Crate & Barrel floor model.
You did a great job with the ottoman. You waited until you had the right fit and now you are perfectly happy with it. I think that MO applies to everything else in your life and everything that you are waiting on.*
*easy for me to say. I haaaate to wait for anything.
It's perfect!
Post a Comment