He’s an engineer. He’s very methodical and analytical. I’m a writer, an all-around creative type. He’s very opinionated and thinks everything should be his way. I’m rather open-minded, and pretty much take everything as it comes. He’s organized. Focused. Informed.
To get from point A to point G, he’d almost certainly go through points B,C,D,E and F. In that order. Me, I’d start at A and might hit all five points to get to G. But not in order. That would be too easy. Too normal.
Anyway, over the past several months, we’ve had a lot to do to get our house ready to sell, negotiate the offer, jump through the appropriate hoops, find a new house, negotiate THAT contract, jump through those hoops. One of the things that had to be done was hire a moving company. We interviewed the first one together. But then I got busy at work, and he had to interview four or five more, decide which was best, execute that contract, etc. It’s been a bit grueling.
But the move is all set to happen on September 30. The moving company has an established inventory, weight limit, guaranteed price, etc. It’s set.
Then a couple days ago I happened to stop at my favorite secondhand furniture store.
Remember, we’re moving into a new-old house. It’s in a historic town. Everything about it screams vintage. It’s not the sort of place where contemporary home furnishings will “fit.”
I’m the creative one, remember. I like taking old furniture and doing fun stuff to it.
This bathroom cabinet was one of my favorite projects.
It’s actually just a Yorktown kitchen cabinet that I bought at that secondhand furniture store and then decorated. I think it’s cool. It makes me happy. I’m going to miss it.
We’re not taking our old dining room furniture. We didn’t think we were going to have a dining room since we were downsizing. But the new house has a dining room. And, honestly, I’m excited that I get to buy new furniture.
I told Hubby that. Of course, he thinks that means walking into a regular furniture store and buying a nice, new, matched set. I immediately had a completely different thought… “Yay, I’ll finally get that a farm table like I’ve always wanted.” Right away, I pictured an old-looking farm table and chairs that I had refinished, painted, or spruced up in some other fashion. That’s real recycling, right?
If Hubby only knew how much that stuff costs!
So, a few days ago, I go to that secondhand store. I didn’t buy a table. But I saw these two awesome, oak, Windsor chairs, made in Vermont, for $49 each. They’re in great shape. I had to have them. Whether they ended up in a dining room or not, they are awesome chairs that will totally fit this old-new house.
These are not junk chairs that you paint. These are high-quality, oak chairs. They really don’t even need refinishing. New, I bet they’d go for about $250 or $300 each.
A few minutes later I rounded a corner and saw a set of five, oak, braced-back Windsor chairs. They are old, of lesser quality, and are even made in Taiwan. But they’re solid wood. I can work my magic on them. And, get this. The set of five chairs was selling for $146. That’s less than $30 a chair. How could I say no?
You can’t get a cheapie chair at Wal-Mart for that much.
Oh yeah, and two of those five chairs are armchairs. Hubby was not happy to learn I’d moved SEVEN new chairs into the house.
And then I told him about the armoire that I still had to go back to pick up.
It’s perfect for our big, flat-screen TV. The doors won’t be able to push all the way back into the cabinet with the TV inside, but it’ll work. It’s a little old (not antique, maybe 10 years old) and has a few scratches and dings, but that just gives it character. When I saw it, I just knew it was perfect for our family room.When I saw the price, I couldn’t leave it.
Hubby isn’t so sure. I am messing with his plan. Throwing a wrench in the works. “The moving company won’t be happy to see all this stuff that isn’t on their list.” (I had to add an old dresser that’s here, too, which I want for my craft room/office but forgot to tell Hubby about.) I called the moving company, got a revised quote, and all is well once again at the ToadMama abode.
Back to that armoire. It’s huge. Almost seven feet tall, 45 inches wide, and 24 inches deep. It BARELY fit in the back of our truck. The front is cherry or some other wood that is cherry-stained.
I found a similar one online today, made by the same company, at a deeply discounted clearance price. The company makes good furniture. We’re not talking heirloom stuff here, but good stuff.
It is reduced way down to $1,498. I don’t know about you, but in my book that’s still a lot of money for one piece of furniture.
Are you dying to know how much I paid for my old-new armoire?
With tax, it only cost $209. That’s why I couldn’t walk away without it. Just wait till you see it in our new-old house.
Of course, we may need to buy a smaller TV. But this cabinet will look so awesome in our family room.
Now I have to look for that farm table. One that looks something like this, but maybe with different legs…
It won’t be cheap. But since I already bought SEVEN chairs for less than what it would cost to buy ONE new chair, I have some wiggle room.
Maybe it’ll look more like this one, which is significantly less expensive, but still a very nice table.
We close on the old-new house on September 23. I’m just a little excited. Can you tell?
It’s a good thing we leave on vacation soon. There are a couple of old wooden rocking chairs still at that store calling my name!