knowing and loving are basically the same thing

Wishing you all a get more hairy and naked summer <3

Devotion✨

Mostly it's patience, Facebook marketplace, and local thrift stores. (Not antique stores--they're generally priced at what stuff is worth, and they're able to be patient until a buyer with the right budget comes about.)

And that means that you might be doing a lot of work driving somewhere, hauling furniture, and then driving a lot again. It also means passing on cool stuff that isn't in your budget. The great deals are always the ones that are the least convenient. Always. They're priced low because the seller wants them gone and doesn't want to deal with moving themselves. They're usually in smaller towns that aren't antique hotspots. This piece was two hours away from me and I roped some random motorcyclists into helping me load it into my van.

Personally I'm a fan of getting a budget, secondhand piece of furniture that's good enough for what you need for now, taking care of it, and then upgrading to something cooler when you find it. For example, the side by side is replacing a mediocre writing desk and this very heavy leaded glass hutch (which I moved out of the way yesterday by myself and let me tell you, not fun).

I'll be selling both the desk and hutch for essentially the same amount I paid for them. It's kind of like leasing furniture, really. I already recouped what I spent buying the side-by-side by selling a different china cabinet. All three of those furniture items are nice, and were individually less than $250 when I bought them. They're just less cool than the new thing!

But consider:

This side-by-side was built by the Rockford Desk and Furniture Co., which only existed from 1891-1895. I've found one singular other example of this cabinet, which was auctioned over a decade ago, and was stained a dark cherry color. I personally like the color of the quartersawn oak as it is, so I'm not planning a full restoration.

direct orders of "you really really need to kill this guy" ignored: 1