Or should I say, in with the old and out with the new? As in, swapping out our hip, modern furniture for the good old kind. For any of you who know me at all, you’ll also know that I am more than a little obsessed with home decor. In another life (one of the dozens that I’ve imagined at this point), I would have loved to study design and make a career of being an interior designer; helping homeowners (or renters!) to create a beautiful, functional home on any budget. And this is where my actual career as a sometimes-struggling artist comes in handy… I am VERY good at finding a deal. Whether it’s snagging that discarded wooden chair from in front of someone’s apartment on moving day or spending hours culling Craigslist ads for a hidden treasure, I am up for the challenge. I actually even enjoy it.

When I moved in with Alan (2 years ago last week), I had a few special pieces of my own that I brought to the table (pun intended). A white metal vintage bed which my sister and I had shared until we were about 8 and 10. (Unfortunately for her, I used to thrash around in my sleep. Sorry!) A pair of HEAVY vintage oval mirrors that had belonged to my grandmother. A couple of paintings by my late, and very talented, father. Three mismatched trunks of either wood or leather that are some of the most handy (and sturdy), storage I’ve ever owned. And lastly, some shelves built for me by a friend. Not just any shelves- made with wood reclaimed from our old cabin that had to be torn down after 100 years of standing (mostly), tall and strong. Alan hadn’t done so badly decorating his own place, meanwhile. He had a great balance of original artwork and trendy furniture in his surprisingly clean yet cozy apartment. And when moved into our current Brooklyn apartment our furniture merged together pretty seamlessly.

Now, though, we’re moving again. And what worked for Brooklyn might not work in our future country home. There’s something about an old house that begs for old furniture, so that’s been one of my (many), missions these past few months. It started with vision boards because, well, that’s the kind of person I am. I had one for each room in the house and inserted photos of what I knew we’d keep from what we currently owned. Then I started exploring Pinterest, design magazines, and my own imagination to find inspiration for what else that room would need. Basic screenshots filled in the gaps to give us the visuals of the rooms and a guide to what to shop for.

Next came the spreadsheet. (Because this lady loves a spreadsheet!) We made a list of all the furniture, bedding, lamps, etc., that we’d need and a column for what we anticipated each would cost. Then I started doing the actual leg work of finding those items- on Kaiyo, Craigslist, and my mom’s basement. She and my father had owned a little antique shop back in the 70s and there are still some great finds in her basement (though they sometimes need a little tune-up). Some of our favorite purchases came from Kaiyo, a website that takes your used furniture and cleans it up and lists it for you. They also store it in their warehouse until it sells and take a percentage of the profits when it does. Now, I love this option for a few reasons. The first of all being that, as I mentioned, I love a good deal. And so what if a chair has a few scuffs? If it’s an antique, it usually adds to its character. And if it’s an antique and it’s still in working order after decades or even hundreds of years, then there’s a great chance it will last us for a long time as well. Then there’s the environmental element to this business model: it encourages the recycling and reusing of current products instead of sending those cast offs to the landfill. Or causing more of a demand for furniture companies to use resources to build new products. We were able to swap out our dining chairs for a set from Kaiyo on the same day, and also got a few vintage mirrors and an vintage Italian cane chair that I’ll use for my office. (Side note, I have NEVER had my own office except for office day jobs and I cannot contain my excitement. These days I either hunch over my laptop sitting on my bed which is NOT good for my posture or I type at the dining room table with the hum of our home bustling around me.)

Craigslist did not disappoint, either. I know some of you might be apprehensive because of its reputation, but Craigslist is not shady! Just don’t reply to those help wanted ads for housecleaners with clothing optional. 😉 I managed to score three fantastic items on that site this week, the first being a replacement pair of sconces for our master bathroom. The house has a beautiful, vintage vibe (having been built in the 1920s), and some of the renovations don’t exactly reflect that. They’re what Alan and I have started calling, “the thing that’s made to look like the thing.” Our half bath has what looks like original light fixtures: aged brass with etched tulip-shaped glass. I wanted something in that same world for the other bathroom, and whaddayaknow…

Now I’ll have to swap out the rest of the fixtures in that bathroom since they’re brushed nickel and it’ll drive me nuts if everything doesn’t match, but… I’m not opposed to doing more online sleuthing once we move in!

And last but not least, the pièce de résistance. I had wanted a colonial plantation style chair for our living room, something maybe with a leather seat or cane back. I found a few beautiful options on Pinterest that were wayyy outside of my budget so I resigned myself to using a simple old rocking chair or even borrowing some of the new dining room chairs whenever we didn’t have dinner guests. I looked on Craiglist anyway for “cane chair,” not sure what I’d find. There were some decent options in my search radius, but most had damage and required expensive repairs. Then, at the bottom of the search results, they listed a few options that were outside of my area. I scrolled through just in case, because… well, I have a car and some time on my hands, especially for the sake of a great piece of furniture. And HALLELUJAH there it was!!!! Listed for sale in a town 45 minutes from where my mom lives on LI and I was going to be visiting her that week anyway. I immediately wrote the seller and tried to convey just how interested I was and we set up a time for me to check it out/pick it up a few days later. And let me just say that in person it was so much better than its photos! (That’s when you know it’s a keeper! Am I right, online daters?) Not a scratch on it, and so clearly well constructed that I know this will be a lifetime piece. It weighed a ton because the good furniture usually does, so thankfully my adrenaline kicked in just long enough for me to haul it out of this guy’s basement and into the Jeep. Now it’s barely nestled into our increasingly-crowded apartment while it awaits its new home upstate. But even without the proper staging, it’s still a show stealer. For the time being, just Alan and I are getting to enjoy it (Sadie is a little wary given its size and sudden materialization), but we can’t wait to host our first party in our new home to show it off! Along with the other thrifty finds from my Covid shopping excursions!

For the “trimmings,” I turned to Etsy. I’ve specifically been keeping an eye on female or BIPOC- owned businesses for things like throw pillows, quilts, and rugs. Etsy is such a great resource! It connects you to artisans all over the world so you can find exactly the right tone for your home. And oftentimes you can request a custom order if the size or style/color isn’t listed exactly as you pictured. So far my two favorite finds on Etsy are these throw rugs from WomensKraftKarma (one for the master bath and one for the kitchen):

And a throw pillow from FlyingTack which will go on the daybed in the sunroom:

I can’t wait to showcase these finds in a future post in our house. For now, they’re somewhat awkwardly splayed around our Brooklyn apartment, no less loved for their klunkiness. Sometimes it takes the right setting to really make us shine.