Vintage Cabinet

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For a long time now I've been wanting to have a piece of furniture in my entryway. I thought I had found one back in July. I snatched up this guy for a screamin' deal.



I'll tell you about this $47 THOMASVILLE dresser (did you hear me? FORTY-SEVEN dollars for solid wood, dove-tailed Thomasville craftsmanship) another day because I "quickly" realized it was far too long for our entryway. Oh and by "quickly" I mean after I found it, realized it wouldn't fit in my SUV, borrowed a truck which required me picking up my nephews, bribing them with the promise of pizza, taking them to my brother's work, kidnapping my husband and brother, driving everyone 15 miles away to the thrift store, watching three guys stuff the monster in the truck...it barely fitting in the truck bed (which should have been like clue number 37) and hauling it home and storing it in my garage for the last 3 months. Yeah, I'm "quick." Like a bunny.

So I went back on the hunt for something. I really wanted something with some character, detail. Seems that we Phoenicians live in a virtual dearth of vintage pieces for reasonable prices. I read all these blogs where these amazing ladies re-do this FANTASTIC pieces and I can never seem to find anything with any scroll work or filigree or if I do they are crazy money expensive!

So one day while picking up a gourmet dinner Arby's. I finally caught the Estate sale place that's just 3 miles from my house. We've lived here for over 4 years but not once, NOT ONCE have I ever caught this place open. Not that we eat Arby's a lot. No, not at all, I only cook from scratch, with ingredients grown in our organic garden. We only at at Arby's the once, yeaaaaahhhh that's the ticket.

Now that you know our curly fry and horsey sauce habit, I can get on with the furniture. I fully expected to walk in and be assaulted with stale cigarette stench mixed with a hint of Bengay as is usually the case with second hand places in Sun City. Instead the door bells chimed, the clouds parted and the angels sang hallelujah. It was clean, stench free and jam packed with awesome furniture, china, frames, and everything my gleaming eyes could hope for. I was like a kid in a candy store. I found so many things I wanted to haul away with me. One item in particular, a vintage cabinet had the perfect amount of simple lines with just enough embellishment to make it interesting. She was $95. I wanted her. But not for $95 bucks. I asked if they'd take $80. They said no. It had just arrived in the store according to the tag. Lots of stores won't even consider negotiating until a piece has sat a significant amount of time. I knew they weren't going to budge. There were two little old ladies eyeing it but I was strong, 95 buckaroos was too much, practically highway robbery. Nope. She was overpriced and that was that and I walked out the door. Only to walk back in 1 day later after checking my favorite second hand haunts and finding nothing that I found remotely interesting for a better price. So I caved. I bought it. The key to thrifting is to not be in a hurry for a particular piece. If you wait long enough and frequent the stores you'll find the right piece at the right price. But since May I've been wanting a piece in the entryway...something more to decorate for the holidays. And since I was so "quick" about realizing the Thomasville dresser wasn't going to work, well, all of a sudden I found the holidays upon us (even if the Phoenix sun isn't aware of this). $100 bucks isn't really that big of a deal for a piece of furniture but compared to the deals I've been getting it is. Thrifing = Fail but fabulous piece = Success. So here it is. Now to the re-do. Because you know me, I can never leave well-enough alone!