Seeing Spots (The Second Couch of My Dreams!)

Good morning!

I was going to wait and tell you all my good news once I get the den's floorplan settled, but people-- get ready. Something very exciting has happened!

Almost every single working day of my life, at least once, since around 2008, I check the furniture section of Craigslist for the keywords "vintage" and "retro". That category, especially with those search terms, can be cruel, cruel, cruel for the always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride Craigslist window shopper. "Midcentury" might be the worst thing to type in, because by virtue of the owner even knowing what era the piece fits in, it means they have also probably seen some of the Candyland, wacko, way out there prices on ebay or vintage reseller sites or, worst of all, one of the collectors/junkers/pickers shows on cable. "This dresser is over sixty years old! Do not low ball me, I've seen these for $4000 on ebay, $1000 is a steal! Must sacrifice!!!!!!" is pretty much a median price and aggressive description example for something that someone's grandmother bought in a department store in 1965, has had steady use since its purchase, has visible wear and tear on the veneer, and probably smells bad. I ain't payin' more than a hunnert bucks fer NUTHIN, is also the hillbilly, cheap as dirt part of my hard little heart talking back to self same ads... as always, I gently remind our readers that however vintage, retro, or antique something is, it's also used. And until I start making that fat cash, I'm going to pay used prices for things that catch my eye, or do without.

The ad at the top of this post was listed at 4:24 PM yesterday-- around 4:40 PM, trying to kill some time before I was to leave and brave the semi-sleet and frost of yesterday's inexplicable temperature drop (from 65 this weekend to 32 last night! What the heck?!), I did my usual search and my jaw. DROPPED. Now, let's look at what's going on in this picture. Sectional couch? Check. Long, low, super Danish modern lines? Check. FREAKIN' LEOPARD PRINT CUSHIONS? Cheeeeeeeck. My heart started racing and I called Matthew with a probably-startled-the-poor-man:

Me: IneedyoutoemailthesepeoplewithyourphonenumberRIGHT.NOW.
Matthew: Um, ok! Sure!

So he emailed, and he got a call back about five minutes later from a guy who said he would hold the couch this evening if we wanted to come by and see it after we both got off work. We drove out to East Nashville near Shelby Park and to a relatively large sized fifties' ranch house, where a sixteen year old who was brokering the deal for his mother met us out in the driveway. There, sitting in the living room like a page out of one of those seventies' what-you-can-find-in-junk-stores books I've been eating my heart out over this winter, was the second couch of my dreams! Don't get me wrong, I still love the turquoise brocade Broyhill in the living room that makes watching tv feel like you're at the bottom of the ocean, but this now-for-the-den furniture is BLOWING. my. MIND. Did I mention the teen delivered the furniture for no extra charge? It was a truly awesome, awesome experience to buy this couch from him.

Somebody up there likes me!

What really impressed me was the CONDITION of the furniture. While, owing to the single slim arm on the set, I can conjecture that there was probably a third piece to the sectional at one point, I think it works great as just the two together. And OH MY GOD the bones of this. Can you see the slat back and the spring base? Even without my beloved leopard print couch cushions, the frame of the couch alone is bonkers. All slim, sleek lines and light colored wood. I DIE. A THOUSAND DEATHS. This is the kind of stuff I always see at high end consignment vintage retro places and have a sticker shock coronary over before making the long walk, internally weeping, to my car. $100! CRAZY! Patience, and a hawk-like craigslist reaction time, has paid off. Even in my consistently bad-lighting photos, look how neat this is:

So, anyway, I'm way too excited to even speak. You'll have to indulge me later in the week or this weekend when I finally get a chance to put everything to rights and start blathering all over again about how happy I am over this furniture. I think what's going to happen is the yellow arm chair in the far background, and the corner knickknack shelf, and one set of side tables (with the ones that came with the sectional, I now have THREE sets, and can only use two) are going to Goodwill, the large 1920's couch is going back to my grandma's (it was on loan in the first place), and eventually peace should be restored to this room. The kind of peace in which Dean Martin would have a martini. AAAAAH! I'm too excited!

How about you? Any crazy great deals find out in the wild lately? Do you have any strong held opinions about decorating with wild prints like this?

If I live through slinging furniture tonight, I'll be back tomorrow with more vintage goodness. Til then!