Thrift Score! Mid-Century Couch + Chair
This may possibly be the best tale of garage sale adventure ever I’ve had yet. I was at the Newgard block sale on Saturday (the best annual block sale in the city — and if you didn’t hear about it you must not be subscribed to the BackGarage Garage Sale Hotlist). And as I picked through the lots of paint-by-numbers and Haeger planters, I literally stumbled over a black vinyl mid-century sofa in someone’s front yard. I’m actually in the market for just such a sofa, but I’m a little broke right now. So with fingers crossed I asked the owner, “How much are you asking on the sofa?” And he said — get this — “We’re really just trying to get rid of it, so, I don’t know… 20 dollars.”
Twenty dollars! Of course I have no car, no van, no means of transportation, and while I have a few friends with SUVs, none of them are big enough to fit this piece of furniture. Still: twenty dollars. It’s too good a deal to pass up. I’ll work out the transport later. So I buy the couch.
Now I own a couch that’s sitting in someone’s front yard and I have no idea how I’m going to get it from there into my living room.
I start walk up the street pondering, and as soon as I walk next door I realize the man in charge of this yard sale is Nick Zavakos, who I learned at last year’s Newgard block sale, is the man behind most of the refinished metal pieces you find at Scout. So I says to him I says, “Hey — you’re the Scout guy! You have a van, right?” And we proceed to agree that, should I buy something from him, he will deliver it — plus the couch — for no fee, at the end of the sale.
But what to buy? In his front yard Nick has, for less than $100, pieces you’d see at Patina for $300-500. But wait! There’s more inside, he tells me. He shows me a few pieces including a Vatne Mobler Danish Modern lounge chair and ottoman. Curious, because I know I’ll never be able to afford it, I inquire about the chair. He tells me it’s been reupholstered by Julie Fernstrom (who owns Brimfield) — all new stuffing, etc. But… he’s willing to let it go for $300.
(This is where I peed a little.)
While I was intending to buy a piece under $100, the “I know this is too good a deal to pass up” gene got me and I bought the chair. Ah! My poor bank account!
Even though it’s causing me to run a little in the red, I got two awesome pieces of furniture for $320. And think: Jem and I were going to spend just as much on an Ikea couch! Bah.
But my gain is yours! I’m unloading some furniture on Craigslist to help fund the purchase. Deals abound!
A vintage rustic wood and metal table.
This pair of Breuer chairs.
And this couch.
Both pieces beautiful! You done good.