My name is Chris and I’m a junk store junkie. Sure, I love to browse in higher-end antique and designer furniture shops, but junk stores are where the deals are, where the sweetest, most amazing, “I can’t believe my luck!” moments are lurking in dusty piles of, well, junk.
This year, Mike and I stumbled upon not one but two extraordinary pieces, both of which I subsequently found on 1stdibs.com, that bastion of gorgeous goods and sky-high prices. Sure the stunning, Hollywood Regency mirror and the 1970s chrome coffee table (below, in our living room) required some rehab—I repainted the mirror with a $4 can of gloss alkyd from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore and had to strip the table base—but just look at them now! The mirror, which is three and a half feet tall, cost 25 bucks and I found a match (albeit a gilded one) on 1stdibs for $2,400 USD. The table base cost $20 and 1stdibs had its twin for sale at $4,800 USD. That’s right folks, $4,800!
“Junking” doesn’t usually yield such dramatic payoffs but like truth on the X Files, the deals are out there. Last week we found an amazing faux bamboo picture frame (36” x 48”!) for $15. A coat of lacquer or gilding paint and that baby’s gonna look like a million bucks. Our monumental Morrocan-style table lamp (above) was another $20 junk store score.
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of the find, so roll up your sleeves and squeeze into those crowded junk aisles. No guts, no glory!
July 4th, 2008 at 11:22 am
That horseshoe you’re sittin’ on must be uncomfortable.