So.
Every once in a while you while you are out thrifting, you find something super rad.
Hold on, let me back this story boat up.
I have the greatest Mother In Law in the world. She is in my Top 3 most favorite people on the planet group. She is so cute and stylish and encouraging and beyond supportive and absolutely hysterical. Her birthday was in the middle of April and I decided that instead of getting her a bunch of smallish things I would wait and get something GREAT when I found it.
We have been on the hunt for a mid century credenza/buffet/dresser for a little bit for her living room and wouldn’t you know, I found the perfect one yesterday.
The tag price was $100 (which is a great deal anyways). But if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred thousand times. Always ask if they will go down on the price. What’s the worst that could happen?
So I waved an employee over and asked if they would be able to go down. He shrugged and said “How much?” and I thinking they would take of $10 or so said “Oh you know, as much as you want.” He said “How about $50?” and I almost responded with “How about we get married?!” But instead I said sure.
Fifty FREAKIN Bucks.
So I get home and Facebook it and everyone wants to see a picture right? It was dark and the drawers were out so I googled Drexel Parallel (that’s what was stamped on the back) and this came up….
Now granted this one is a little bigger but FREAKIN FREAK! $900!
Mine needs a little touching up on the top and once that is done and we get it moved in its going to be amazing!!
Do you ever google the things you find at thrift stores? I don’t usually but I am TOTALLY going to start now!
Love Your Guts, Mandi
I LOVE your excitement! Makes the find that much sweeter huh?!
AMAZING! So since it’s worth probably a good amount of money, will your mother-in-law paint it or keep it original? I just bought a mid-century modern dresser and I don’t think I have the heart to paint it. (But I want 2!!!)
Don’t you dare paint it or I will cry hot bitter tears. I WANT ONE! *stamps foot and flails arms* I have been looking for something like this since we moved. We have DH’s hideous 80s childhood dresser that he won’t part with. If I can just get a dresser like this, he will change his mind, I know it!
In closing: Great find. I’m jealous. DH’s taste for nostalgia sucks.
I totally Google thrift store finds. Nice find!
I was at the St. George DI yesterday and got a push lawnmower (like new) for $15 and a display for my booth at shows for $8 (totally worth $200). It was a happy day for me, and I can see it was great for you as well 🙂
GET! OUT! Freaking awesome! kind of reminds me of the one I got recently – love it!
thats an awesome find!!
That is beautiful! The area I live in is too poor and rural to have really good stuff at thrift stores (I love living here, but that doesn’t change the facts), so I’m always envious of other people’s fantastic finds. I agree that it doesn’t look like it needs a paint job, but maybe a darker stain? Regardless, congrats!
That is uhhhh-mazing. Great find!!!!
HOLY CRAPBALLS is RIGHT! I google my stuff from the DI all the time! I once got this really unique chair for 30 bucks, new with tags still on it that I had to SIT on and wait for an employee in order to get an old guy to back off, googled it, and HELLO! 700 dollars! Made my week! By the way, what crazy person spends that kind of $$ on ONE dining room chair? Yikes!
Love when that happens. You’ve got a great eye!
Dana
gorgeous!! Yes…I googled a vintage singer sewing machine stand I bought for $25…I saw people selling similar ones on ebay and etsy for over $400! you can see pics here:
https://discoverystreet.blogspot.com/2011/08/estate-sales-and-more-finds.html
AWESOMENESS! I am going to have to start googling my stuff now, cause it makes the deal that much sweeter to find out you saved even more money then you know you just saved 🙂 can’t wait to see what you do with it.
that is freaking amazing. i probably would have proposed. i love it.
Gorgeous! Sometimes I do google my thrifing finds if I think they are vintage and going in my Etsy shop. I have been pleasantly surprised at times! It’s part of the treasure hunt!!
Whattt?! I love it!!! Almost as good a deal as the one I got free!!! Took it off the street of my neighbor’s house…I don’t care!!!
http://simply-inspiring.com/2012/02/retro-tv-console-aka-dresser.html
Congrats on a stellar find!
What the?!?? Shut up that’s awesome!! Whoop go mandi!!!
Actually so jealous because I’m seriously on the search already, but in Nebraska…. Everything I find here they are asking 800.00 and I only want to pay 50. Also online some go for even 3000.00. Ahhhhh!
Good find. I have never thought to ask for a lower price at the thrift store. A few months back, I found some great, solid wood nightstands on KSL. 2 for $25! They are just what I wanted, but I totally googled them once I got home and found out that they were worth about $300.
https://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2011/09/swank-stands.html
But they look like a million bucks in our bedroom, so I am hanging on to them.
It is gorgeous! I got a hutch for $50 last Friday but your dresser is better. But go read my Craigslist adventure if you have the time.
I’m a little jealous right now. Just a little 🙂 Not that I could fit one more piece of furniture in our house! I just found a really cool vintage 1950’s HUGE metal desk at a rummage sale this weekend… I paid $15 and looked it up online when I got home. Similar desks are going for $300-$900!!! Crazy! {haha, that’s what my husband thought when I told him we had to get it in the house and down the stairs!} Can’t wait to see how this piece looks in your MILs house. Definite SCORE!
Awesome find!!! Yayyy for the amazing price! I once found a glass paperweight made to resemble Earth from Goodwill, paid $5 to find out it was worth $250! One of my better finds yet!
What a freakin’ awesome find! Congrats to you Miss Mandi and I hope your MIL loves it!
Wow Mandi, that is awesome! I can’t wait to see it in it’s home at your MIL house. Can you come shop the thrift stores here for that kinda price? 😉
I Love a GREAT FIND!
Yes all the time! Makes me feel great!
Jealous!
Our thrift stores will NOT reduce their prices and they are crazy expensive. (like $300 dirty college love seat expensive). I don’t know what they’re thinking. And if something is missing a tag, they refuse to sell it & you have to go back the next day for it to be reviewed by their manager. I had a 7 yr old almost in tears one day because they wouldn’t sell me some mc donalds toy he wanted. Redonkulous.
So great!!!
What a STEAL!!! I recently found some nightstands that are pretty much cousins with your credenza thingy. Found mine 2 streets over from my MIL’s on the curb waiting for bulk trash pick up. I kid you not, people STARED while I emptied the contents of my trunk to the back seat (of my 99 accord) under my littles’ feet so I could fit the pair in there. Then tried to cram the double stroller back in. HA! It was AWESOME!!! But there was NO WAY I was leaving that curb without BOTH nightstands. Jealous of your find.
Whoa! That’s awesome! I googled the $99 Goddwill piano I bought…and had to rent a truck to bring home. Turns out, it’s over 100 years old! 🙂 (and now yellow.)
I absolutely love thrift store furniture finds, a lot of furniture in my house is from Goodwill! Good find, Mandi!
Great find! I found a Sugarboo frame last year that I adore. I had never heard of the company until I found the frame at the consignment store and googled it. What luck!
https://teamfuller2008.blogspot.com/2011/02/thrifting-and-sugarboo.html
That’s GORGEOUS and I’m JEALOUS! I need to make a regular tour of the thrift stores in my area until I find a great piece too.
So jealous! That dresser is amazing. I never find things like that in Missouri 😉 I just think I don’t live in a big enough town where people have a variety of tastes. I’ll just continue to swoon over your finds!
DUDE! I did the same thing a few months back. Found a Drexel Profile buffet on CL listed for $100. Had to meet a guy at a shady storage locker, but got it for $80! Best.Day.Ever.
https://happenstanceofbliss.blogspot.com/2012/01/brasso-licious.html
The hubby and I are starting to swap our college and first couple years of furniture for better quality stuff but we’re having a hard time compromising on what we want and where to get it. I wish we could find half of the cool things you do in our thrift stores.
Meg
https://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com
I google everything! And I love second hand. My mom had an antique shop and taught me a lot about what to look for, etc so I usually have an idea of what I want but I still keep up with current prices since I like to sell also. I have had a few mid-century credenzas that I bought and sold but there is one I am keeping for myself. The details are awesome and it’s in good condition. Doing anything to it would decrease value so it’s staying as is.
You can see it here!
https://montydob.blogspot.com/2011/10/room-rearranging-and-friday-finds.html
i love that dresser!!! i went to an estate sale on a whim (with my one year because i apparently have a death wish) and stumbled on a set of mugs labeled for $5. I asked lady if she would take less and i think because she #1 wanted my daughter out of her sale and #2 thought i was slightly insane for bringing my daughter along in the first place, she looked at me and said $2. I went home and googled the mugs to find out if i could stick them in the microwave and they popped up on ebay and etsy for $25 A MUG!! I got a set of four. I may or may not have done a little happy dance in my kitchen. 😉
Great deal! Yes, I always google what I find at estate sales and thrift sales. Sometimes it’s the history of the object, always it is the price.
See…………………..This is why I love thrift stores……….The stuff one can find is freakin’ AMAZING! Love your sideboard there! And you might appreciate an article I wrote (as a Guest Poster for a popular personal finance blog called Budgets Are Sexy). It’s titled “Top 10 Tips for Getting Better Deals at Thrift Stores.”
That was my tip #2: Always ask for a deal!
And it looks like it worked for you!
If you’re interested in seeing the other 9 tips, check it out here:
Top 10 Tips for Getting Better Deals at Thrift Stores
https://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/04/top-10-tips-better-deals-thrift-stores/
Great score you got there !!!
Serena
Thrift Diving
http://www.ThriftDiving.com
SHUT THE FREAK UP!!!! Are you kidding me right now? For one that is a flippin awesome deal and for two I’m slightly ugh bugged lol I’m trying to find this same type of dresser for my bedroom…. tear. No really though I’m totally freakin stoked for you and your ridiculously awesome find! You go girl!
Thank god you aren’t going to paint it!
I swear people have lost their minds already with painting good furniture. High-end burled walnut even!
Green, I tell ya! Great score and can’t wait to see the end project.
This is great. What happened to FFA?? I’ve been waiting for some sort of project to do to push me but I haven’t seen anything in awhile (and I couldn’t participate in the survey)…
Holy crap!! That’s like an Antiques Roadshow story. I love it! High five girl…that’s awesome!
High five on that amazing find! I google my scores too. When I have a piece marked, I spend way too much time searching for the exact same thing to the point of obsession. I can’t get over your $50 beauty.
Great find! Nothing better than a good thrift store find!!!!
*Swoon* That is so pretty! There is nothing like an awsome-amazing deal on a great find! My latest one {that I also googled} was a Petunia Picklebottom Cake bag for $10! I found out that new, they are $400! I ended up selling it and making a tidy profit. 🙂
Congratulations!
Dang dangO!!! What a score! Your MIL is gonna love you even more for sure! I would have a hard time giving that baby up!
I always google my estate + thrift store finds. its so rewarding 🙂 great find! i vote for not painting it
I love your guts and mine too!! Totally amazing for you and your great Mom in Law. It is an amazing piece!!!
Yep–awesome. Can’t wait to see it in her space!
🙂
shaunna
This happened to me like 2 months ago!!! I found this great MCM dresser on Craigslist who wanted $100. I ran across town to look at it in person and it was gorgeous and near mint! I bought it on the spot knowing nothing about it and after one eBay search I discovered it was a rare Broyhill piece from their Sculptera line. The one I found on eBay was at $650 and going up. It’s so awesome when we stumble upon these magnificent finds!
Totally Jealy!!
Hi Mandi!
I am so so so in Love with Vincente Wolf’s rugs (specifically: https://www.tufenkiancarpets.com/collections/vicente-wolf-designers-reserve.html) but they are a million dollars, do you have any diy ideas or some sort of less expensive alternatives? thanks!
That is an awesome score! Congrats!
Fab, green, and thrifty find! It looks so similar to my dining room set — purchased from the original owners for $350 off eBay, a massive set which I hope to have forever! Don’t you dare paint that, its a quality piece that will decrease its value if painted. Basically you’d be making a piece worth $900, worth what you paid for it! Yes, I always check finds. I used to be a shop owner and flea market booth vendor, as well as occasionally sell online. But more than knowing the worth, I enjoy learning the history of pieces and feel this knowledge helps me with my collections as well as if I decide to sell something. XXX Suzanne
Great find!! I LOVE googling my finds, and I usually do it before I even leave the store. I like to know just how good of a deal I’m getting before I commit. 🙂
I had the exact same experience earlier this year. Scored a vintage Danish Teak Credenza for $49 at a second hand store. Then googled it online only to learn that it was worth 10-20x that. Great find on your end!
I wish you were my next door neighbor. Your posts are so fun to read and I love how you have such an eye for all things awesome. Our husbands have some common history so I appreciate those posts as well. You can come through on the other side : ) thanks for your inspiration…creative and otherwise.