Now I'm a firm believer that most everything you might need for your home can be found in thrift stores, but I'm also realistic about it. For US, we needed to find something clean and as new as possible because unless it's a dining room chair, I can't reupholster anything myself (although I plan on learning). A friend of a friend does it, and she is very good, but it's pretty expensive and we just need every dollar we have right now.
The other challenge at hand was that we needed to be able to find it today. We don't have another month or even another week to do our shopping - our schedule is jam-packed until we move this Saturday. And we needed to get Salvation Army to break their own rules for us just this once, allowing us to keep our furniture at the store for another 5 days, even though policy is that it must be picked up within 24 hours.
And thirdly, we had to find something in our price range. I planned on spending between $80-$150. It's a pretty generous range, but even so.... all the challenges we had were making me think it couldn't be done.
We got to Salvation Army and they were having a huge sale, so the store was packed. I pushed my way into the furniture section looking for a beautiful couch and what did I see? The usual. Purple paisley, orange stripes, wooden arms on overstuffed couches. Sure enough, I figured, there was nothing. No beautiful neutral-colored, clean-lines, well-maintained couch for our new home.
Suddenly, I hear one of the workers behind me. "Excuse me ma'am," he says, "Gotta bring some furniture through."
I moved aside, allowing the always-polite staff of the store through, and what were they bringing in? A lovely cream-colored couch! It looked new, it had those clean lines I love, it wasn't overstuffed but it was still comfy. It was the couch - MY couch!
I looked at the price tag. $150. Ouch. That was a little high. But maybe it was worth it? What to do? People start crowding around me like vultures around a freshly-killed rabbit, and I'm standing there wondering why the manna isn't filet mignon! Don't be picky, V! Buy the couch!
But there was one other obstacle. Nathan. That man I'm married to and who I love is very very picky about his furniture. He and I have opposite tastes. He likes country homes with comfy furniture and oil paintings of landscapes while I prefer modern furniture and sculptures and things that are completely unique. Would he love this couch as much as I did?
I brought him over and he looked at it. He circled around it 3 or 4 times (again, the vultures come to mind), and then he sits down. I can't read his face. He's sitting on it while 3 or 4 others are eyeing it from across the aisle. After ten minutes and a near anxiety attack from me, he finally answers. "I think I like it," he says.
That's good enough for me.
So I rush up front to pay, but as I go I see the guys with a cute little blue reading chair. It's exactly what I was looking for! And then a sideboard. Now I wasn't in love with it right away, but at $65 I could compromise. I get up front and talk to the manager, telling her I really love the furniture, but that I can not pick it all up until Saturday, etc. She very politely reminded me of their usual policy. "Can I pay extra?" I asked.
"It's $10 a day for each item."
That's $150 bucks for all three items. That's the same amount as it was just to buy the couch. I couldn't afford it, and I told her so.
"Look, you come here all the time," she smiled. "If you're absolutely sure you'll be here on Saturday, and if you get all 3 aid for today, I'll charge you only $10 a day for all of it together."
$50,,,, that I could do.
So I paid for my couch and sideboard and $35 chair. Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all.
