If you've spent any time on this site at all, you're surely starting to tire of me saying this, but I'll say it again: we bought a very old house. Luckily, the former owner obviously had a passion for old things, and that extended to furniture. Luckier still, she left a lot of it behind. Because the property has a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home with two additional cottages, we have good bit of space to furnish. Of what the prior owner left, we've sold about half and we'll be using about half. We've sold almost all the furniture we owned prior to moving in.
Lauren, you closed on the house in June and it's late September, why are we still hearing about furniture? Glad you asked.
In terms of the renovation project, June was a lost month. July was consumed by the roof and structure. August and September have been taken up by the floors, kitchen, and interior paint prep. October looks like it will be the outside's time to shine, with the outside paint, yard demo, fence install, and landscaping scheduled.
We had to remove all furniture from the wood floors that were being refinished, which meant we had to sell or store everything that was there, whether it had been the prior owner's or ours. With the exception of the master bathroom, the bottom story was empty for the floor project. After the floors were complete, the kitchen cabinets and appliances arrived. As I sit here typing this, the cabinets are in the middle of the dining room and living room, the kitchen appliances are in the middle of the kitchen, and the dining room furniture is split between master bedroom, master bathroom, and upstairs. Everything is in the middle of the rooms for prep and painting, but there's a bit of space in which we could put some furniture if we had to, if I found some I loved.
In short, the time for furniture buying is upon us. Here is a list of what I'm interested in finding in the near term:
Armoire for utility room (jackets)
Armoire for master bedroom
Nightstands for master bedroom
Chest of drawers for master bedroom
Accent piece for kitchen
Armoire or cabinet for linens in the upstairs bathroom
In the future, we'll be looking to furnish the living room with a sofa or two and a coffee table, maybe an end table. Once the yard is complete, we will get some outdoor furniture as well.
My mom and I LOVE shopping for furniture, so we've been scouring the interwebs for months, doing research. When I told my mom I wanted to shop for furniture for my birthday, she gladly agreed, and came prepared with a list of potential stops. We combined our ideas and hit the following stores (some were previously visited and documented here):
One Amazing Find: This establishment has some shabby chic and antique furniture. It was worth a shot popping in, but we didn't find anything.
Starboard Home: My mom and I fell in love with Starboard the first time we were there, and eagerly awaited a second trip. We were not disappointed, as we found a pie safe for the kitchen. They are storing the piece for the next month.
Missing Piece: This store is beautifully laid out, and the consignment furniture for the most part seems high end, however, none was particularly old and wouldn't have fit the look we're going for.
New 4 You Fine Consignment: Another re-visit for us, New 4 You is a great store with a wonderful owner named Joel. We had luck here as well, finding a gorgeous chest of drawers for the master bedroom. Joel agreed to store the piece for up to 60 days, and deliver for free when we're ready.
Salvation Army: Both my mom and I have had luck in the past at the Salvation Army, but we didn't this weekend.
Pat's Home Consignment: We arrived at 3:30, and Pat's closed at 3:00.
Perfect Blend 2: Furniture is packed into this store. There's potential I suppose, but from what we saw, we'd have to get very lucky to find something for us here.
Karen's Korner: Not originally on our list, we drove by Karen's Korner on the way to Pat's. We doubled back and found an adorable store in an old house. Although we didn't find what we need this weekend, I have a good feeling about outdoor furniture next time.
A New Look: Here's another store we just happened to see driving by. It's an OK store with old furniture, but there were no armoires or night stands in sight. Online reviews are not kind to the owners.
As a happy post script to this Saturday of shopping, we found an armoire for our jackets that will fit nicely in the utility room on Craig's List! That means of the 6 high-priority items we started the weekend needing, we're down to 3.
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