Thrifty Thrifting

The Scientist and I were headed to brunch last weekend in a questionable part of town when we happened upon a thrift store overflowing with junk. They were just opening up for the day and had to pull a bunch of gross furniture out to the sidewalk just so we could wiggle through the front door. Naturally, I insisted we go in and riffle through everything. I think I heard The Scientist mumble something along the lines of, "What did I do to deserve this?" But I ignored him and forged ahead. I knew there would be treasure inside. Honestly, this place was way too full to even attempt to take photos. We had MAYBE 12 inches of walkway. I wasn't seeing any treasure and we were getting close to the back of the store. I started to panic... I couldn't let The Scientist be right or he would never again enter another junk store with me!

Then I saw the staircase leading down to the basement. JACKPOT. (Or rats and roaches. But hopefully jackpot.) Since most people were probably too scared to venture into the underbelly of the junk store, chances were high I would find some seriously awesome treasures down there. And perhaps a bit more room to walk.

The first item of note was discovered by The Scientist. I was not particularly amused.

After that I found many treasures! First I came across this adorable little side table. I really wanted to bring it home! But my apartment already has too many side tables. (In fact, I'm about to sell my little Hollywood Regency mirrored set of three. SADZ!) It's seriously so cutie I can hardly stand it!

Then I found an amazing brass umbrella holder! TREASURE ALERT! This this was heavy and totally legit. It just needed a good cleaning.

I basically stood there for 10 minutes going over every square inch of my apartment in my head while desperately attempting to justify this purchase to my husband -- which, I might add, was very difficult to do while he repeated, "We don't own an umbrella."

Fine. I can't have it. I'll keep looking.

And THEN I found THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL TIME. A low mid-century credenza in weathered oak with original brass pulls. AND IT WAS ONLY $70.

I wish there had been enough room for me to stand back and get the whole thing in the photo but I think you can recognize its majesty. I NEEDZ THIS CREDENZA. Like, seriously need. And it was in absolutely PERFECT condition.

The only problem is, if I don't have room for a tiny side table or amazing umbrella holder, then I'm not sure where I'm going to put this credenza.

I was about to cry when The Scientist distracted me with treasure.

Yes, that is an excessively patriotic and overtly ridiculous porthole mirror. And yes, I bought it. I also bought two of these little lovelies.

Now I'm going to try to convince The Scientist to paint them gold for me so I can hang them up. I'll take photos to show you how amazing they are when they're finished!