The Rug, and Other Thoughts on Second-Hand Finds

Before Graham was born, I got that nesting instinct to put together his nursery. I wish I could say it was complete, but it's not, and won't be until we have our own home. But I wanted it to be a nice place for him to sleep and play until then.

The room needed a rug. As much as I adore hardwood floors, they aren't very cozy. I looked for a rug for months. They are expensive! At least if you want a decent one. I wasn't even too picky on color, I just wanted something quality. But alas, despite checking stores for sales and resale shops for deals, I just couldn't find what I was looking for.

When my mom came earlier this month, we were on a hunt for picture frames for the living room project. This led us to one of the antique malls around here, where I saw, and subsequently grabbed and held close to my body with a clinching grip, this gem:

$15. Seriously.

The handwritten tag said it was from Pottery Barn. Maybe it is, but they could have said it was from anywhere, I suppose. What I do know is it's not ugly and it's well-made. It's heavy and durable. I didn't hesitate. I bought it! After a $4 wash at the laundry mat, it's good as new!

I have a love-hate relationship with thrift shopping/yard saling. It seems time-consuming to me, because you never know what you'll find. It could be a waste of a morning. But sometimes, you just find exactly what you need, and for a great price!

I've also learned something recently about thrift shopping: if you think you like it and it's a good price, buy it. Because if you wait another minute, it'll be gone. This happened recently (twice) at the Habitat Restore. A little cute sofa caught my eye. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but it was cute and could definitely have been a nice addition to our home. I hesitated. And it's sold. The annoying thing is, it's still in the store, with it's sold tag on. It's been there for months, mocking me. I asked about it, and the worker said the new Habitat director bought it but hasn't found an office yet to put it in. So there it is, just lookin' at me, making me regret not scooping it up. Same story with a great tv cabinet I spotted. I loved it but decided to see if Behn liked it and when we went in the next day, it was sold. I need to be like the Proverbs 31 woman who "considers a field and buys it."

So, I'm glad I found and picked up the rug.

Here's the bookshelf in G's room that my mom found on sale at Kmart recently. It's something else I've looked for for a while, so when she said this one was on sale, I told her to pick it up for me. His room is slowly starting to come together!

Sorry this post is so ramble-y. Up next, a How Does My Garden Grow post...