My husband’s cousin will be visiting all summer (from New York City!), and for part of her visit, she’s going to be staying with us. We were worried about her not having a place to sleep here, and have been on the lookout for a used sofa. A queen-sized futon has been serving as our sofa for a while now, and if we could find a decent sofa, the futon could go in our semi-unfinished upstairs and give cousin Erin a place to stay (and have some peace and privacy away from the kid chaos).
This past weekend, a church right around the corner from our home had a big rummage sale, and we picked up lots of treasures, including a $3 quilt (above), dress-ups for Firecracker, a new basket to collect eggs in, and many other goodies. It was the last day of the sale, and I kept eye-ing a mauve sofa and chair set that had been priced at $100, but just went half off.
I’m no fan of mauve, but I liked the style, they were in good shape, and I figured a quilt thrown over them would suffice for now.  If I ever get around to teaching myself some upholstery skills, I could recover them in pale turqouise velvet when the kids are older (or resell the set on craigslist long before that…). And at $50 for the set, how could I go wrong?
Besides, my sister says it’s perfectly in keeping with my “old lady/grandma style” of decorating. 🙂
So, now, we have some legit furniture in the living room, and cousin Erin will have a place to sleep!  (Now to get painting upstairs before her visit! We still can’t decide on the colors…)
i love old lady/grandma style. i think that’s my style too!
also, new friend, i LOVE thriftstore scoring. i’m up for a trip any time!
Oh how fun!! I saw that EXACT quilt on ebay last week and I wanted to buy it to make a cushion cover but forgot, how funny they put it in the rummage sale!!
here it is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250619750910&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
OK sorry, going comment crazy here.. you’re in Portland?! We just moved here. We’re up on Mt. Scott. I am jealous of your garden. It’s still too cold up on the mountain to start ours yet 🙁
I am so happy to find you!
Nicole – we’re in Parkrose – just off of NE 105th, north of Fremont. My tomatoes are taking a royal beating with this chilly weather – I am worried that a few of them aren’t going to make it. I always put my tomatoes out in mid-May, but the unseasonably cold weather is not making them happy at ALL.
It’s never too early for lettuce and chard and kale!!
How are you liking Portland?
Whoa, Nicole, what a coincidence! They were asking $15 at the rummage sale (ouch!), but since we came right at the end, and it was going to go to Goodwill if I didn’t buy it, they offered $3 – it’s in good shape – I was thinking of hanging it on a wall upstairs or something…
Cara – we haven’t been to the 7th Day Adventist store in a while – it’s on NE 111th and NE Halsey – my favorite store – next time I go, I’ll facebook you first and see if you’re free, okay? (I have room in my minivan for you and Mae, btw, if you need me to pick you up.)
That is sooo funny, seriously!!
We are LOVING portland..ok minus the cost of living killing us but oh my what a beautiful, beautiful place! I feel so fortunate to live here.
Do you know of any good thrift stores? We have one down the street but it is so overpriced I can’t justify shopping there, kwim?
Anyways, enough rambling 🙂 So nice to see you.
I love the chair and sofa as it is! However reupholstered would be lovely too!
Great bargain shopping!
How perfect! And don’t worry…reupholstering furniture is not nearly as frightening as it sounds. I’ve done it, and if I can do it than anyone can!
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