Monday, August 27, 2012

Dear Craigslist Seller, Please Wear Pants


There should be a rule on Craigslist. An assurance. A box to check. A guarantee. SOMETHING!! That all Craigslist sellers will wear PANTS!!



This dresser had such a great shape and such a great price that I decided to ignore the "weirdo warning" alarm going off in my head when I talked to the seller on the phone. He just sounded weird. Not, I-will-just-be-wearing-underwear-when-you-arrive weird, but, weird. Everyday weird. 

I always take someone with me when Craigslist shopping. Always. You should too. This time, the guy sounded strange enough on the phone that I insisted that my oldest son come with me. He's 6'1" and pretty strong, I've seen him fight with his brothers. I felt like we would be ok. We each put a knife in our pocket. Did you read that? I put a KNIFE in my pocket, for FURNITURE. Are you kidding me??!!

Truth be told, when we arrived, the dresser was in his open garage and he lived in a townhouse community with several people outside. Otherwise, when he met me at the door in his underwear, I would have simply averted my eyes, bolted to my truck and left. But I could see the dresser and the peeling paint and I had a KNIFE in my pocket. A knife. My mother would be so horrified.



After what may have been the quickest Craigslist buy ever, I didn't open a single drawer, we were out of there! Creeper! 

Sometimes a piece of furniture just tells you what it wants to be and this was one of those. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Country Grey and Old White with some rubbed back places revealing a bit of Provence. It had such fantastic chippy paint, there is no good way that I know of to recreate that, so I left it. I sanded it down a bit to remove the loose pieces but most of it was still in place, yaaaay!  I love the way this turned out!



After removing the orange rope handles that were obviously original to the piece :-) I filled the holes, drilled new ones and added sparkly crystal knobs. Perfection! 





After a stern warning to my son to "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" I guess it might be necessary to add another question to my Craigslist seller list;

1)Is the piece in reasonable structural condition?
2)Is it in a location that can be easily accessed?
3)Will you be wearing pants?

Linking to...

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday



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25 comments:

  1. I've heard about people getting great stuff on Craigslist, but I've always just been vaguely uneasy about it- now I know why- in the back of my head there was always that fear of a seller with no pants.

    The dresser looks beautiful- you did a great job with the paint and finishing.

    (You didn't open up the drawers and find his pants, did you?)

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  2. You are to funny - I laughed out loud! The piece looks great. :)

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  3. That was to funny. Nice piece. Are there doors on the side that open as well? I was thinking it would make a nice buffet as well it does. It looks as if might match your frenchy hutch. Is it the same color scheme?

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    1. The doors didn't open and there was all kinds of space inside. A great secret hiding place! The white color is Old White which is the same as the white on the Frenchy Hutch, the darker color is Country Grey, which is not the same but would look great together!

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  4. I once went to a clients house who wanted a makeover - and he answered his door in his underwear too - what is it with these guys?. When I told him that I wasn't comfortable and to please put pants on - he asked why - told me to pretend it was a bathing suit!!!
    Beautiful piece. ( your dresser - not the guy in his underwear LOL )

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    1. Who knew that painting furniture would be so adventurous?!!? Did your client get dressed? I am not sure I could have had an actual conversation! I just threw my money at him, grabbed the dresser and ran!

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  5. This post made me laugh out loud, LOUDLY!!!! You crack me up! So nice that he at least put some underwear on, and didn't greet you in the buff. The dresser is gorgeous, and I am so glad you did not need to use that knife. Good thinking though!

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    1. If he had been the buff, I would have fallen over! Even though I sometimes feel like I live in a locker room in this house full of boys, some things you just NEVER want to see!

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  6. It may be funny now, but next time PLEASE leave the furniture! We've had two CL murders in our area. Follow your gut instincts - and remember he probably can handle a knife more competently than you... Be safe! Barbara in Mn

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    1. Barbara, you are SO right! I was completely prepared to leave if I ever truly felt threatened. It was a great piece of furniture but nothing is worth a life!

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  7. This sounds like something that would happen to me. Thank goodness you decided to bring your son along! I probably would have chosen to live on the edge for this beautiful dresser too... Love what you did with it!I have never come upon one with such a great shape. Oh the hazzards of furniture shopping ....

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  8. Do you think it's a sign you should have painted it "Tidy Whitey"?

    It's an amazing piece with some......er history. Great transformation!

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  9. Love love the piece, and the story. I needed that laugh.

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  10. Such a funny post. We have all been there! Love that dresser.

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  11. Thats hilarious! What we will do for a great piece! Beautiful job!

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  12. it looks so fabulous and swedish.

    greetings from another queen living in a house of testosterone. heaven help us all.

    smiles to you.

    michele

    p.s.
    would love to have you stop by and/or follow http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com!

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  13. very, very funny and a beautiful job!
    keya

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  14. Totally worth the pantslessness! After all, you WERE armed with a knife and a teenager! It turned out AMAZING!

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  15. a knife? sounds like a purrfectly acceptable solution to me :)) your mother would be horrified, and for me, my adult daughters would be horrified. I'm 68 and have collected several pieces for chalk paint applications, too busy buying them to have time to paint them
    GREAT blog..thanks

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  16. That is creepy! You never can be too careful; so glad you had your son with you. I can't believe you still ended up buying something from him ~ lol! Did he get dressed or did he just prance on out to the garage to show you his stuff.

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  17. OMGosh, no pants!. Love the dresser, the ecological gods were watching and will reward you.

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  18. You are a loon! and honey..I'da bought tha' damn thing too! good find sista'! ;}

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