CRAIGSLIST DECORATING

I do realize that I said this blog was going to be focusing on budget items and then went and featured a million things from 1stdibs in my last post. Well, it's nice to daydream. But back to reality: in real life, approximately 80% of my furniture is from craigslist and 20% from flea markets. At this point in my life, even IKEA is too expensive when you add up an entire apartment of furniture. When we moved into our first apartment last year, our budget was about $1000 for the entire two-bedroom, so I got very well-acquainted with New York's thrift stores and quickly became a craigslist convert. 

I still get raised eyebrows when I tell people where things are from – not because my friends can afford better, but because of craigslist's reputation for pure sketchiness and because there are few things New Yorkers are more terrified of than bedbugs. [I'll admit that I have a habit of being overly trusting, and I can't imagine how frustrating it is to have to destroy half your possessions, but I really don't think there are many people who say "Oh no, we have bedbugs! Let's sell all our furniture on craigslist to unsuspecting strangers so we can spread this epidemic even more!"] 

Another thing I've noticed a lot is the "mixing high and low" idiom. As much as I'd love to mix my craigslist finds with designer pieces, that's simply not happening. So I'm here to preach the craigslist gospel in a "low and low" fashion: I'm going to do a (weekly?) piece where I use one city's craigslist to put together a room. I thought of this idea a few months ago in New York and put together all of the following rooms from things I found in one 24-hour span on the NYC craigslist. 

ECLECTIC LIVING ROOM

GLAM BEDROOM

ENTRYWAY

 MID-CENTURY PREPPY DINING ROOM

STATEMENT DINING ROOM

Not everything in these mock-ups is objectively cheap. Most of these pieces are more than I would pay, and some things, like the Weinrib rug, are expensive but cheap for what they are. But all of this was on one craigslist (albeit the city with the most selection) in one day. With some patience, it's easy to collect really cheap, great things over the span of a week or a month. Some of my favorite finds are my set of white Panton knock-offs (4 for $250), my $100 Andrew Martin chair (retailed for over $1000) and the $25 vintage asian screen that's now in use as our headboard (pictures of all of those coming soon!)

What's your favorite craigslist find?