Craigslist Miami Finds: 8/10/11

1940's Antique Borghese Mirrored Credenza/Sideboard/Buffet/Console Table Expensive but AWESOME! I could totally picture this in a foyer with an eclectic vignette of items hanging out on top with a funky array of artwork hanging on the wall above it! *Sigh* Possibilities...

Hi there!

I've been getting lots of requests from readers, family and friends asking about my Craigslist posts! It has been a long time since I did one huh? Apparently everyone really likes it when I sift through the tons of pages of antique junk and pull out all the gems! Haha, I can't blame you, it's the same reason why some people don't like to shop at TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross - too much crap to look through before finding the good stuff! Well, you're in luck, because I LOVE to do just that (online or in a store).... So, without further delay, here is my latest Craigslist Treasures post with the best antique and vintage furniture and accessories I could find. I will try to make this a weekly habit.

Remember - click the description below each image (it's a link to the listing) for more information on the piece, photographs and seller contact information. Enjoy, and sorry for those of you who don't live in or near Miami, I hope you don't fall in love with anything in this post, hehe. :)

P.S. - I tried to only include affordable items, but some pieces were so nice I included them just for inspiration - for example, the funky mirrored credenza above has such a glamorous bohemian vibe that I just had to show you!)

Craigslist Miami Finds From the Past

1940's Borghese Mirrored Side Tables
Expensive but interesting nonetheless!

Antique Oak Wood Armoire/Mini Wardorbe - $127
WHAT A STEAL!

Antique Wood Vanity - $175.00

Antique/Vintage Mid-Century Style Bedroom Set - $1,950.00
Includes: Nine Drawer Dresser, High Bureau Chest, King Headboard, two mirrors, two side tables and two lamps.

Antique Federal Mahogany Wood Carved Sofa circa 1830's - $850.00

Antique Sofa - $185.00
If reupholstered this sofa could be an amazing piece in any home! My great grandparents passed down a sofa just like it and it's still kickin' - a classic I tell ya!

Antique Wood Bench/Sofa from India - $380.00
*GASP* I want it, what rustic charm it has! I can envision it with a couple ikat and suzani pillows, some beautiful art above and a cute side table and lamp!

Antique Tiger Oak Wood Parlor Table/Side Table circa early 1900's - $100.00

Antique Iron Singer Sewing Machine Base - $50.00
Slap a slab of marble/granite/travertine on top of this baby and it makes for a beautiful side/hall/entrance table! My mother has always had one with a slab of granite as the table top, as a child I always played with the pedal and was mesmerized by the spinning wheel!

Antique Wood Singer Sewing Machine Table (sewing machine inside) - $100.00

Antique Wood Singer Sewing Machine Table - $100.00!!
This is a gorgeous sewing machine/table, and what a bargain! I would snatch this up in a heartbeat if I had the space, makes for a great side/console/entryway table when closed!
Antique Wood Victorian Rocking Chair - $85.00
Reupholster this classic beauty with some modern fabric and it could be the perfect eclectic touch to any nursery!


Antique Wood Chair - $195.00
I've always wanted one of these chairs, but this is too pricey and this chair looks like it folds, I like the other wider fixed version. Anyone know the name?

Antique Wood Dresser circa 1870's

Antique/Vintage Wood Rocking Chair by Tell City - $50.00

Antique/Vintage Wood Drafting/Writing/Architect's Desk circa 1900 - $300.00
I wish I had the money and the space for this desk, I love it!

Antique Wood Round Table - Console/Foyer/Entryway table

Antique/Vintage Wood Side/Lounge Chair with tufted seat upholstery

Various antique/vintage tables/mini ottomans and stools and wall cabinets.

Antique Venezuelan Hardwood Buffet/Sideboard/Console Table - $600.00
This is pricey but gorgeous, we have one in our family that is almost identical, it has been passed down for a long time, it currently resides in my aunt's house, which used to be my great grandparents' home. This one even come with the original key! How cool is that? Take a look at the listing for more photos and information.

Antique Wood Banker's Chair

The item above appears to be a retro/vintage wood (or maybe formica and high density particle board - who knows) and can be used as a dining room buffet or sideboard, or an entertainment console, or even a dresser! The item below appears to be a retro/vintage dining room table and chairs set. The image isn't very clear, but my instincts tell me that this dining room set is cute, and could be great if the chairs were reupholstered with something bold and modern.

The listing says both pieces are over 30 years old, so definitely retro vintage - listed at $200.00. Click here for more information, including contact.


1920's Antique Wood Chairs - Set of two $150.00

Milling Road Collection by Baker Model No.MR-3046
Antique Wood Regency Side Chairs/Dining Room Chairs
Woven seat and back - $150.00/each or $900.00 for the set

100+ year old Antique Solid Wood and Wrought Iron and Brass Doors

Antique Italian Etched Mirror - $170
Now, before you overlook this mirror for being a bit gaudy (as I first did) take a second look and you might notice that this mirror could be the statement-making piece in a foyer or above a bedroom dresser (or in any other room for that matter)! It has a glamorous feel to it, if you mix it with other styles it could look very eclectic bohemian glam!

Antique Trunk - $75.00

Antique Stained Glass Hanging Candle Holder/Sconce/Lamp/Chandelier Lantern - $700.00|

Antique Globe - $30.00
I've been wanting one of these!!

Antique Wood Boxes/Crates w/ Advertisements - Set of 7 for $50.00

(All images in this post are sourced via Craigslist Miami ad listings.  Please click the item description link to be redirected to the listing page for further details, contact information and additional photos.)

The Garage Sale Outcome and Other Tidbits

Hello everyone!

Please forgive me for being M.I.A. last week.... I should have done my garage sale follow-up post last Monday but what can I say?  I was exhausted from the busy 2-day garage sale weekend and I was too lazy, plus things at work have been hectic, my cousin was still in town visiting and I'm also in the process of packing my things AGAIN and MOVING again!  ARGH!  

Yes, it's true.... I'll be saying buh-bye to my apartment in the sky come mid December...  Apart from my landlord going money-hungry wacko and deciding to raise the rent by nearly $1,000 per month should I decide to renew my lease, my boyfriend and I have also realized that downtown is just not for us.  We really don't take advantage of all there is to do - we are pathetic city people, lol!  To be honest, I'm more of a stay at home person.  I enjoy arts and crafts, reading, cooking and gardening.... and of course constantly evolving my living space!  All in all, my boyfriend and I are both homebodies and we are okay with it.  Now that living in downtown has highlighted that aspect of our personalities, we realize that continuing to live in downtown, especially at next year's exorbitant rental rate is really not worth it to us.  So, where will we go?  Well, truth be told we're both seriously considering squatting at our moms' houses for a few months to save money and so we don't have to go through the hassle of another exhausting holiday move and December to December lease.  The thought of saving 75% of my paycheck every month for a few months puts a twinkle in my eye!  Not to mention, I have foolishly procrastinated taking my last couple classes needed for graduating with my double BA in Sociology and Women's Studies and double minors in Religion and Art History.  Shame on me, but I'm sure you all know that life has a way of throwing challenging obstacles in the way of your finish line.  This upcoming year is about saving money and tying up loose ends and preparing for the future...  With that said, I hope to rip past that finish line by 2012!  (eeeeeek, I can't believe it's gonna be 2012!  I feel so old!!! eeeeek!)

Anyway, back to the initial topic,  the garage sale my family and I had on Saturday and Sunday, November 13th and 14th....  It was awesome!  And you know it was awesome because I flat out forgot to take pictures of it two days in a row!  The pictures you see in this post were taken by my mom, but they were mostly pictures of all of us girls having a blast. [and not of the actual garage sale set up]... which is the real reason why I forgot to take pictures of my own!  It was a lot of work, but like we all said.... we work hard and we play hard!!!  The women in my family are crazy, so we all had a lot of fun.  Plus, lots of other family members and friends showed up to help and shop and the whole weekend ended up being quite memorable.  Now, you must be thinking, yeah yeah, what about the money?!?!  How much money was made??  LOL....  Well, I made $420 over the course of the two days, my mom made almost $100, my cousin made around $150 I think, and my grandmother and aunt, well I'm not sure, but I know that together we all made close to $1,000!!!  Pretty good huh?  Better yet, we barely made a dent in our stuff!

Now, I must say that I learned a very important lesson from this garage sale:  think twice before you buy something in a store.  Why?  Because it hurts like hell when someone only wants to pay a dollar or two for something you paid waaaaay more for, especially when it's practically brand new!  Everyone that comes to a garage wants something for nothing, so to speak, and hey, wouldn't you too?  So that's the rough part about a garage sale, it really forces you to reevaluate your shopping/spending habits and realize how much excess we human beings amass.  It's a very bad habit for a lot of us, myself included.  However, like I've mentioned in several of my previous posts, I've changed a lot in the past couple years when it comes to shopping.  Don't get me wrong, I still like to pay a visit to TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross from time to time, but now I am way more selective about what I buy.  It's almost like I overdosed on buying and it woke me up from a daze!  In addition to being more selective about what I buy, within the last few years I've become addicted to shopping for treasures at garage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army and thrift shops.  Not only is it much more affordable, but it's also an environmentally friendly way of decorating your home due to the fact that you are buying something that someone else no longer wants, rather than buying something new.  Also, some of the things people get rid of are incredible!  I have found so many amazing antiques and vintage treasures, old souvenirs from Spain, Germany, Israel and so on....   Hell, one day last year while roaming through a Goodwill I stumbled upon an official print of Pierre Auguste Renoir's 1879 painting "Little Margot Berard" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art made in the early 1950's, still in its original wood frame and yellowing label on the back for  just $4.00!!!  I could barely keep the mischievous and triumphant smile off my face as the cashier obliviously rang it up.  I'll tell you, whoever they have pricing their stuff is not very astute.  It thrills me to no end to think what else I might find some day!

But anyway, we live in a highly disposable society (hello, has anyone seen that commercial about how many bottles of water the U.S. used and discarded last year?  Enough to wrap around the earth several times!!!!  MADNESS!) and it's important that each one of us pay mind to the small things we can do to help change that.  Buying used things is just one.  Granted, there are a lot of things I just won't buy used, but when it comes to decor I am all for it!  

Back to the garage sale again:  we want to do another one before the end of the year.  Another fat chunk of change would be great, especially with the economy the way it is and Christmas rapidly approaching!  Plus, we still have a lot of stuff to get rid of.  Once again, I wish I had taken more pictures of the crazy garage sale bazaar, but it just slipped my mind, so this is all I have....

It's the week of Thanksgiving (can I get a WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!) and I can already smell the turkey and stuffing... mmm mmm!!!  Stay tuned for a post on fall decor!

 

This was late in the day on the last day of the garage sale, too bad there aren't any pictures of what was behind the person taking the picture, there was so much stuff!!!!  Also, too bad there isn't a good picture of all us crazy gals in various hats and vintage aprons!  We looked cute...  Oh well, lesson learned for next time!

And this, my dear readers, is my grandmother's amazing Arroz Con Pollo (chicken and rice) dinner that she graciously whipped up for the whole garage sale crew at the end of the weekend!!  My mother and I weren't thrilled about the entire can of peas that my aunt dumped on the platter at the last minute, because we hate peas, but it was still amazing!

 

Oh, and how could I forget!?  A big group of us (my mom, aunt, uncle, brother, 3 cousins and one of my long time friends) went to the Blood Sweat and Tears concert at the Magic City Casino the same Saturday night as the garage sale (yes, we are energetic troopers!!).  I really have to be honest.... THEY SUCKED!  Really, they had us sweating, crying and perhaps even on the verge of drawing some blood - like ripping our ears off!  They only really have one popular song, which I like, but the rest of their set was unbelievably boring.  But, there was a silver lining in the cloud:  the opening band, The Grass Roots!  Ironically, they should have been the headliners for the whole concert because they were AWESOME!  They have so many great songs and the crowd loved them.... but then came Blood, Sweat and Tears and put us all to sleep.  Oh well, it was still good times... my cousin got up and danced in the isle with some crazy drunk lady and we all had a great laugh!

Anyway, this picture is of The Grass Roots during one of their songs.....

  

 (All images in this post are my own personal pictures)

My Soon to Be Bye-Bye Apartamentico

At the end of this year I will be packing all of my goodies up for a move... As for where we'll go, right now my boyfriend and I have two major options to consider and are still undecided... Regardless, by the end of this year my warm and cozy little abode will be no more! :(

Suffice it to say, the last two years have been a constant work in progress to get the apartment filled up and done up! I want to document the fruits of my labors in this sanctuary, my first apartment ever, and the first place I've called home since living at home with the folks... The memories will certainly never be forgotten, and now I'll make sure that the design and decor won't either! Below is somewhat of a mixed batch of recent and not so recent photos taken throughout my wild two years in this apartment. Some were taken at different times than others, and I am constantly moving art, chairs and accessories around as well... But, overall most remains the same, it waits in limbo as the countdown to its dismantlement begins... Enjoy!

(by the way, pardon the bad light in my apartment, as well as the iPhone pictures... I lost my camera and have yet to replace it)

This is what my dining room looked like from April - June of 2009, haha... It often transforms itself into a work area, and I frequently whip it back into a dining room from time to time when things get overwhelming (or when I have a party, like the Fourth of July party I cleaned this beautiful mess up for!). I can't wait until I have a house with a room specifically for all my crafts, projects and before and after renovations! By the way, the one framed instrument with the striped background was an experiment with striped velvet fabric, I wasn't crazy about the idea of all of them looking so busy, so I will only add fabric to one more, (eventually) the one diagonally across at the bottom right.

Anyway, this is what it currently looks like.... (new table base found at dumpsters in my complex, see my post "A Productive Labor Day Weekend" for more...

My wall of various art pieces: my drawings, my photography, trinkets and more

I got that stunning vintage black paper cutout of the peacock at a garage sale in a wood frame for $2!!! I put it in this copper frame from a Goodwill that only cost me $1, it looks much better :) The keys and lock are antique, the Jack Daniels statue belonged to my father, the milk glass pieces were a gift from my boyfriends mother (she has tons of it and gave a lot to me because she doesn't like it much anymore, yay for me!)

The tea light holder is a German crafted/hand painted piece I found at Goodwill... The shadow box with wine corks is my own personal artwork (see my post "More of My Arts and Crafts" for more of my "Shadow Corks"). Here are close-ups of a few....

That Buddha head on the stand was from a DOLLAR STORE :) The brass Asian Foo Dog was a thrift store find, it's an incense cone burner! The photo in the background I took when I was fifteen while in Paris, France.

My grandmother gave me this antique trunk, she had stowed it away in her garage for many years... thank you abuela!! Now it is home to my big book collection!

Those doors leaning against the wall are from an antique china cabinet that was falling apart due to water damage on the base, it was part of a lot of furniture being thrown out when my great aunt was moved to a home.... I could not bare to let their beauty go to waste, so in a fit of genius, I grabbed a screwdriver and took all four off. Now they are leaning/hanging in different parts of my apartment, I like to move them around often too... Love'em! Also salvaged from the same home was the cabinet they are sitting on, it's an antique record cabinet that I sanded, I have yet to stain it so I covered it with a long piece of green and white fabric with a Moroccanesque print. The lamp is antique, with blue bubbled glass detail - got it from a thrift store downtown for $25.

My antique leather top side table...someone threw this table out in their front yard!!! Oh the joy I felt as I spotted it coming around the corner, can you hear my tires screeching?? On top is my antique lighter collection (the pink beauty is recently purchased from eBay)... check out more photos below....

This is the close-up sale picture from when I bought this beauty... It's a vintage Evans fine bone china lighter and ashtray combo... it can stack too as you can see... I LOVE IT!!!

That was all from my living and dining room, here are some images from my bedroom...

This picture is from when I first got this antique side table at a downtown thrift shop for $25 or $20, I think... Since then I have hung more items on the wall and switched out lamps. I'll post an updated photo soon!

These are just random pictures of the crazy Buddha/perfume bottle/soapstone trinket box vignette I have hangin' out on top of my dresser... The man (Greek God Hermes carrying a caduceus) is a very old antique brass lamp that belonged to my father, I remember it sitting on his work bench "banco" when I was growing up and I always loved it... It doesn't work, but perhaps some day I'll fix it. For now, it serves as a great art piece and reminder of my father :)


That's it for now, though I plan to take better quality photos before I dismantle it all... Let me know what you think!