Love Hate Relationships

I love craigslist. Or maybe I love the idea of it. We've made a few different furniture purchases from there, or sites very similar.

Three of my very favorite things in my home were aquired using this type of service. Not a single one was a good experience though. So why do I keep going back??

I have to take that last thing back.... once, I had a good craigslist purchase. It was my table and chair for my craftroo..... closet. It was $20. For both. AND they delivered it, and carried it into my home.

I have one reason I think I continue to find things on craigslit, because I've had such great luck selling on there. Before we moved, we cleared out TONS of great things. Mostly big outside toys, and furniture.

I am a realistic seller. I give a very accurate description of the condition, along with detailed photos. I price my items to be a bargain- isn't that the reason for these sites? A deal so great it's sold in the first few hours? (The money for me was always just a bonus- I needed the stuff gone)

Unfortunately, when I'm on the other side of the deal, I always feel I get the short end of the stick! OR, is it that I will go completely out of my way for the chance at a great deal?

Our very first purchase was what is now my green dresser. I L O V E it, and anyone who's been in my home has loved it too. It wasn't so lovely when we got it. We drove an hour away to pick it up. Realized I'd gotten the directions all wrong. Had a good long argument in the car. After a dozen or so phone calls to the seller, we finally found their house. Two hours later, and almost a half tank of gas gone.

Once there, we found our "hardwood" dresser was infact, not. But, the people were super nice. They offered to drop the price from $50 to $40. Dustin and I did the refinnish together. Come to find out, the perfect green I had to want it.... was an oil based paint. I took us three times as long to get it painted.

Jacey's dresser went along the same lines, didn't get lost, but it was an hour drive. Oh ..... wait..... we did get lost, but only in the little neighborhood we were supposed to be in. Then we got on the freeway, but going in the wrong direction. I still love her furniture. It's refinnish turned out beautiful, I've never seen anything even similar to it, and probably never will. We got a custom look, for $30. In my opinion now, it was worth the trouble.

This is a long post, but neeeded, so you can fully apreciate what we did last night.

Why, two weeks before Christmas, with one kid sick, I think I need a project- is beyond me. But I got a wild hair to start checking craigslist for a dresser.

Dustin and I have never had cohesive bedroom furniture. Right now, it's probably the worst its ever been. We don't have a dresser. We use two sets of plastic drawers. I don't think it would bother me, except there isn't room for them in the closet. They sit out. We bought two end tables. One sits by the bed, the other holds all the audio video stuff and sits under our tv on the wall. We have beautiful bedding. We spent a small fortune on it. We don't have a headboard. There isn't anything to pull the room together. The nice things we do have, get lost in the mismatch other mess.

SO.... I was looking for a dresser. I didn't really find anything I had to have at a pirce I needed to have it at. I conveyed my craigslist idea to Dustin, who actually is the one who can see the potential and knows a solid peice when he sees one. As he was scrolling through, he stopped and told me, "I'm buying this right now, hand me the phone".

It was advertised as a gorgeous big black solid wood armoire. It's almost 7 feet tall. It's three and a half feet wide. It's HUGE! And pretty. The pictures looked like a magazine add. We fell in lust with it. They were only asking $175. A steal, since Dustin said the wood alone is worth more than that.

Now.... how to get the item home. We needed a truck. I tried uhaul first. Too expensive. I called home depot. Perfect. It would only cost us about $30 to rent a truck from them, half the price of a uhaul. Next obstacle the distance. They live over 45 minutes from us. But it's all freeway..... I decide to go for it. Another obstacle, they will be gone from 6-8pm. I agree to pick it up after 8, since Dustin wouldn't get home in time to make it there before 6.

There's always things that go wrong for me. Home depot closes their tool rental counter at 6. Can't pick up the truck in time. I called the seller to tell her what happened. I appologized. Profusely. I felt awful! She sounded so bummed. I was worried she'd just sell it to someone else (she'd had lots of calls).

Not being able to shake this awful feeling, I decided to look for another option. All I could find was the uhaul choice. Finding one open past 6 seemed to be nearly impossible. But, I found ONE. It was out in the boon docs. All they had was a 17 footer. Add on an extra $10. We loaded up the kids and headed down. We couldn't find the store. It was dark, and raining, and foggy, and seriously in nowhere-ville.

We stopped at a gas station (10 miles PAST where mapquest said we should be). The people inside were much better than I'd expected to see. They spoke english, had all their teeth, and appeared to have showered recently. When you hear "Did you see a big alpaca farm?"..... you know you're in trouble. "It's right near there".

We go back the way we came. We come upon a Bait and Tackle/Perma Yard Sale. Complete with toilet and kitchen sink sitting under a makeshift tarped tent. We go inside. Around the corner comes a big rotweiler. He seems to be suffering from a bad case of mange. The elderly lady, who was missing teeth, and hadn't seen a shower during the month of December helps Dustin complete the required paperwork. It took an hour. We waited in the car. Jacey cried until I was able to unearth a bottle of "who knows how long this has been in the car" water.

We are finally on our way to the home! We drive through a super cute little country town. I was having Waterford flashbacks. I found the street easily, and the house.

Inside a very nice family showed us to the big monster of an armoire. Sold! I loved it... now lets get home! The husband helped Dustin load it, I paid the lady, and we were off!

Until.... I got on the freeway. Going the wrong way. Next exit was 8 miles down. Keep in mind uhauls charge mileage. I got a really happy phone call from Dustin. Then a highway patrol car pulls on.... right behind me. One prayer was answered, he pulled over the car next to me. We got turned around, and headed home. It's now almost 11:00 pm.

Do you thnik it ends there? Not a chance! I put the kids to bed and we unload it. It has to go up stairs. It took us 30 minutes. It cost us banged up walls. We broke one of the doors off the hinge. Dustin might have broken toes. I got called many choice names.

BUT- we got it in our room. And after a gallon of touch up paint, and new hinges, and some various other peices of hardware, it will be pretty again.

Guess what though? It's not a dresser. We still need one of those.