When I was young, I never liked the idea of buying second-hand items from people I didn’t know. That’s not to say I didn’t get hand-me-downs from family. When you come from a family of five kids, clothes were passed down every year. Boy have things changed! I’m now obsessed with saving old furniture and bringing it back to life.
Forty years ago, clothing donations were all I knew. People didn’t donate furniture the way they do today; or, at least my family didn’t. When something was scratched or broken, we fixed it. When it broke again, we fixed it again. The dresser currently in my bedroom is one my parents purchased for me almost 40 years ago!
Today, people donate furniture like crazy. We seem to live in a throw-away society. When clothes rip, few people sew them. When furniture gets scratched, few people know how to refinish it. The mom & pop repair shops are few and far between these days.
That’s one of the reasons why I find such great furniture at thrift stores today. Fewer people learn the repair crafts.
From the time I was young, I was taught to purchase quality items, keep them for years, and repair or refinish them when needed. (I think I also inherited the carpenter gene from my grandfather.) Either way, that tradition continues with me today and this gorgeous, dark wood side table is a perfect example.
The table is an oversized tray table made of a dark stained hardwood. It’s much larger than a TV tray table and more suitable for use as a bar cart or serving station in a dining room. It was sitting buried between other items at the thrift store. The dark wood caught my attention right away.
Then I flipped it over to find the original retail price tag. It looks like a Pottery Barn tag, but I can’t seem to locate it on their website. It may be an old item. Regardless, it was originally priced at $299 people!!!!
Now, here’s a quick lesson in thrift store shopping. First, you never pay retail price at a thrift store. Second, you shop on days when even the thrift store has a sale. This particular day they were offering 50% off all furniture, so the $49 thrift store tag really meant I got it for just under $27 (including tax)!
There were a few scratches but a quick wash of dark walnut stain and then wipe-on poly and this table was once again worthy of it’s $299 price tag!
For those of you drooling over this gorgeous rustic table that looks like it belongs in an Italian villa, I’m sorry to disappoint you. This one is a gift for my soon-to-be-married neice and in search of their new home.
I didn’t mean to tease you, I was just trying to show you what amazing finds can be found if you’re willing to put in a little repair work. If you’d like to learn more of my best shopping secrets, be sure you grab my free ebook, 11 Ways to Find Free (and close-to-free) Furniture.
Would you like to learn how to furnish your home for pennies? Click the image to get my ebook delivered to your inbox.
I even reveal how I make my biggest profits flipping furniture!
If you live in the Boston area and have solid wood furniture pieces that need an update, let’s talk about how paint or stain could transform them. See this info on my custom furniture painting & staining services…
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products I love and use myself.
Wow, what a great find. I bet your niece is thrilled to have this beautiful table.
Thank you! Yes, I’m hoping to find a few great pieces for her to start her new home. 🙂
Wonderful find, thrifting and Secondhamd shops are just a few of my favorite places to pick up well constructed furniture for a song. Thanks for sharing your shopping tips at #FridaysFurnitureFix!
This is such a great piece and totally worth it. I cannot believe the original price was that high. I absolutely agree with you that we live in a throw away society and what a shame to our earth which has too many landfills. You and me, let’s keep on finding old things or junk in my case, to give some TLC to.
One of the most rewarding parts of what I do (and I’m sure you too) is knowing how many pieces we’ve saved from those landfills.
I love this tray table.
Isn’t it great?! It’s a Pottery Barn table I found at a thrift store. Once of my favorite finds.