Thrift

I am not a novice when it comes to using craigslist. I consider myself a seasoned, experienced craigslister. Buying and Selling…… When I was considering names for this blog my husband suggested calling it “The House That Craigslist Built”! Catchy but a bit of an exaggeration I think. I am the first to admit it. I feel no shame. I love a bargain and craigslist being one of the very best places I have found to really score some keepers! Which brings me to my most recent find…………

BEWARE——–DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!!!!!

For the first time in my craigslisting life I regretted my decision and considered driving right past my destination and hightailing it back home. But, the other side of my brain convinced me that If I did leave I could be missing out on the deal of the century!

Our small town doesn’t often have too much of what I would be looking for so I have to be willing to drive the hour or more to our nearest big city. I prefer to go in the day so I don’t have to fight that rush hour traffic, which can be quite nerve wracking.

So, on this particular day, not only did I regret my decision, I actually feared for my life. (well sort of, that may be stretching it a bit). As my GPS announced the arrival of my destination on the right, I felt a rush of panic. I was in the slum! The SLUM! There were actually drunks on the corners (just like on TV—-Yes, I live a sheltered life) When she (the seller) told me she was downtown, I envisioned the good part of downtown, the quaint part of downtown with the historic homes and cobblestone streets. DUH!!! This was in complete contrast. She had actually texted me a picture of her apartment, but since I was driving I didn’t really look too closely before.

Craigslist Apartment

But now that I was there, there was no mistaking I was in the right place. There were no available parking places along the road. I circled the block a few times which only stoked my fears. There was no way in the world I was going to park on another street and walk back to the apartment. Finally about the 4th time around I claimed a parking spot that may or may not have been legal. Not certain how many feet from a stop sign a car must be?????

Now it was smoking hot outside, 100% humidity and my head was spinning. I was feeling queezy from the stench of the garbage truck that just so happened to be collecting trash on the very street that I was on. How convenient!

OK! So I will add that the seller and her male friend met me outside. I guess maybe she sensed my apprehension and wanted to calm my fears? Even knowing what I knew at this point, I still naively held out hope that the inside was better. But as soon as she opened the door and we began to climb the stairs, my hope dissipated. Please Lord, just let me get out of here. Alive!

Fortunately for me, the item I was there to see was located right at the top of the stairs. The room was very dimly lit with no windows, so it was pretty much impossible to tell much about the condition of it. I asked a couple questions that I don’t even recall and then I told her I would take it. WHAAAAT????? Am I believing what just came out of my mouth right now??

OK. So obviously I survived. I was not inside an ax murderers apartment. Apparently I allowed their nose rings and tattoos to influence my perception of things. Turns out they both were very nice and helpful. She even texted me shortly after to make sure I got out of there ok and was on my way? They both helped me make the several trips down the stairs and to my car. It was a tight fit, but we did it. I thanked them both and then got the hell out of dodge!!!!

When I arrived home and shared my tale of ~~survival~~ adventure with my family , my thirteen year old thanked me profusely . After all it was a Pottery Barn Teen Sectional to go in her very own, newly renovated TV room!

She and I spent the next morning thoroughly cleaning it, and as it turns out, it was in surprisingly great shape. For $100, heck yeah it was worth it!!!! Pottery Barn still has them available on their website for $1500 !!