A Craigslist PSA

Dear Craigslisters: I believe you have been overvaluing your silly items and wrongly representing them.  Please let me assist in clarifying with a little vocabulary lesson.

luxurious

adjective lux·u·ri·ous (ˌ)ləg-ˈzhu̇r-ē-əs, (ˌ)lək-ˈshu̇r-

(1) very comfortable and expensive : richly appealing (2) feeling or showing a desire for expensive things

If your chair has hunting scenes on it, please do not represent it as "luxurious."  Manly, maybe.  Luxurious? no.  This word should be used VERY sparingly as most items that are being sold on craigslist are well, NOT luxurious.

gorgeous

adjective gor·geous ˈgȯr-jəs

(1) very beautiful or attractive (2) very enjoyable or pleasant

Another word that should be used sparingly or never on craigslist.

Your 'gorgeous custom painted desk' hurts my eyes.  How about calling it "funky," "fun," or "bright."  These words are all positive and might actually prepare the potential buyer's retinas for this vision.

rare

adjective ˈrer

(1)  marked by unusual quality, merit, or appeal :  distinctive

The word "rare" should be used only if your item is very very very Very Very VERY hard to come by.  Most of the time, using the word makes you look a bit like a sleazy used car salesman.

This old phone is certainly antique and cool, but I would never use the word rare for it.  If I can go to a flea market and come across at least 1 or more each time, rare it is not.  In this seller's defense, it seems that either English is not a language they are comfortable with or they attempted to write this listing on their phone with their toes as this is the entire listing: "thissa really nice and good conditions hand work player.....good price..."

Aside from "luxurious," "gorgeous," and "rare," a few more words that should be primarily avoided include "amazing," "custom," and "high-end"

Instead of trying to describe your items with cliches or over ambitious descriptive words, how about being straight forward.  I recently read a winning description that told the story of a husband who was selling an area rug because a new rug just 'happened to appear in the room.'  While the rug wasn't one I wanted, I wish I had saved the listing- it was hilarious.

So please, next time you write up a listing on craigslist, leave your delusions about your item or it's value aside and put forth a listing that is honest and fairly priced.  I guarantee you'll sell it faster.

Yours Truly,

A Craigslist Addict

Strong Like Bull

This week may be a light week for blogging- my computer's on the fritz again, so my apologies ahead of time. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Tubs!  Wait, didn't I already blog about this?  Yes, but now I got one of the 2 tubs that I need and I just KNOW you want to hear all about it!  Or something like that.  In reality, I was searching high or low for someone to tell me how hard or easy it was to move a cast iron claw foot tub and couldn't find anything helpful, so I'm hoping to provide that service to someone else.  I'm only thinking of you.

Have I mentioned before that I love Craigslist?  Only once or twice, I'm sure.  I remember the primitive days when my dad would list things in the Bargain News.  My how far we've come.  I was able to procure an antique cast iron tub in rather good condition for $20.  Yes, $20!  (ended up costing a little bit more, but I'll explain)

The deal was the I could buy this tub from amongst the rubble for $20 IF....

...I moved it down 3 flights of stairs

I'm sure you can see my dilemma.  $20!  yay!  3 flights of windy narrow stairs? boo!  A huge part of my dilemma came from trying to figure out how to move something of this sheer weight.  I'd estimate it around 300 lbs.  With Hubby at work and not willing to call in any friend favors to move a tub for my business, I realized I needed to pay someone.  One moving company quoted me $550 with a truck and 3 guys- that's more than I paid to move all the staging furniture!  No me gusta!  Luckily my next quote was much more my speed.  A man with a van.  Literally the name of his company and he came with many 5 star yelp reviews for helping people move Craigslist purchases.  $170 to help me move it from the 3rd floor, transport it, and move it into Millie?  You got it!!!

Let me tell you, yes a cast iron claw foot tub is heavy, BUT it's not nearly as bad as I was afraid of.  It took Mike the Mover, the seller and me to move it down the stairs.  The 3rd person was honestly only for security and logistics (making sure no one has a tub fall on them).    It definitely helped that the feet were already detached and I would highly recommend that to anyone!

One thing that made it easier is that we were moving it from a house that was being completely gutted, so letting the tub surf (guided and controlled of course) down the carpeted stairs wasn't a problem.  If I was moving it from a house that we'd have to worry about scratching stairs or wall, we'd naturally have to be more careful and take a bit more time, but I would imagine that the process wouldn't change much.

Once on flat ground, the tub was pretty easy to maneuver.  I swear!  It may be heavier than a couch, but it's smaller, so the lack of bulk makes it easier to move in my opinion.  Mike the Mover used a hand cart to get it from the stairs to the front door, then it was furniture dollies from there.  It took us only 2 people to lift the tub onto a furniture dolly and roll it as needed to the vehicle and from the vehicle to Millie.  It even wasn't bad lifting it up 4 stairs to get to Millie's porch.  I'm sure Mike the Mover was skeptical when he saw this skinny girl claiming she could move a tub, but I'm strong like bull!  It didn't take nearly as long as I expected to get it from one place to the other.  Now my new tub is hanging out in Millie's sunroom so I can paint the bottom in a well ventilated area.  I keep flip-flopping between white or black.....

I swear, if you can move a couch, you can move a cast iron claw foot tub!!

So there you have it.  The story of how I got a $20 tub on craigslist, paid $170 for help moving it and a priceless story knowing I'm capable of moving a cast iron claw foot tub.  Now I only need one more for the upstairs bathroom.....

Make it Work: Furniture Vanity

Ok, I totally have a one track mind planning out the new master bath for this flip.  In order to monopolize on this and not completely bore you, I figured I'd turn my obsession into a "Make it Work" post. If you missed the first post in my new Make it Work series, it's all about not just showing you a cool vintage or thrifted find, but also showing you how to make it work in a space.

Today's Make it Work moment comes from the idea of repurposing a piece of furniture into a bathroom vanity.  This little guy caught my eye on craigslist this morning.

At an asking price of $95 (including the mirror) it is not a priceless antique.  Chipping veneer and other cosmetic damage make this perfect for repurposing (contrary to popular belief, I usually refrain from painting quality pieces.  This is not).

If done right, a repurposed furniture vanity looks like it was always meant to be that way.  I love almost everything about this bathroom from Better Homes and Gardens and it raises the vanity question- old or new?  In this case, it's probably a vintage-inspired new piece, but why go vintage-inspired when you can go true vintage?

Sadly in my soon to be master bath, there isn't enough room for a double vanity, although if there was, this buffet would make for a dreamy double vanity.

Returning to the little guy I showed you at the top, how would I make it work... so to speak...

One option would be to simply add a vessel sink to the top like so:

(I'd like to credit the original source, but pinterest dead-ends me.  Help if you can!)

In the case of the craigslist piece we're looking at, I'd go for a new marble or stone top with undermount sink.  The fun part here is for a stone piece this small, you have a very good chance of being able to get a steal of a deal on a remnant piece from a countertop installer.

1/ Farrow & Ball Lulworth Blue- this cool gray blue painted vanity on top of my planned wood floors would be heavenly.

2/ Rejuvination's Jordan Valley Sconce is the perfect mix of modern with a nod to craftsman

3/ Hello statement mirror, how are you today? Brooke Mirror via Z Gallerie

4/ Vintage-inspired faucet- Rollins Faucet via Rejuvination

5/ If no budget remnants are available, this Carrara top from Home Depot would do the trick

So what do you think?  Should I pull the trigger for this new master ensuite and repurpose a vintage piece?