I ♥ craigslist

Way back when we first moved into this house, I found a dining room set that I loved (and still love) on craigslist. It was brand new and I paid about 40% of the original cost of it. Score.

Craigslist in Boston is awesome. You can find anything. As my sister pointed out, this is not the case everywhere. In doing a quick hunt over the various Arkansas craigslists, the only thing I could find that was not livestock, pets, or pigeons - was horse manure. So, yeah, not everywhere has the same selection. But, up here it's fabulous.

Anyway, after we got our table, something bad happened. The box that the dining room set came in got suck by our back door. You see, I wanted to recycle it, but because the inside is full of styrofoam, I couldn't. I bagged most of the styrofoam, but could never bring myself to throw it out (not because I'm attached, but because it's just so bad for the environment). So, it slowly became a fixture and an eye sore. It was useful...we put stuff on it, see?

I've been looking for something to replace that box, but, in case I haven't mentioned it, I'm really cheap. I've searched over craigslist for months and months. And because I'm too cheap for craigslist even, I mostly just look in the free section. So, you can imagine my excitement, when a lady a few streets away was giving up her cubby bench - for free. Score. It is exactly what I wanted.

I can't really express to you how happy this bench makes me. So simple, but a nice change.

But we can't stop there. I also found a nice crate & barrel chair that was going to be perfect for Kyle's office - I was even going to pay $30 for it! But, it wouldn't fit in our car, and so we decided not to take it. I then took a gander to see if I could find another piece I'd been wanting. ...and I did!

I've wanted a cubby shelf for Abby's play area since we moved in. In fact, I've wanted this exact one since then, but it retails for $70-80 and there is just no way I could pay that. I've seen these on CL a few times before, but always for closer to $50. So, again, imagine my excitement when I found this one for $25! Since I had the money I didn't spend on the chair...I went for it. And, to make things better, it was located about 5 mins from our house. :) She even gave me the blue drawers for it.

We still need a name for the whale...do you like Sprout or Plankton?

Thanks to our new storage, Abby now has a craft drawer and a dress up drawer that she has already gotten the hang of. See?

Anyway, I just wanted to share my finds this week. They've made me happy. If you have a good CL in your area, a little patience can pay off. :)

I hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday, I'm very much looking forward to the rest of ours. :)

PS: the ugly box is still in the house, but I'm making plans to deal with it soon. Really.