Let's {Hunt} Design
Happy Tuesday guys!
So today's Let's {Hunt} Design is a question I am often asked, and a topic that has earned me a fancy nick-name; "Mistress of Craigslist." It's ok to be jealous, it's pretty fancy, I'm basically royalty.
For those of you who know me, you know that like 80% of the furnishings and a good portion of the decor, in my house have come from Craigslist. It has taken some time to acquire the right collection of things, and hours, days, weeks and months of hunting for just the right piece.
The intention of this post, is to share some tips (what few there really are) on scouring the vast internet flea market that is Craigslist, to procure the right things for you and your home.
The first, most frustrating and most important tip is *persistance.* I can't stress this enough. It becomes like an addiction and you start to feel like a crazy person, but you really have to check often and consistently. In my case, the style I am constantly hunting for is very popular, mid century, so I have to look often to catch the rare deals that spring up.
The next tip is to find a key phrase to search with. Again, in my case, I use "mid century." I generally like to enter it in the basic search on the Craigslist homepage, because there have been several times that I will come across something a little too late because it was posted in the "free" section (WHAAAT?!) and I was looking in the "furniture" section. You can get more specific, obviously, and it will narrow down your results. Often times sellers list things with different titles than you might call them, i.e. "nightstand" vs "end table" or something to that effect. Anymore people will usually put an assortment of tags in their ads to get the most hits, so you are generally pretty safe.
Another important thing to keep in mind, is that sometimes people are crazy, asking WAY more money than they should be for a used piece. In those cases, though it seems counterintuitive, try to wait it out. The seller will often drop their price if their item is listed for a couple weeks or more. It is also ok to ask if they are willing to work with you on the price, as long as your request is within reason.
There is also a super neat, handy resource out there, www.ifttt.com, which is a site that you can set up to notify you of anything that ever happens ever on the internet. Potentially super overhwelming, but I really like to use it as a tool to help me find things on the good 'ol CL.
The very most important thing to keep in mind, is to always meet in a safe, public place, and bring a friend with you. While Craigslist and other similar sites can be really great resources to use to decorate your home and add some character with pieces you can't always find in stores, you are also dealing privately, with complete strangers. Take precautions, be safe, and if it feels like a dodgey arrangement, pass it up. It is always better it to be safe and smart than have a new chair.
Take care and happy {Hunting}!
