grilling with MacGruber

It's mid-June, which in most parts of the country means that sunny days, shorts, and grilling are already routine. In Seattle, it means it might finally be time to put away the raincoat. Just don't tuck it too far back in the closet, because the weather is still spotty at best. This past weekend was the nicest by far that we've had this year, and we were longing to hear the sizzling sound of burgers on the grill. I recently bought some hamburger patties from the Skagit River Ranch—organic, grass fed, and the best tasting beef I think I've ever had. Unfortunately, we are grill-less at the moment, so I had to cook them on the George Foreman—not quite the same.

Several summers ago—after we purchased our first house and were flat broke—we thought we scored a great Char-Broil gas grill for free on Craigslist. We set it out on our back patio and grabbed some bratwurst to inaugurate our first summer in the new house. Patrick fired it up, I threw on the meat, and we stood back admiring the spiffy new grill, which was pretty nice for being free. The illusion was shattered, though, the moment we noticed that flames were coming out of the bottom of the grill and traveling down the propane line toward the tank. We were momentarily frozen. Should we reach down to try to shut off the tank or just run before the whole thing exploded?! Thankfully, Patrick was able to close the valve before the tank could blow us into the neighbor's yard. Thanks, generous Craigslister, for the free deathtrap.

After doing some tinkering, we discovered that only one side of the grill had malfunctioned, and we could still use the right side without having to fear for our lives. Like I mentioned, we were totally broke, so a free, half-broken grill was really all we could afford. We used that grill for four years, until some friends kindly loaned their charcoal grill to us for a few seasons. We have since thrown the Char-Broil bbq into the dump—something that I hate doing, but we were not about to let someone else blow up their backyard. We have also returned our friends' grill to them and I think after six years, we are finally ready to buy a new one.


Although I like the look of this grill, which is only about $1500 over our budget, I think we'll probably end up with a classic Weber charcoal grill.



Let me just remind people of something that is a little pet peeve of mine. If you plan on selling something on Craigslist, listing it for free, or donating it to the thrift store, please use full disclosure. I think this is especially important when it comes to things that hook up to a twenty pound tank of flammable gas.

a game of musical chairs

Against all craigslist odds, our recent chair purchase was fast and problem-free. We picked up the chair Friday night in SeaTac from a young woman who has had it since she was twelve. Coincidentally, she was selling the chair because she's relocating for a job to a town in Montana that is only forty miles from where I grew up. The chair is heavily influenced by the Eames Lounge Chair, but has some subtle differences that I find particularly endearing. The back is one solid piece of bent wood instead of two, the legs are bent wood as well, while the Eames legs are all metal, and there is no tufting, which I see as a bonus because it means fewer little places to collect cracker crumbs.


We love the way it looks in our living room, and Alden loves to sit in "daddy's chair," but we have run into a few logistical problems. It's funny how acquiring one new piece can throw a wrench into the whole flow of a room. First, in order to make room for the chair, we needed to remove the two black chairs that were previously in our living room. In case you missed it before, we have a lot of chairs in our house. I'm not really willing to give any of them the boot yet, although one particular chair will probably get its marching orders as soon as we save up enough for a new couch downstairs.

Since we decided to keep the black chairs, I had to figure out a way to work them into another room. They are more like office chairs than armchairs, so it seemed fitting to move them to the office—currently the least organized and most unfinished room in the house. Moving them to the office meant moving the two dining chairs out that were being stored there. The dining chairs haven't been in the dining room because I hadn't ever managed to recover the seats to match the first four that I had done two years ago. I guess I finally got the motivation that I needed to complete that project, and we now have six matching dining chairs around our table!


Now the only problem I'm left with is that our coffee table no longer fits in the space in which it used to reside. The ottoman of the new chair sits just a few inches too close to the corner of the rectangular coffee table, creating an awkward pathway, and with my bruise-prone shins, it's an injury waiting to happen. The solution: a round coffee table has now been added to my thrift store master list.

friday finds - june 4

I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I agreed to accompany Alden's preschool class on a field trip to Richmond Beach this morning. In my temporary lunacy, I must have forgotten that it has rained nearly every day this spring! I woke up this morning to what sounded like a torrential rain, although if you've ever lived in a house with a flat roof and no attic, you'll know that even a minor storm can sound like a monsoon. So, I'm about to bundle up in rain gear and herd twenty excited five-year-olds through the mud and sand, in hopes of spotting a few sea anemones.

All that said, I've bumped my usual Friday morning thrifting to this afternoon. I won't let that keep me from sharing a new find, though! This one is credited to my husband, who is a much better craigslist scavenger than I am. He was recently given some money for his birthday by a few family members, and has been on a chair hunt ever since. Yesterday he managed to find a tuftless lounge chair by George Mulhauser for Plycraft for $200. He's picking it up this evening, and I can't wait to see how it looks in our living room. I'll post some pictures next week, although it is craigslist, so there is always the huge possibility that this will all fall through!

Next, I want to share some great finds sent to me by Judy. Although we have different styles, we share our love for thrifting and decorating. Here are some of her favorite thrift finds:

1. Bernhardt Furniture Antique Sideboard, good condition: St. Vincent De Paul's $50 after Memorial Day discount.

2. Floral arm chair, great condition: St. Vincent De Paul's $15 after Memorial day discount.

3. Antique Player Piano with auto player function disabled, good condition + bench: Free on Craigslist.

4. Velvet & wood rocking chair, great condition: Value Village $19.99 - 30% off coupon.

Show off your most treasured thrifted find! Email a description and a jpeg file to modernthrifter@gmail.com.

friday finds - vintage kitchen & craigslist

I had another post planned for today, but it has turned into a bit of a rant, so I think I'll let it sit on the shelf for the weekend.

I'm not out at the thrift store today. Instead, I'm spending most of the day in the kitchen getting ready for Patrick's birthday tomorrow. I love cooking and baking, so I don't mind at all. Having a kitchen stocked with fresh ingredients and tools that I enjoy help too. If you need a little color in your kitchen, here are a few things from etsy that you might like:

clockwise from top left: 1950's metal kitchen wall clock $56; turquoise tea kettle $38; vintage superior electric fan; condiment servers $18

If you are in the Seattle area, here are a few furniture pieces currently on craigslist that might be worth checking out:

clockwise from top left: walnut full size bedframe $250; modern bar stools - set of 3 $90; mid-century slat bench $50; vintage yellow floor lamp $25

mid century estate sale

If we hadn't been busy celebrating an early Mother's Day on Saturday, we probably would have made the drive up to Camano Island to check out this estate sale that we saw on Craigslist. The list of items was overwhelming! Last night I saw that the ad was still up, so I emailed the contact to see if I could get some prices on leftover items. Here's what I found out:

Teak Clock - $150
Yellow Swedish Chair - $450

Orange Eames Lounge Chair (sold), Bird Wall Art - ?

Mariner Clock - $200

Plycraft Lounge Chair by George Mulhauser - $500
This chair is so beautiful, and so out of my price range. I hope someone buys it soon before I make a foolish impulse buy! After doing some online sleuthing, I think it's easily worth the price, and maybe more. Here's a picture of Gob from Arrested Development (I miss that show!) sitting in one.
That picture makes me want it even more! Here are some other photos of this gorgeous chair:
Photos from The Mid-Century Modernist

Okay, back to the other items. I don't have prices for any of these, but I'm sure the owner would email them to you if you are interested. I also think since the sale is over, he might be willing to take offers as the week progresses. There are several additional photos on the Craigslist ad, too.

craigslist victories & defeats

My relationship with Craigslist could probably best by compared to that of Elaine and Puddy from Seinfield. There are times when I think it's fantastic. I'll make a few dollars when I sell something that is no longer needed or used, and I'll find a few nice items to buy. But, I think more often than not, I'm frustrated. Flakey buyers, overpriced or misrepresented items, and the speed at which the good deals get snatched up, all make me more likely to look for things elsewhere.

Some people swear by Craigslist, and I have one friend in particular who seems to find really fantastic deals all the time. To be honest, I might just not have the patience to deal with the people—it's easier for me to go into a thrift store when it's convenient in my schedule. That doesn't keep my husband from perusing the site on a daily basis. One of his Craigslist victories is the orange fiberglass shell chair in the photo above.

Now onto my biggest Craigslist defeat.

We purchased our current house a few months ago, and when we did, we doubled the square footage that we had previously occupied. We have been wanting a sectional couch for our family room downstairs, since we've only ever had a living room and thus, one couch. I was very eager to find the right sectional (on a next-to-nothing budget), and I let my emotions take over my better judgment.

After days of checking the furniture section of Craigslist hourly, so as to not miss that perfect sectional, I finally found one that seemed to be a good deal. It was a beige microfiber (I know, what was I thinking?) sectional with an ottoman for $350. That was on the high end of what I was willing to pay for used furniture, but it was the best deal I had seen, and the owner claimed that it was nearly new. I proceeded to call him to get a few more details. Is it clean? Yes, he assured me that there were no stains or rips and that the only reason he was selling it was because he was moving out of state.

Here's the part where I think my brain must have left the room. He lived about an hour and a half south of Seattle. He offered to deliver it for the cost of the gas it would take to bring it up here. Okay, sold—yes, sight unseen.

We arranged for the delivery to be the next day. My husband came home for lunch so that he could help move it in the house. Mr. Craigslist showed up on time, but I should have known that my definition of "clean" and his would be slightly different when he stepped out of his truck in sweat pants. Still, my brain was no where to be found. Bring it in guys! Hmm, is that cigarette smoke I smelled? Oh well, here's the cash.

Apparently, my brain had kidnapped my husbands brain, because any sane person would have simply said, sorry for wasting your time, here's some gas money, but we can't purchase this couch. Neither of us said it. Within minutes of Mr. Craigslist leaving, we noticed our family room being filled with the aroma of a dog's rear end. I had forgotten to ask about pets. The couch was filthy. I grabbed some upholstery cleaner and a rag to see if I could make any improvements. After just a few wipes, my white rag was brown and I nearly added the smell of vomit to the couch. To make matters worse, we discovered that the inside supports of the couch were broken.

I called the cleaners who quoted me $200 to remedy my problem. We were faced with dumping more money into a broken, stinky couch, or cutting our losses an re-selling it on Craigslist. We decided the quicker we could get rid of it, the better. I posted a very honest ad, noting that the whole thing smelled and looked like a dog that had never had a bath. I was surprised at how many people actually wanted it. We sold the couch later that day for $75, and we are still sitting on some old chairs plopped in the middle of the room, when we want to watch a movie.

On that note, I have a few tips for buying/selling on Craigslist:

1. Never purchase something without seeing it first.
2. Check the listings often and be patient if you are looking for something in particular.
3. When you respond to a seller, include your phone number in the email to get a quicker response.
4. Never let someone pick something up at your house when you are alone (or alone with your kids). This is especially important for women. I was never very good at sticking to this rule, but my husband has lovingly and firmly put his foot down about it.
5. Never pick something up at someone's house alone. Take someone with you and tell people where you are going.

I want to emphasize the last two points because of a story that I saw on the news last week. There were two separate incidents locally of craigslist related home invasions, and one resulted in a home-owner being murdered. I know it's very rare, but please be extra cautious.