Great Finds At Antique Stores And Consignment Shops

I enjoy browsing antique stores, consignment shops, yard sales and bazaars.  I love a bargain and I love the idea of reusing rather than buying new.

Sure, sometimes these places are musty and dusty.  And sometimes they smell exceptionally awful.  You know what I mean - as if the furniture came from a crazy cat lady's house.  No offense to the cats.

And sometimes you come across things you'd rather not see - such as the real human skeleton (with coffin!) I saw at the White Elephant antiques store in Dallas.  Yes, of course I took a photo.  No, I won't post it here, even though Halloween is a month away and it might be seasonally appropriate.

I'm browsing a lot more these days.  We are finally getting around to properly furnishing our formal living room.  Turns out, 'formal living room' is not a euphemism for 'little boys' scooter race track and wrestling room.'  It's actually supposed to be for entertaining!  Now if I can just remember how to entertain.  And build a fence to keep the kids away from 'the good furniture.'

Now, I'm not adventurous enough to get into reupholstering antiques.  I have no idea how to do it myself and the cost of having someone else do it is so high, we may as well buy new.  So that's what we're doing for the upholstered pieces.  But the coffee table and side tables will be "reused," and the area rug will likely be an antique. 

Through my hunting, I've noticed an interesting development: upscale consignment shops and antique stores are popping up like mushrooms after a week of rain.  Existing stores are full of new inventory.  I'm sure the economy has something to do with it.

Here's the kicker: they're actually selling good stuff at decent prices.  eBay is also chock-full of good stuff!  Like this lovely little Henredon leather-top drum table:

So, if you're planning on making some enhancements to your decor, consider buying used.  There's a lot to choose from these days.