This week is going well guys. Like really well. Let me set this up for you, because maybe this is an odd sort of contentment that is foreign to people who don't derive their sense of self from the newest deal they score on Craigslist. So I've wanted a cute couch for a really long time. But not just any cute couch...I want a vintage couch with exposed wood, hand-carved details, structurally sound, seats at least 3, and all for less than $250 or so. This is tough, let me tell you.
About a month ago, I'd thought I found one IN LEATHER for $350 (worth it for the leather). But alas, my CL trigger finger was not speedy enough and a possible gem slipped through my fingers. But then, in a pre-Labor Day lull at work this week, I came upon this beauty.
A little bit Stepford, a little bit Longmeadow Wasp, but I can fix that. And my aim was good on this one! For $100(!) I picked up this beauty a few days later on Long Island in a UHAUL. The things I do for hand-carved legs...
So, true to my crazy antique furniture hunting form, my search for a vintage couch has not gone on alone. Before even having a sofa, I contacted an upholsterer to chat about my eventual, future (one day, maybe) vintage find. It's extremely similar to buying the wedding dress before finding the fiance, but let's not delve into that too deeply.
Luckily, my neurotic preemptive upholstering inquiries allowed me to drop off this beauty at Colleen's studio in Bushwick immediately after pick-up. The fewer times I need to rent a UHAUL the better in my book.
So now she has the sofa and I have a time crunch to pick out fabric. But once again, my preemptive upholstery neuroses pay off. I know what I want, and I now know where to find it! Google and the New York Times are beautiful, beautiful things.
I've been looking at this beauty
on one of my favorite blogs, Brooklyn to West, for the last few months now.
A girl after my own heart, Ariele stole this bad boy right out from under someone by offering more after they had already paid (conniving, but I like it).
Alright, African mud cloth. This I can get behind. Originally I was debating between the black and white seen here or indigo and white which is also easily accessible. But after considering everyone's favorite blue sideboard, I realized black and white is obviously the way to go.
Now just to find it. In upholstery weight. At least 10 yards. On the internet, or near New York. Before actually finding the sofa, this search was not going particularly well. Not well at all.
Maybe it's the pressure, or maybe good, beautiful things [African Mud Cloth local retailers] come to those who wait, but yesterday I googled perfection.
Perfection by way of the New York Times.
And what little nugget was left specifically for me in the tag of this photo? Oh, just the address and phone number of a mud cloth importer in Harlem. I hear it's beautiful there this time of year...
