My sister is a Thrift Store Queen. Really, she can always find something great. I really just aspire to such thrifty shopping, but I finally hit the jackpot last week. I guess I was just in the mood to do some junk-sorting, so I stopped by a local Salvation Army for the first time. There were several cute chairs and even a very promising little sofa, but I have neither the time, energy or money for that kind of project at the moment. Not to mention, no place to put them.
I've had art on my mind, so I made a point to look out for a small landscape painting, or something of the sort. Then a pretty bamboo frame caught my eye, and I pulled this lovely item out from the bottom of a dusty stack.
Was I not just talking about birds? What luck! $6.99 and a once-over with a wet rag later, this little swan has a new home.
Then I headed into a back room with mattresses, bed frames, and rugs. I have no idea what possessed me to do it, but I started turning up the corners of some of the rolled-up rugs. And wait, was that seagrass?? My heart started beating a little faster. Yes, yes it is seagrass, and it is BIG. Has to be a 10-by-something. I found some help to get it out of the stack, unrolled and priced. $19.99. Sold! It has some suspicious stains, for sure, but I was physically incapable of leaving it, and knew I had my secret seagrass stain-fighting weapon at home.
I brought it home and spread it out in my carport to let it air out. I gave it a good vacuum, which did help. Do I want to bring it into my house and walk barefoot across it? Not yet. I'm doing a test patch with the carpet cleaner, and I'll let you know how it goes. If I can get it cleaned up, I'm going to have it rebound to match the one in the living room. It will go there, and I'll move the one we have from the living room to the dining room. For 20 bucks, it's worth the effort!
12 comments:
Great scores! wow - $19.99
How cool - a huge rug for $20?!
I'm not very good with thrift stores either but this has inspired me to try a little harder!
I rarely find things thrifting. The goose looks perfect. And I am jealous of the rug! We need a new one so bad. Awesome find, and thanks for sharing your secret seagrass stain fighter.
Wow, what amazing finds!! That print looks just perfect there.
For seagrass stains?? And we have had many... red wine, dog pee, throw-up, the doggie's deep d's, mildew... I am telling you, there is a product called Simple Solution. It has not let me down, not for any of the above mentioned disasters. You can get it at a pet store. It is better than other product they carry (I have tried them all)
By the way, I haven't tried the product you are using. Let me know how it works.
Love that picture - the frame looks just lovely. What lucky finds - well done you xx
LOVE that frame. Let me know how the rug turns out.
I am i,pressed. Maybe's it time for me to do some thrifting.
I LOVE both of your finds! Wow, don't you just love to find great stuff without having to spend hardly any money!!! Exciting! I'm going to put 'stop in at the Salvation Army' on my to do list! Trina
awesome!!! your photos are always just so beautiful- like magazine pages!
can't wait to see the rug inside & i love the bamboo frame- so perfect.
xoxo
You'll definitely have to share how the seagrass cleans up. The trick is to not let it be wet for too long - then it will mildew and darken.
Truthfully, seagrass can't be perfectly cleaned like a wool, but you can clean it up some. (I sell the stuff to designers). But I'll be interested in how yours turns out!!
I'm experimenting with spraying a polyurethane on mine to hinder stains from setting in - so I can kind of wipe it clean.
Rachel -- poly on seagrass? Fascinating! I'm going to try this solution on the mildew-looking stains: http://www.sisalrugs.com/cleanseagrassrugs.aspx
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