the buy and sell

If you ever come across a couple of hours to completely waste, I recommend Kijiji, which is one version of online classifieds. (In Halifax, no one uses Craigslist, but there's over 7000 entries in the furniture section for Kijiji. Actually, we found this current apartment on Kijiji last summer.) Unfortunately, the result of looking at hundreds of old and ugly and overpriced items is that sometimes you see something that is old and ugly-in-a-way-you-like and pretty cheap. Then you really want it... So now I have two new pieces of furniture!

The first one is a fiberglass Eames shell chair, which is a classic made by Herman Miller. (Note to parents: yes, this looks just like a boring plastic chair, but it is designer, so it is cool. Was that a flashback to 1992 and me wanting an Espirit t-shirt? Yep, I think so.) Price: $30, delivered.


Yesterday, I made Steve go on a drive out to East Uniacke (outside of Mount Uniacke, which is outside of Sackville, which is outside of Halifax) to get the second piece. This older couple was selling their place (and extra stuff) at the end of a gravel road on a little lake because it was getting too busy, and moving to cottage country, up by Windsor. (I don't know where Windsor is, or if it is cottage-y up there, but I guess I'll find out eventually. Our impression of their current place wasn't really one of busy-ness...)

It's a room divider / sideboard that they got from Eaton's back in the day (60s? 70s?). It's solid wood (pine?), covered in veneer (walnut?) that's in perfect shape. It's about 5 feet long, a foot deep and table height. The cool thing is that it's finished on both sides; the cupboard at the end has a door on either side! (The doors have magnetic latches.) Price: $60.

It would be perfect for one of those post-war bungalows where the front door goes right into the dining and living room (like Jean's place in Regina). I think you could buy those houses from Eaton's too, in kit form. Oh, and the other cool thing about the sideboard is that it is a perfect match for my mom's hope chest (which I think may have also come from Eaton's). So it's sort of like having a piece of home out here! (Finally, just to reassure you about our decorating tastes, the key will be to match this with some modern pieces when we get to the condo. Somehow I don't think the brand-new condo would be at its best if filled with semi-vintage stuff from the 70s....)