The quest for stuff.
Remember the post where I rambled out my anxiety the other day? (Not that it helped -- I woke up today with more than 10 small ulcers in my mouth which are solely from stress. Yes, I've had this checked out -- it just happens when I get very stressed out and there's nothing I can do about it other than to stop stressing out because according to both my doctor and my psychiatrist -- stress is going to kill me) Well a few people suggested thrift stores and freecycle, but aha my friends, I am so far ahead of you. While I have not posted about the apartment until this week - this has been broiling in my head for longer than that and all of these options have already been put into play.
I can honestly tell you that I have been to every thrift store in the area (more than you'd think) looking for furniture. I can also tell you that thrift stores are not really for poor people at all. The sets of tables and chairs are still 200 - 300 dollars -- what person in true poverty has 300 dollars to put down on a heavily used and battered kitchen table? This led me to discussing this with many people and discovering a little known fact of life -- thrift stores are just ripping people off in a bad way. Some good hearted person donated that table for a needy person who can not afford to buy it from the bastards who now have possession of it. And yes, I was told this by a pastor of a church who said it much more politly and without the curse words.
Why was i talking to a pastor about furniture? I contacted local charities as well. These things exist for poor saps who have no furniture and need it and I'm a dirt poor sap who has no furniture and needs it. He did recommend another store to me though -- the habitat for humanity restore store. These people are honestly a good charity that aren't trying to make a buck on you. Everything in this huge warehouse is taken from houses that have been renovated or torn down and replaced. And oh my god -- this store is my heaven. There is a huge warehouse of building supplies like cabinets and tubs and sinks and gorgeous doors and old antique windows and wonderful architectural details and old tiles and hardware and all sorts of fucking awesome things. I'm so going to be going here for all my crafty restoration and project desires. And everything is cheap. It's not cleaned up or in a formal setting - its just recycling things from old buildings and it's all priced as such. I bought a GORGEOUS 2-piece window that I'm going to hang above my bed for 12 dollars. I've bought much smaller and in worse shape windows from antique stores for 4 times that. The windows -- OMG the windows. They have hundreds all just stacked there for 15 dollars a piece. Oh I'm so hitting that up many times in the future. And the old hardware! Beautiful antique hardware in huge bins for like a quarter a piece. I even picked up packs of brand new double A energizer batteries for a dollar a piece -- for a 4 pack! They had tons of things that I wanted to get but even at such low prices I couldn't afford it right now. But don't worry, I'm going back. I'm going to paint some windows and I'm going to get some and replace the panes with stained glass. I'm serious -- if you bought these exact same windows at an antique store or from a buyer -- theyd be 50 dollars or more. And after I replace even a few of the panes with glass -- I've seen those go for 300 easy.
Ok, I'm rambling. After stopping there, I headed out to Madison to see a chair someone was offering for 5 dollars on free-trader. It's just a garden chair for my new balcony -- a plastic aderondak chair, the exact kind that I fucking LOVE. Yes, I picked it up -- for 5 dollars. And the womans daughter just gushed over my car -- she was probably only 9 but apparently wants one with equal passion that I've always wanted one. So I let her play around in it and pretend to drive it and took her for a ride in it -- I swear it made her week. And I told her about how I had wanted one just like she did and look -- now I have one! It was fun. And the woman who sold me the chair noticed the gorgeous windows I had just picked up and asked me about them. This led to an hour long chat about crafts and windows and awesomeness. So it was a wonderful treat in the middle of what has been a bad day.
Oh and I've also got to go check out a entertainment center someone id offering for 15 bucks and a coffee table for 5. I'm piecing together an apartment here on my kind of budget and it's going to be awesome. I swear, its going to be incredible and it'll all be mine! And I did it all myself! (Of course that's against my fathers will which has given me a mouth full of ulcers quite literally).
Oh and let me tell you the plan for more art work. I'm either going to use the two small windows above the bed of in the living room. I'm going to go back to buy a huge window pane door (they had lots of them which are simply gorgeous and only 30 dollars). That will either go above the couch or I'll use it as a headboard -- I'm not sure yet. And then I'm going to create a series of art for the main room. I'm going to do portraits of all my family. I'm thinking of getting either the 1 inch or 2 inch canvas in a smaller size -- maybe 8x8 -- not sure yet. I'll get one for each person (8 in all). Now I'm perfectly capable of doing full on portraits but I have a better idea. I'm going to use photoshop to do a sketch of each person -- some of you have seen these and know that they're gorgeous and I'm really fucking good at it. I'm going to do those -- doing this has advantages -- its easy and quick and because I do it over a real photo -- it looks just like the person i'm depicting. Then I'll print that onto transfer paper (it'll be B&W BTW) and transfer it onto the canvas. Then I'll use paint to touch up or add to it if needed and bam -- instant B&W sketch portraits. 8 of them -- is that not going to be GORGEOUS? That'll go in the living room or dining room area.
I'm also going to do a touch of stained glass for the window. It's going to be AWESOME. I won't have the best furniture, but I'm going to have wall art that will be better than the stuff you see in magazines. Sure, if I couldn't do it myself it would cost upwards of a thousand dollars -- but because I am the shit its going to cost me next to nothing. I feel so awesome! And yes, I'll post pictures -- and yes, if you want me to do something similar to you -- hit me up. I love doing shit like this -- can't you tell?
I can honestly tell you that I have been to every thrift store in the area (more than you'd think) looking for furniture. I can also tell you that thrift stores are not really for poor people at all. The sets of tables and chairs are still 200 - 300 dollars -- what person in true poverty has 300 dollars to put down on a heavily used and battered kitchen table? This led me to discussing this with many people and discovering a little known fact of life -- thrift stores are just ripping people off in a bad way. Some good hearted person donated that table for a needy person who can not afford to buy it from the bastards who now have possession of it. And yes, I was told this by a pastor of a church who said it much more politly and without the curse words.
Why was i talking to a pastor about furniture? I contacted local charities as well. These things exist for poor saps who have no furniture and need it and I'm a dirt poor sap who has no furniture and needs it. He did recommend another store to me though -- the habitat for humanity restore store. These people are honestly a good charity that aren't trying to make a buck on you. Everything in this huge warehouse is taken from houses that have been renovated or torn down and replaced. And oh my god -- this store is my heaven. There is a huge warehouse of building supplies like cabinets and tubs and sinks and gorgeous doors and old antique windows and wonderful architectural details and old tiles and hardware and all sorts of fucking awesome things. I'm so going to be going here for all my crafty restoration and project desires. And everything is cheap. It's not cleaned up or in a formal setting - its just recycling things from old buildings and it's all priced as such. I bought a GORGEOUS 2-piece window that I'm going to hang above my bed for 12 dollars. I've bought much smaller and in worse shape windows from antique stores for 4 times that. The windows -- OMG the windows. They have hundreds all just stacked there for 15 dollars a piece. Oh I'm so hitting that up many times in the future. And the old hardware! Beautiful antique hardware in huge bins for like a quarter a piece. I even picked up packs of brand new double A energizer batteries for a dollar a piece -- for a 4 pack! They had tons of things that I wanted to get but even at such low prices I couldn't afford it right now. But don't worry, I'm going back. I'm going to paint some windows and I'm going to get some and replace the panes with stained glass. I'm serious -- if you bought these exact same windows at an antique store or from a buyer -- theyd be 50 dollars or more. And after I replace even a few of the panes with glass -- I've seen those go for 300 easy.
Ok, I'm rambling. After stopping there, I headed out to Madison to see a chair someone was offering for 5 dollars on free-trader. It's just a garden chair for my new balcony -- a plastic aderondak chair, the exact kind that I fucking LOVE. Yes, I picked it up -- for 5 dollars. And the womans daughter just gushed over my car -- she was probably only 9 but apparently wants one with equal passion that I've always wanted one. So I let her play around in it and pretend to drive it and took her for a ride in it -- I swear it made her week. And I told her about how I had wanted one just like she did and look -- now I have one! It was fun. And the woman who sold me the chair noticed the gorgeous windows I had just picked up and asked me about them. This led to an hour long chat about crafts and windows and awesomeness. So it was a wonderful treat in the middle of what has been a bad day.
Oh and I've also got to go check out a entertainment center someone id offering for 15 bucks and a coffee table for 5. I'm piecing together an apartment here on my kind of budget and it's going to be awesome. I swear, its going to be incredible and it'll all be mine! And I did it all myself! (Of course that's against my fathers will which has given me a mouth full of ulcers quite literally).
Oh and let me tell you the plan for more art work. I'm either going to use the two small windows above the bed of in the living room. I'm going to go back to buy a huge window pane door (they had lots of them which are simply gorgeous and only 30 dollars). That will either go above the couch or I'll use it as a headboard -- I'm not sure yet. And then I'm going to create a series of art for the main room. I'm going to do portraits of all my family. I'm thinking of getting either the 1 inch or 2 inch canvas in a smaller size -- maybe 8x8 -- not sure yet. I'll get one for each person (8 in all). Now I'm perfectly capable of doing full on portraits but I have a better idea. I'm going to use photoshop to do a sketch of each person -- some of you have seen these and know that they're gorgeous and I'm really fucking good at it. I'm going to do those -- doing this has advantages -- its easy and quick and because I do it over a real photo -- it looks just like the person i'm depicting. Then I'll print that onto transfer paper (it'll be B&W BTW) and transfer it onto the canvas. Then I'll use paint to touch up or add to it if needed and bam -- instant B&W sketch portraits. 8 of them -- is that not going to be GORGEOUS? That'll go in the living room or dining room area.
I'm also going to do a touch of stained glass for the window. It's going to be AWESOME. I won't have the best furniture, but I'm going to have wall art that will be better than the stuff you see in magazines. Sure, if I couldn't do it myself it would cost upwards of a thousand dollars -- but because I am the shit its going to cost me next to nothing. I feel so awesome! And yes, I'll post pictures -- and yes, if you want me to do something similar to you -- hit me up. I love doing shit like this -- can't you tell?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 4:59 PM | Linky |
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