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    Craigslist, Oh how I love you!

    April 5, 2013 by Ashley Mayes 8 Comments

    I love Craigslist. As a family, we have sold two cars, tons of clothing, furniture, decor, etc. We have also bought quite a bit of stuff. Well, I've been on the hunt for a vintage dresser for a few months. I've seen one or two that I like, but the price wasn't even in the ballpark of what I wanted to spend. Well, I got lucky last week. This beautiful dresser was listed for $100. Sold.

    closeup of buffet

    (Can you tell which room I put it in based on the curtains?)

    Luke went and picked it up for me. I might have backed out (if I was there), because the home had some strong smokers. The dresser had a definite stench to it. I'm glad Luke ended up getting it, because I really love how it looks and fits in the space.

    I found a great article on Wood Menders about how to get rid of smoke smell from furniture. Based on their article, I placed paper plates filled with baking soda in each drawer. After 12-24 hours, I threw away the old plates and did it again.
    baking soda in drawer

    After the baking soda, I wiped everything down with Lysol wipes. After the Lysol wipes, I used a lemon wood cleaner. The outside of the dresser doesn't have a smell anymore, but the inside drawers have a tiny bit. Once we get a nice sunny day, I will take the drawers outside and let them sit for 6-8hrs. Overall, I'm super happy with the purchase.

    Here's a picture of the dining room without the dresser:

    formal dining room before buffet

    and with the dresser:

    formal dining room with buffet

    I need to take a furniture marker and clean-up a few spots and then on to styling it.
    buffet up close

    another view with buffet

    Any ideas for styling? I definitely want to do artwork and do it big. I don't want to use any mirrors. You can't really see it, but the whole china cabinet built-in monstrosity is backed in mirrors. Adding more to the space would definitely be over-kill. A punch of color (maybe coral?) would probably be good. What do you think?

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    Comments

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    1. Julia @[email protected]

      April 05, 2013 at 6:04 am

      I love the dresser! What a great find and steal!

      Reply
      • ashleymayes

        April 08, 2013 at 3:16 pm

        Thanks! I was super excited!

        Reply
    2. Charlotte

      April 05, 2013 at 2:53 pm

      OMG - LOVE that dresser!! It has such great details! Are you going to leave it be or do anything to it?
      PS _ I think I've read if you stuff the drawers with newspapers it will absorb some of the smoke smell.

      Reply
      • ashleymayes

        April 08, 2013 at 3:17 pm

        I will definitely try the newspaper idea. Thanks! I'm going to leave it be for right now.

        Reply
    3. Jenn(ifer)

      April 21, 2013 at 6:46 am

      That is such a great find. And I will try that baking soda trip on my old dresses too!
      Greetings from Germany!

      Reply
    4. Reeves

      April 22, 2013 at 10:22 pm

      If you want to cover any worn areas, scratches, etc. try using orange oil. It will hid a lot of it especially on that color wood. It also helps to condition the wood and keep it from drying out. Great find and for a great price!

      Reply
      • ashleymayes

        April 23, 2013 at 8:24 am

        Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try that out.

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. It's One Room Challenge Time - Bigger Than the Three of Us says:
      October 6, 2016 at 11:41 am

      […] the walls, updated the table, reupholstered the chairs, added curtains, bought a buffet off of Craigslist, painted all trim including built-in, added a DIY Ikat Painting, added a rug and spruced up the […]

      Reply

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