On Friday night I was having a chat with a friend who told me that he really loves reading my blog and all of the gorgeous things showcased and then with a big sigh, said that a lot of them are so out of reach for him.
I thought a lot about it over the weekend and wonder if you all feel the same? It’s true, some of the stuff featured here can be expensive, I put it here to inspire and give a few ideas and of course, to dream a bit. It’s not about decking your home with all of these things; it’s about perhaps one or two key pieces or using them to for inspiration. But I’d love to know how you feel about this?
When we started out, we had a lot of Ikea in our home and over time replaced some of the pieces. Guillaume and I would spend our weekends at flea markets, garage sales and eBay searching for that perfect item, sometimes we were lucky, but not always. We’ve found things off the street, refurbished furniture bought second hand, screwed pipes to an old butchers block to make a coffee table, stripped back a Danish style dinner table that was painted black… Setting up home is what we enjoy, it’s our common interest so doing this was fun for us and now almost everything around our home has a story attached.
We love mixing old with new, however the new designer pieces of furniture tend to be super expensive so we usually bring the new in with decorative pieces like lamps. Some of these lamps tend to have a high price tag so we’ve been known to ask our family to pool their money together to buy us one gift for for our birthday instead of lots of small ones.
I thought I’d take just one room in our home as an example and pick out a few bargains that we made along the way.
- This lovely antique desk has a porcelain inkwell and was once used in the NSW Railways. We found this at a garage sale in Kings Cross Sydney for about $250.
- One of my favourite bargains would have to be this painting of men with no face, once again we found this at a garage sale in Darlinghurst for $20! I was doing the happy dance for the entire day after that deal!
- Lastly, we found a set of six second hand Thonet No. 18 Bentwood Chairs on Trade Me (NZ version of Ebay) for $500. We would have paid about three times the amount full price.
Do you love hunting down a good bargain? I’d love to hear any great deals you’ve made along the way and of course, what you like seeing in this blog. You can let me know in the comments or by emailing me at mel@melchesneau.com
Mel x
P.S. It’s council cleanup in parts of central Auckland this week so keep your eyes peeled for some treasures if you’re in the area!
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I love a great bargain find and usually the hunt is as exciting as the find. I look around my home and realize I have very few piece of furniture I bought new. Usually large upholstery like the sofa I usually buy new (well except for the amazing three piece mid-century sectional I once pulled out of someones garbage) but other wise my house is pretty much collected. I love the patina of an old piece and the fact that I know no one else will have the same look. What I love best is getting the piece for a steal. Right now I have a gorgeous mid century teak dining room set I bought at a thrift store for $100.
Hi Mel,
so happy you linked back to this lovely post on fb today. It was so inspiring to read it – must have missed it earlier.
I totally agree with you; it’s the story behind the things that makes them worth sharing our lives.
I’m so inspired now to write about this topic as well, thank you so much for that!
Cheers from the other side of the world,
xo, Stephanie
I have all of these posts from years ago that actually quite relevant still yet people would never know where there. It makes sense to share again don’t you think? You should write about it Stephanie and share what bargains you’ve found. In the day when vintage and bric a brac stores sell things for so much, there’s still bargains to be found. xx
Great post Mel! Yes having a few design items is nice but what really give a house its soul are objects with stories behind. I am a huge bargain shopper, both for my own house and for my clients. I get totally high when I find a great piece for a very low price, and love the challenge of creating a great interior on a budget. An example of bargain would be 4 Gebrüder Kohn bentwood chairs I purchased when I was still a student at a “vide-greniers” for 80 EUR and that I have been hauling around since. Gebrüder Kohn was purchased in 1922 by Thonet and the last chairs produced under the label were done so in 1937, which means that the chair I am sitting on while writing this is close to 100 years old. Another example would be the pair of art deco bedside tables that I featured on your “My space feature” (http://melchesneau.com/2014/06/04/my-space-corinne-kowall-of-emerald-green-interiors/) and that I purchased for a whooping 20 EUR on Ebay. Guess I won’t ever grow tired of Ebay :)
Oh I love hearing about bargains! Those chairs that the beautiful art deco tables were a steal:) They are the items that will be hard to part with and that will pass on through the family… Good for sustainability.x
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Your post is quite timely. Building new, we need new ‘stuff’ but there’s not a lot leftover to spend, if any! I need to get onto Trade Me and browse second hand stores. You’ve inspired me – those Thonet chairs were such a great find! x
Oh good luck Michelle, if I see anything I’ll let you know! M x
Finding things off the street is a must in Sydney. I don’t have enough time to spare for that unfortunately but did find a few lovely old straw baskets recently.
Perfect to go hunting for Easter eggs.
Hi Julia:) Yes time and luck for finding great things. I remember just at the beginning of the retro revival finding loads of things out on the street and then people caught on and as a friend said, discovered ebay! Great for the baskets:) M x
Excellent finds! That painting is fab and only 20$.
In the summer I go to bric-à-bracs every
weekend. :) Love your post! hx
@Hege – lucky you and you’re in “the” place in the world for that! My favourite past-time! M x
@Caroline – thanks:) I’ll email you now x
Tell your friend that’s exactly how I feel when I flick through magazines, which is why our blogs and this feature are so brilliant! I love seeing bargains more than anything else! Hon, can you mail me again with your list of pics-can’t find it (senior moment) trend.daily@yahoo.co.uk
Have a lovely week xx