My Finds : Tales of Craigslist and Beyond

Guys, It has been a while since I showed you any of my SCORES!  If you follow me on Instagram you have seen some, but I thought I would pull them all together here. These have all been acquired while living in our "new" house (how long can you call it a new house anyway?).

Not everything has an official spot yet, but the hoarder in me had to grab now and place later.  Is that how you do it?  Or do you shop for a specific piece knowing exactly where you will put it??

This first score happened right after moving.  Four barstools.  And guess what?  We don't even have a bar in our kitchen. LOL  BUT WE WILL!! So I hoard until that day comes.

This deal doesn't come along too often, so I had to.

4 vintage Milo Baughman BRASS cantilevered bar stools. BRASS!! They are in very great condition, I might add.  (minus the horrible fabric, but that is an easy diy)  These things can be priced quite ridiculously.

For example, here they are on Charish for $1100 for just TWO!

Here they are at CB2.  These are not vintage but the Mack Stool is the exact same style for $299 each! 

Wait, wait, wait....How about paying almost $5k for four on 1st Dibs??  That is just ridiculous!

(1st Dibs is always ridiculous expensive - it is for people who want cool-ass vintage pieces and have no monetary restrictions - or Craiglisting skills for that matter.  Who knows maybe they have never even heard of Craigslist?)

Whenever I find a deal, I go to 1st Dibs to make myself REALLY feel good.

Are you ready to hear how much I paid for mine???
Drumroll please..............

$10 EACH!!! LOLOLOLOLOL  oh the LUCK!

Sorry 1st Dibs, I am going to stick to my search and find methods.

Take a guess how much I paid for a brass chest from Sarreid of Spain.....

This one is $1600 on Charish...

Mine needs some serious polishing but potentially will look like the shinny one above and I scored it for only $200 !!!!!

How about $3200 for a BIG set of embossed brass deer??

Or $50 on Facebook Marketplace - Have you used this resource? There is usually a lot of crap to wade through.....but ....BRASS DEER!! 

Yeah, these babies are perfect flanking a burning fire! 

Annnnd...Since we are talking brass animals, let me tell you a sob story. 

I found a set of HUGE brass giraffes on Craigslist.  Like 4 and 3 foot HUGE.  I was dying.  I had to have them.  The guy was asking a bargain price of $200, which is great, but being the bargainer that I am, he agreed to $180.  He lived 40-50 minutes north of Atlanta, but said he was passing through Atlanta on his way to Florida the next day.  What a deal and almost no hassle!  

Well, the next day, you know what happened?  I was raking my yard and missed his call.  I missed him by 10 minutes and he would not pick up his phone. He left me a voicemail saying "I guess the giraffes are going to FL"  I was frantic.  NOOOOOOOOOOO!!  WAIT!  STOP! 

I MAY have sent him five a couple text messages that portrayed me as a crazy-brass-obsessed girl. 

Also, this is one of those times that you DON'T want to look at 1st Dibs...cry cry cry

$4,000.  FOUR THOUSAND!!!!!!   UGH.

This was hard to get over.  BUT! Just like in a relationship, the best way to forget about someone is to find someone else. Ha!

Enter The. Brass. Herons

I mean who would pay $1,200 for these huge brass Herons....??

...when you could find them on Asheville Craigslist for $40 (bargained down to $30)??

And mine are better.  Look at the big bases!  They need a little shining, but aren't these 1970's Herons going to be AWESOME in front of my 1960's house, positioned just so in our new landscaping??  Can you see it??  CAN YOU??  What. A. Score!!  Possibly one of my best! 

One recent sale (found on estatesales.net) had a cool mcm house JAMMED full of ART from a renowned Atlanta painter. I was able to pick up a few portraits that spoke to me.  Im not sure WHY they spoke to me, but they did.  And now here they are, sitting.  Waiting patiently to be hung.

Sooooooo back in August, my brother texted me from a thrift store in Wooster Ohio.

Him:  "Is this mid century modern?

Me:   OMG! That is gorgeous!  Are the handles brass?

Him:  Yes. 

Me:  How much is it?

Him:  $249 for two night stands, tallboy, credenza with large mirror.  

Me:  WHAT?  I MUST have that.  Im going to buy it right now.

Him:  You're nuts."

And that is what I did.  I called up Friendtique in Wooster Ohio and bought it over the phone.  I had to wait 6 months to get it delivered, but it worked out fine. 

(on a side note:  I'm probably not going to use Paul's Shuttle anymore for furniture.  The service to and from the airport has always been fast, friendly and efficient, but it's somethin' different hauling long distances. Plus he told me he doesn't want my business anymore.)

I split up the set.  Credenza in the living room and tallboy/nightstands in the bedroom.  

I LOVE them so much.  I shined them up with Wax-N-Feed and they are beautiful!! 

Also, in the picture above is a rug I got off Craigslist. It is nice, but Im not in love with it.  I wanted a more tribal design..and maybe a little more black than red.  hmm

The HUGE vintage oil painting was scored in Asheville last year but we had to leave it there with my brother for a while.  Ernesto actually really liked it, too mostly because it is the Hotel Del Coronado, an old famous hotel in San Diego.

Remember my Craigslisted bed that I had re-built/recovered/tufted last year?  

Well, I wasn't into it anymore.  It was a monstrous STURDY bed, but from day one I was not happy with the tufting.  Also, the footboard drove me nuts-it didn't go with the headboard.  Turns out, I wished that I had not altered the original shell shape of this beauty.  (#designregrets) Oh well. It just didn't fit in my new house "plan"  anyway (right, like there is one, but..)  

I wanted something more...simple and streamlined.

When a perfect replacement turned up on Craigslist, I put the "old" one up for sale the next day. 

Luckily the blue bed was an easy sell on NextDoor, and this beauty (that looks identical to the $1000 Acorn bed at West Elm, by the way) was picked up by my sweet husband for just $100!!!! 

I am looooooooving the wood grain.

And it looks super nice next to our dark teal wall.

Are you still there?  Want to see another score?

I found a pair of these parsons ottomans at the same thrift store as the above bedroom set. (in Ohio)

Unfortunately they did not make it on Paul's Shuttle to Atlanta and are still sitting in my parents basement. 

I loved the square-ness of these but I do NOT love the fabric.  (It's not the flame stitch so much as the green and pink together) 

 I envision these beauties in this fabric.

Right? Right??

ANNNNNND.....Just for shits and giggles, let's take a look at a pair of these on 1st Dibs.

 Oh that is so satisfying, isn't it?  (ridiculous as that price is ha)

I'll try and do more of these posts since I am ALWAYS finding deals.
Which do you think is my best score???  Do you even like ANYTHING that I posted?? LOL
Oh well, to each his own.  I love what I love and hopefully once all these things are arranged in my house, you will see too that they are AWESOME!!! 

Recent Craigslist Finds!

Well, we are still in Ohio and it just feels like Summer!  There has been a lot of time in the water, bike riding, playing with cousins, cookouts, and relaxing on the porch.  I have a lot to share with you on the bloggy blog from the past week and a half.  Im especially excited to share Marcelo's one year birthday party we threw last Saturday.  It was an airplane theme and turned out so cute (if I do say so myself)!

It figures that while I have been in Ohio, there were several things posted to ATLANTA Craigslist.  Ugh!  Luckily, I was able to call the people and both said they would hold the item until I am back in town to pick up!

I have been looking for a unique headboard that I can have upolstered in a rich velvet...and here she is!

 I negotiated a better price, but even at $300, I think this is a good deal for headboard AND footboard AND rails!  Yeah - no bedskirt!  I am pretty psyched about how awesome this is going to look in a navy velvet or maybe even emerald green!  And remember the  chandelier I scored in Tampa earlier this year?  oh yes!  It's going to be nice under that beauty!

Ok. Moving on. Another thing I have been looking for is something small-ish that can go into our office/guest room and sleep two people.  I have found things that I like, but most needed to be reupholstered.  Remember the campaign furniture that I bought?  The desk and two tall shelves line one wall, so I need something that sits in the corner one the opposite wall, near the window.  Something that looks cool and offers seating when guests aren't in town.

FOUND IT!!

 It is a twin size and the bottom pulls out for another twin bed.  LOVE IT!  It doesn't need any work, and I can't wait to throw my alpaca fur right over the seat!  Add some feather pillows and you have a comfy place to sit/lounge/work/sleep.

Hopefully neither of these deals fall through before I can get home and pick them up! I feel really inspired to get things done!  If I could just stay home long enough to do it!  We will be home for the whole month of July (minus these first few days) and first item on my to-do list is to paint my bedroom.  I already purchased the paint!  Farrow and Ball's Hague Blue (recommendation from my favorite girl Emily Henderson)

Finally the upstairs will be getting the attention it deserves!  The only room finished on the second floor is Mateo/Marcelo's room.

One last thing folks.  Last night I was showing my mom something I saw on CL and these brass chairs came up under my brass furniture search.


I am wanting these so bad!  Are they not awesome?!  I posted on FB and plead with my friends that SOMEONE in ATLANTA please go get these.  Such a deal at $180 for all four.  These are unique, brass and look comfy as hell!  If only I had the space.  I would hoard these so fast.  I love them more than my current dining chairs, which means I love them A LOT!  Besides wanting them for my house, these are money makers!  I would not make the same mistake as with my other Milo chairs.  Ugh!  It hurts to think about it.
Anyhoo.  What do you guys think about my new headboard and daybed??
Any recent craigslist scores or thrifting finds you are happy about?  Please share, I would love to hear about them.

From Ohio to San Diego!

{my partners in crime after a full day of sale-ing}

Ernesto and I split up at the airport last week.  He flew with Mateo to San Diego and left him at abuela y tatas for a few days while he went to Vegas for a golf tournament.  I flew to Canton with Marcelo for the girls annual yard sales extravaganza.  Fun was had by all! 

I am sure you are dying to know what I scored at the yard sales.  I won't bore you with the slew of cute clothing I got for the boys, the little gray converse shoes for Marcelo and the mango wood tray for me...but the 5x8 (ish) Bolivian Alpaca is worth bragging about! 

There was a sticker on it saying "make offer."
me: what kind of offer are you expecting?
them: oh I don't know, how much were you thinking?
me: not very much
them:  oh just say something
(although I was thinking I would say $10 for a lowball offer which they would counter, but I spit out...)
me:  $5?
them: sounds good
SCOOOOOOOORE!

Five years ago, I gave my friend $300 to buy me one for my [queen size] bed while she was in Peru (where she is from) and she could not do it.  They were much more expensive!  Again I say...SCORE!  It is soft and luxurious and although has a couple small tears at seams [that I can stitch easily] it is clean and pretty perfect.

That was my best find of the day, but I have to say I am really excited for the plants I bought too.  

(I am my mothers daughter)

Yes, I bought plants in Ohio so I could check them on the plane to California and take care of them for several weeks before returning to Georgia to plant them in my garden.  That is, if they are still alive I will plant them.  

Since I was already checking plants, I dug up some favorites from my mom's garden too.  So I will be coming home with several succulents, lady's mantle, dwarf iris, sedum, and lupine.  Add those to the    jade plants and succulents I always get when I am in San Diego and I will have quite the shipment.   

Beside the yard sales I hit a few thrift stores.  Goodwill in Ohio have some deal with Target and they sell brand new stuff from the store.  I bought 2 huge Nate Berkus bath towels (regularly $25) for $5, a couple summer dresses, a small couch bag for $6 and these two beauties.

Is is just me or is the thrifting pretty good in Ohio? 

You may have seen on my Instagram that I was having a hard time getting on a flight from Atlanta to San Diego, but I am happy to report that Marcelo and I arrived Sunday morning!

Oh the magic of flying!  Thank you Delta!   I am so happy to be reunited with the rest of my little family.  

Although life was a lot easier with one little boy for 5 days,  it was tooooo long to be separated from the other little boy!  Abuela said that Mateo was very very well behaved the whole time.  He didn't whine at mimi (bed) time or get out of bed once the lights were out,  he sat still to eat all of his food, and he didn't want the ipad much.  Abuela es bueno! I am glad he got to spend quality time with her [and tata!] plus he played a lot with his primos too!

We will probably be out here for 2-3 weeks.  No plans yet (shocker!), but the weather is PERFECT right now!  Im sure we will do all of our regular fun San Diego things like go to the beach, climb the mountain,  hang out in La Jolla,  and stuff ourselves with the best Mexican food!  (right here at casa Espinoza) We are also thinking its about time Mateo experiences Sea World.  Updates to come!!

Yard Sales, Bike Rides and Other Goings On

Yes, I have to jam yard sale finds, bike rides and other updates all together in one post. I can't seem to squeeze in any blog time these days and it is very frustrating.  Unfortunately, a lot of my nights that could be spent blogging, are spent like this.


Passed out without a care in the world while the clutter just closes in.
(thanks for the glamorous pic dad!)

Im glad you are still tuned in though because there is so much more going on here.
In good time my dear readers, you will be updated. Let's get started on the subject at hand shall we?

I scored this past weekend at a neighborhood yard sale.  Saturday morning I stole $30 cash from Ernesto's wallet and headed over to a yard sale at 830am just 5 minutes from my house.  I wasn't  expecting much, but "the early bird gets the worm" is no joke.

I had actually been searching for a small table to eat dinner on outside.  And what do ya know?

I snatched that up and more.  What are the chances?  I was actually a little scared to pull into our driveway and see Ernesto's reaction to all my new junk finds.  I filled up his little truck. Yes I did.

The table is a great fit on our small deck. (and Ernesto like it!) As a bonus it was made by EMU- an Italian company backed by Louis Vuitton.  Oh la la! $60 for the table and 4 chairs! The guy (a designer) said each chair wholesales for $150!!! Score!  Is it true? I don't know, but it made me feel good.  Bottom line, these are not cheap metal and you can tell when you touch it.

I also got several garden structures, an umbrella with stand, a huge wooden lantern [to hang from our pergola] and a metal moroccan lantern.  But my favorite thing is the bronze head planter. (bottom left) Can't wait for a green plant to be creeping over the edges. So cool!  All of this for $120!?  Yeah! 

Biking the Atlanta Beltline. A couple weeks ago when my parents & aunt were visiting we had a beautiful Sunday biking on the Beltline.  

It was 70 degrees out after a freezing spell hit, so EVERYONE and their brother was out enjoying the weather. We biked from Old 4th Ward to Piedmont Park.  It was a packed.

Normally I love a crowd (invigorating!), but it was our first time biking with both boys in tow and the trail was so crowded we had to weave in and out of the walkers and dogs and kids.  Still the boys seemed to like it.  They were kind of packed in, but were obviously cozy enough to snooze.

They did not get to this peaceful state without incident.  While riding we heard a squeal of pain from little Marcelo that stopped us in our tracks.  He was really hurt.  At first we thought Mateo bit him, but  there were no teeth marks.  There was a red mark on the back of his hand.  A pinch we determined.  Marcelo was reaching over Mateo to get his water bottle and big brother didn't want to share.  After a good tongue lashing from papi, big brother kissed little brother, shared his water, and we got on with the ride.  Can't wait to ride again. I love biking!  (A big thanks to Gayle for loaning us the awesome bikes and trailer!)

I have two gorgeous, rapidly developing boys to tell you about.  The little ones name is Marcelo.  Do you remember him?  I still have three letters to him to post.  He has reached so many milestones and they need to be documented! Ay Querida Marcelo!  Te prometo que hay cartas para ti como escribí a tu hermano. (see here, here and here)

Also Mateo is 2 1/2 TODAY and is crazier than ever.  And when I say crazy, I mean CRAY-CRAY.
He is spitting out new words/phrases daily.  And in two languages no less.  God I love these boys.

Mateo is an expert in Play Doh.

By far his favorite past time is Play Doh.  I bought him his first batch a year ago, then he somehow he found YouTube instructional videos for different Play Doh play sets.  One of the latest video obsessions an ice cream set.  He found it in Target the other day and carried the big box around the store.  His papi bought it.  Noooooooo papi...those are so hard to clean...I had just thrown out the one Santa got him for xmas. 

The funny part is that Ernesto took everything out of the box and as he was reading the instructions to where all the parts go, Mateo was putting it together. ha! He knew exactly where every part went. It was amazing.  YouTube is very educational. 

We are making-over our small laundry room. We bought a front load washer/dryer and stacked them.  Ernesto took out the wire shelving and built wood shelves which really change the look of the room.  I bought baskets.  Lots and lots of baskets.  Baskets will make us be organized. Magic baskets.

  Here is a little peak:

You can see some of the old wire shelving that wasn't replaced yet. We still need to paint everything.  I think just a fresh coat of glossy white will do the trick.

I organized the pantry and the junk drawer.  Little did I know that this would take me the better part of a day, but, it's done and it has actually stayed organized.  No pretty pictures here, but I wanted to share this great space-saving rack that Ernesto installed on the inside of the door.  Look! I have extra space for if we ever want to buy in bulk. 

Our ugly bed broke. That one I bought on Craigslist 2 years ago with plans of overhauling? Yeah, it's still ugly and now our mattress is sitting directly on the floor. Nice.  Good thing I never got to that project.  Ha! Procrastination saved me this time!

A blessing really!  Just buy the bed you want Cindy! But...but I can't.  I have to search Craigslist for a "potential" diamond in the rough.  What is wrong with me?  The bed could be fixed easily with screws, but we are over it.  (I will be re-listing it on Craigslist along with a few other things that need to go)

I bought paint samples for our bedroom. We are going Dark[er]. From Gray to Navy blue.  These are the contenders, but this pic does no justice.  I will share bigger samples painted on my wall...I am leaning toward Hague Blue because Emily Henderson told me it's her favorite.  I have a mood board in the works, which includes my vintage Chandelier (recently scored on CL Tampa).


Im even more obsessed with thrifting lately!  Isn't it a rush to find something special for next to nothing?  I recently found a huge thrift store near Mateo's pre-school so I try to stop in once a week.  I have scored lots of cute clothes & toys for the boys for next to nothing...and a couple for me.

It's all about timing for furniture though. For example this Kent Coffee dresser was at Salvation Army for $150.  Bad pic, but can you see how cool it is?

Gorgeous right?  This "Perspecta" series is selling for A LOT more online.  $150!?  Why didn't I grab it?  Why Oh why?  Well Cindy, it is because you do not have room for more furniture until you get rid of some.  Anyone want to split a warehouse with me?  I am now stuck on the idea that I need a mad men bedroom set.  Maybe not a set, but a couple pieces.

I also stop into a thrift/overstock store that has new goods.  I found this brand new Skuut balance bike for $10 (which retails on Amazon for $90!) Mateo is getting really good on it.

I got a brand new helmet at that same store for $2, but we forgot to put it on. duh. Bad mom!

My first jewelry show of the year is coming up! I have been trying to work on things over time instead of cramming a ton of work in couple weeks (which is what I usually do).  It has been fun.  I made a trip to the mart for supplies and vowed to buy nothing I have bought before.

Obvs I can't stop with the greens, but come on, it is Spring and everything is popping up green.  And yes I have bought emeralds, chrysophrase and sapphires before, but none like these!  I did find some awesome brass chain and disks too.  Did you know that I love brass?  Yeah, it's not just for my home anymore!

A new Zafiro website is in the works.
I have a new website coming. Here is the homepage.

Clean, modern, elegant. Does that come across? Don't bother clicking over to it...yet!  It is just a mock up right now.  I have to add all the photos etc.  Kelli is doing a photo shoot with a guy in Columbus before Easter.  It pays to have a gorgeous model niece with connections!

So there is the round up for now!  If you miss frequent posts on Viva Cindy, know you are not alone. Ugh! Time time, see what's become of me. 

Follow me on instagram for more frequent activity.
Hasta luego amigos!