Facebook Marketplace Find!

Facebook marketplace can have some real treasures! I spotted an Eastlake, 6 piece living room set located in Hot Springs, Arkansas in mid May! I knew from research it was approximately 125 years old and in really good condition from what I could tell from the photos!! I didn’t care for the olive green velvet that it was clothed in, but when I initially saw the pieces I had an immediate vision for Andy’s garden style to be a part of the upholstery!

I contacted the owner and grabbed some cash... $200.00 as a large deposit and wrote out a makeshift receipt!! Andy and I headed to Hot Springs from our home which took about an hour! The back roads are always so pretty so I opted for that route instead of the quicker highway 70!

Loved the property that our desired furniture was homed in! Several old growth oak trees encompassed by a white picket fence caught my attention right away! Mary, the kind owner was greeted by Andy and he went up and joyfully shook her hand... no social distancing with Andy!! Mary didn’t seem to mind! Andy had spotted a nice red mountain bike and asked her if it was for sale because he had been praying for one!! She smiled and said that she would have to ask her grand son!

We walked inside the very large ranch home that needed updating but looked as if the current owners were moving out! Everything was for sale! I spotted my chairs and setee and fell in love with the furniture because they were even better in person! Mary also offered two antique tables... one side table and one coffee table with very heavy marble tops! I made an offer of $500.00 for all 8 pieces and she gladly accepted! In the mean time, Andy had spotted a very high end matted and framed portrait of a quite regal looking horse head portrait named Majesty! He offered to buy it and Mary asked for $50 seeing it was her husbands favorite piece! She shuddered at the thought of what he would think of such a low price! Andy countered at $35.00 and she smiled at him and said, sure! Andy was gabbing away as he loves to talk to people and he was telling Mary about his business and I just had to chime in as well! She was interested and showing a real softness for my son! Just then her phone rang and it was her grandson, owner of the mountain bike! She inquired if it was for sale and by the look on her face I could tell that it was! She got off the phone and said that Andy could purchase it if he would like! He was SO EXCITED, and again reiterated that he had been praying for a new bike! She looked at him like a loving grandma and said to him that he could just have it!! Andy was ecstatic and he jumped in joy, literally! Mary rubbed her arms and told me that she got goose bumps when she told him that he could just have it! That made us all happy!!

Seeing we brought out Ford Fusion and did not have access to our Suburban for the afternoon, Andy and I were able to load two of the smaller chairs in the back seat and the two tables in the trunk. I asked Mary to sign the receipt as I gave her a deposit and told her that I’d be back on the weekend to get the rest! She was satisfied and we left as happy treasure hunters!

Now all 8 pieces are settled in our garage and this project is going to get underway!! I purchased from Joanne Fabrics, 1.5 yards of white cotton duck with the thought of using this as a canvas for Andy and my help (because of the size of this project) as upholstery for the seats and back of the pieces! I went thru our Dixie Belle Paint Company paint supply and took out a couple of greens that I thought would be a good “back ground”. I chose Limeade and FleaMarket Green! Andy and I laid out the fabric on a large broken down cardboard box on top of our vintage round breakfast nook table! We took our squirt water bottles and got our brushes wet as well as the fabric so the chalk mineral paint would flow easier and we would use less! It did not take any time at all to complete this part! It now sits in the back patio drying! Andy’s next job was to to a sanding on the smallest chair with his new SurfPrep sander!! Quickly and quietly he completed that smaller project! As the chair waits and the canvas dries, my next job is to choose the paint colors for the rose garden,the subject matter on this canvas that will cover a couple of chairs so far!! First I’ll make myself a coffee and chill a bit and write the first post of this Victorian Furniture Redo blog! I think that my CEO and I got alot finished for one day and I am pleased with our accomplishments!! Stay with us for our lengthy but fun project where we will teach ourselves and each other as we go!!

Excited mom and fellow artist!! Carolyn