Weekend Finds!

Saturday morning, my sweet husband watched the babies so I could check out some estate sales and thrift stores.  I went to several places and saw some great pieces, but I resisted the urge to buy!  My favorite "find" was this set of rattan furniture.  They had a pair of pretzel chairs and the matching sofa.  The chairs were $5 each.  I'm not kidding.

Here is what pretzel chairs look like when they are done right.

Vera Bradley's home in Country Living

Aren't they perfect for a beach house or a sunroom?

And even better than the chairs, check out this pair of rattan chippendale tables.  They came from the same room as the chairs and sofa, I am sure.  They were $3 each but were a little wobbly.   Can you believe I resisted the urge to buy all this?  If I had an empty sunroom or an empty beach house, I would have taken it all (for less than $20!)

I thought this pagoda canister would be pretty in a kitchen.  It was $14 (don't ask me the logic behind pricing those tables at $3 and this canister at $14).

Thrift stores often have pretty sets of silverplate for cheap.  This set was around $25 I believe.  No one should use stainless steel when you can find vintage or antique silverplate for the same price!  I love that it came with such a pretty dustcover too.

The one thing that did come home with me was this brass umbrella stand.  My beloved ceramic faux bamboo stand was broken into a hundred pieces by a wagging doggie tail, so I am thinking brass should be fairly indestructible.  All I need to do it polish it up so it's ready to hold the vintage umbrellas in my entryway!

Moving away from the thrift stores and on to the real stores, I spotted this cabinet and loved it.  The contrast of the rustic limed wood and shiny mirror make it such a lovely piece.

I am still obsessed with the Audubon flamingo and am going to use it one day soon!

Aren't these burlwood nesting tables so chic?

I did find some great pieces at an estate sale, including these bentwood chairs:

I had been looking for inexpensive Thonet-esque bentwood chairs that I could paint a fun color to look like DWR's Era Chairs.  These were in perfect condition, marked "Made in Romania," and they looked like the seats had been recently caned.  The price was right, so I bought them with the intention of painting them a fun color.

Then leave it to good old 1st Dibs to make me start to re-think things...  After doing a little research, I think my chairs actually are real Thonet chairs.  Not that they are super valuable, but still, now I wonder if they might be "too good" to cover with a coat of turquoise lacquer.  What do you think?  Paint away or leave them as/is?

Did you have any fab finds this weekend?