Second hand

I don't know about the rest of you but for us thrift stores are where it's at. Oh yes, I did just say that....I am in fact that dorky.

Regular readers will be familiar with how often St. Vincent de Paul's get's mentioned on my blog. Margot and I can spend a good 2 hours at our favorite Goodwill on a free Saturday and no beach trip is complete in our family without an afternoon wandering through the thrift stores. But what's even better than $50 cent books and second hand baby clothes is quality yet affordable used furniture. We see it at St. Vinnie's and Goodwill occasionally and sometimes other places, there's always craigslist and garage sales but lately I have been going more and more to a couple larger used furniture liquidators in town.

These spots focus mainly on used furniture that they pick up from estates and direct sales. It's always a diverse mix of stuff with a lot of garbage thrown in for good measure. But among the overcrowded warehouses and small shops stacked with 1980's oak coffee tables there are bound to be some gems.

Take this chest of drawers. While I wouldn't necessarily pay $250 it is pretty awesome. And the best part in these places is that they always negotiate. So maybe if they were to go to $175...

These tables aren't my style but imagine how cute they'd be in a kids room or run room painted a bright color?

And these old classroom chairs...totally awesome and there were about 12 of them. They would be so great around a really great big dining room table.

And this vintage kids classroom chair, a little rusty but for the $10 dollar price tag totally worth a good dose of CLR and some love.

These 70's office chairs would be great with a large glossy parsons desk in a den or library.

But perhaps my favorite find was this miniature roll top desk which was the perfect size for a grade school kid. Wouldn't be stellar painted some fun bright color tucked into a kids bedroom. Man I would have adored a desk like that when I was seven years old.

Plus there's something really satisfying about rescuing some old disregarded piece of wood in lieu of buying something new. It's better for the environment and your wallet.

Locals, any great used furniture places to share? Anyone been to River Road second hand furniture? I think that's my next stop I keep passing it (our favorite St. Vincent's is out that way) and wondering about it.