Cool Tool: ByeByeList

How long do you think before Craig shuts this down, like he did ListPic?

Enjoy it while you can, people!

(Spotted via a comment on decor8's post on crgslst, another cool craigslist hack that lets you search for items in multiple cities.)

That's Random: God, I Love Craigslist

Last night while I was reading the Paris Hotel Boutique Journal, I saw this picture of a vintage moderne-style lowboy dresser that Lynn has in her wonderful shop -- and I just about fell out of my chair.

Not just because the $2,100, circa-1930s brushed-metal dresser is beautiful -- though it certainly is -- but because I own it. Or at least, I own a pretty close approximation.

It was one of those finds that you aren't looking for and don't really need, but that you know instantly you must have, and drop everything to grab it.

In my case, I was casually perusing the "for sale" postings on craigslist one day (in an effort, no doubt, to avoid doing something productive -- please note the name of this blog). Five minutes and one rushed phone call later, I was tearing out of the house to pick it up some 25 miles away.

The woman from whom I bought the dresser was moving to some seaside paradise in Mexico, and hastily selling off everything she owned. (Was she escaping the memories of a bad breakup? Running back to a vacation romance that had unexpectedly turned serious? Or simply acting on a nagging desire to live a simpler life? I was dying to know, but restrained myself from prying.)

I could tell she was sorry to let the dresser go, and she told me over and over how much she loved it. But she was making a fresh start and a clean sweep -- so go it must. I was happy to take it off her hands. The grand total: A hundred bucks.

Today, it sits in my home office, where it holds assorted packing and office supplies -- and glams up the joint a bit. Granted, my dresser doesn't have the original mirror that makes the Paris Hotel Boutique piece such a showstopper. And let's just say it's a bit more aged. (I simply adopt a haughty accent and call it "patina," darlings.)

But still, $100? You gotta love that -- and I do.

That's Random: My Chairs on HGTV

Nick and I were catching up on our Tivoed home shows this weekend when I did a double-take.

We were watching a new HGTV show called "Find Your Style," in which a designer helps homeowners figure out their aesthetic and create a room that better reflects it than the mish-mash they're currently living with. (God knows that we could use some help in that department.)

Anyway, something about one of the homeowners on the episode we were viewing -- as well as something about the room they were re-doing -- seemed naggingly familiar.

Then it hit me: A few months ago, I'd sold a pair of Danish modern armchairs via craigslist to the female half of the couple -- the exact chairs that were now sitting in their living room. I'd bought the chairs on eBay and really liked them, but the truth was we really didn't have a place for them in our home. Plus, they had a couple of missing buttons that, for whatever reason, I just couldn't deal with at the time. The chairs were relegated to the garage, where they sat for awhile before we decided to do a purge.

So I let them go -- and now here they were, looking quite handsome in someone else's house. I felt an immediate pang of seller's remorse.

Of course, the chairs were among the first things to be kicked to the curb when designer Karen McAloon helped the homeowners edit the room's contents (just as my kids gleefully predicted they would be). And I had to admit that the finished project did look a lot better than the pre-makeover space did.

But still, those chairs were pretty awesome. I wish I hadn't parted with them.

What became of the teak armchairs? "They're in the garage," the couple laughed.

Hmmm -- do you think they'd let me buy then back?

Cool Tool: Garage Sale Maps

If your weekends aren't complete without hitting an estate sale or two, and you're physically incapable of passing a garage sale without at least slowing down the car, then here's a great new tool for you:

Garage Sale Tips & Maps is a simple but ingenious invention that combines the functionality of Google Maps with craigslist's garage sale listings. Here's how it works:

Simply plug your starting point (your home, in-laws' place, hotel, whatever) into the address box and click the "Get Garage Sales" button. A map of your area immediately pops up, with an "H" for your house and red dots representing local sale locations. Click on the dots for basic info and a link to the garage sale's craigslist ad.

The tool will even plan your route for you. Just double-click the garage sale dots in the order you'd like to visit them and then click "Get Directions" for printable driving directions from each sale to the next and than back home again.

I do know about you, but I know what I'm doing tomorrow ...

Check out the garage sale mashup right here.

House in Progress: Presto Chango

Nick and I have been hunting for a Danish teak credenza forever (on eBay and craigslist, and in what seems like every vintage store for miles around). But we could never find one locally with the exact look or the dimensions we were after or that wasn't way out of our budget.

I did spot some nice ones on eBay, but they always got bid up into the stratosphere -- and they all seemed to be located in Maine, Rhode Island, or some other distant province from which freighting would have cost more than the credenza itself.

Finally, though, the exact credenza we'd been dreaming about showed up on eBay, and it was local! We bid, won (it wasn't the total steal we'd been holding out for, but the price was very fair), and picked up our new credenza today.

(By the way, the seller has a great little shop called I Spy Vintage Decor & More on Market Street in San Francisco; I took a bunch of pictures of her other wares that I'll post here soon.)

I thought it might be fun to share "before" and "after" pix with you all, so here's the credenza in its new home. I think it's just right for this spot in our living room. What do you think?

(In case you're wondering what the heck else is going on with the room, the color scheme is sort of in transition. I got sick of the red and have been migrating in some lime green, but it hasn't all quite come together yet. The rather generic red-coral art is all wrong, for instance, as is the traditional red-and-camel area rug -- but I haven't yet figured out what to do instead. In fact, our entire aesthetic is sort of in transition right now, so the room probably looks a little schizophrenic. It's very much a work in progress, so if anyone out there has any suggestions, I'm all ears ... )

craigslist Finds of the Day: Double Delight

Just spotted two great listings on craigslist today:

This earthy-but-sophisticated Zebrawood Legna Table Lamp from jefdesigns retails for $300 or more. Grab it quick from this craigslist seller near Oakland's Lake Merritt for $100 or best offer.


And this vintage Danish Modern teak planter would look stunning filled with minimalist, vertical plants like horsetail rush or New Zealand flax. The seller is asking $195 or best offer.

Seriously, folks -- snap these up before I do.

Cool Tool: ListPic

How many precious hours have you spent mining craigslist in the hope of scoring someone else's amazing castoff at a fraction of regular retail? If you're like me, it's more hours than you care to admit -- many of them spent in frustration, as clicking on promising post after promising post turns up photos of stuff you wouldn't stop the car for during a garage sale drive-by.

To the rescue: ListPic. ListPic is a visual interface tool that pulls all the photos from a given cragislist search onto one convenient page. Simply click on the category you want to search, enter your search terms into the box, and peruse the pictures on your results page. Click on the pix that pique your interest to see a larger photo, read the item description, link to the original craigslist ad, email a link to yourself, or contact the seller.

For a visual illustration of the concept, compare the ListPic search results for "Eames" furniture for sale, above, with the same search results on craigslist, right. There's no contest, is there?

All I have to say is, Genius!

Update: Sadly, craigslist has blocked ListPic's access to its photos, and thus all but shut ListPic down. So ciao, ListPic -- it was fun while it lasted!