Craigslist bed saga, part two.
This is part two of the bed story. Part one is here. It contains important plot elements like sawing the mattress and other modifications for making a full-size antique bed fit a queen-size mattress.
Normally I do not like roadtrips. (Or any sort of unnecessary-leaving-of-the-house.) But it was a Sunday shortly before Christmas and it was actually really nice to randomly cut life. Plus, for $300 and some driving, this was CLEARLY our bed.
I felt so strongly about it, that I was able to suspend my anxiety about traveling MANY hours to buy something off of Craigslist that I had not seen in person.
My experience with Craigslist is that about 50% of the time, you are going to be surprised. Not necessarily in a bad way. After all, I once responded to a Craigslist ad that contained no photo, no description, no anything… and ended up finding a kingdom, under a tarp, in an alley.
That was surprising.
But it is equally possible that your surprise will not be pleasant… Like the time I went to look at an antique bookcase and when the guy let me in, I was struck by the fact that he had not one, but NINE mounted deer heads in his living room.
I am not sure exactly where the line for how many dismembered-decapitated-corpse-pieces is normal to hang on your wall… But I am pretty sure nine crosses it. (Since I definitely wanted the bookcase, I acted like I thought it was totally fine.)
Essentially with Craigslist, YOU CAN NEVER TELL.
Anything is possible. Maybe the item is not as advertised. Maybe the person selling it does not even know they misrepresented it.
So with this bed, I had to be sure that he would take significantly less– $300. Not because I thought $600 was a bad price… but because I could not risk driving all that way to discover something horribly disappointing.
Even though I asked all the questions and had plenty of pictures to look at…this is Craigslist we are dealing with. People are unpredictable. Even when they don’t intend to be.
$300 was the price at which no matter what happened, I would be happy. If nothing else, I could cut the fancy part off of the bed and wear it as a necklace.
So how did I do? I would say about half and half.
When we got there, it was apparent that there were some things that had NOT been disclosed… However, YOU CAN SEE THE HEADBOARD. And it was even better than I hoped.
I did ask specifically if there was anything I would be surprised by; and whether the guy deliberately omitted these details or just didn’t notice, I really don’t know. There was a full break in one of the curved pieces of the footboard, a crack in the lower third of the headboard (not visible once the mattress is in), and some places where the veneer is alligatoring– which I expected to some extent.
There was nothing remotely shady about the guy selling it and I am inclined to believe his oversights were genuine. But any faith I had in my own ability to judge human nature was annihilated back when I wired money to a scammer, and then gave him extra for being such a good person… So I really can’t say for sure.
When I noticed the break in the base of the footboard, the guy said that if he had seen it, he would have repaired it. Which I believe because he started explaining to Paul how all he needed was some wood glue and clamps. He even offered to GIVE Paul clamps. (Which as previously discussed, is not necessary since our garage is essentially a clamp-silo.)
Anyway, I did not even care about any of these things. To me they were nonexistent in comparison to what we were getting. My only anxiety was that Paul would be irritated.
I whispered – Are you mad?
Paul said – it’s fine. You only buy broken things. This is exactly what I was expecting… The real question is – are you okay with this?
I said – are you kidding? I love it. I want to hug it right now.
*Sidebar: what is this place? It’s the guys garage/workshop/storage area. He had some other antique stuff. And a lot of junk. I did ask him if he was selling anything else and he said no, so I am not sure exactly what he does with all that stuff.
Now we get to the part involving rain.
We had known the headboard would not fit in the van and would need to be tied to the roof… A mode of transport that always makes me nervous because I am never tying something up there that is not a visual representation of my soul.
Usually it’s a short trip, and I can chant the magic spell – I hope it’s fine, I hope it’s fine, I hope it’s fine… But I had not factored in an entirely different weather pattern. And by the time we got there, it was raining.
Since there was no coming back tomorrow, we went and bought a large plastic tarp and a roll of tape. Did this seem sufficient? No it did not. Did I have a better idea? No I did not.
You probably know that feeling where you can SEE that this is not the best way to do something but are at a total loss for any other option, thus, you must embrace it.
I actually like getting to that point – if life could offer me only one option for everything, I would save so much time.
Now is the part of any project where I ask Paul two questions repeatedly:
1 –are you excited?
2–are you sure this is a good idea?
He has to say yes to both, otherwise there will be FAR MORE questions and no one wants that.
Lisa Garber
February 4, 2014 @ 9:29 am
EVERY post – every.single.one. – convinces me yet again that you are crazy-in-a-good-way. I love you! And Paul! lol
natalie
February 5, 2014 @ 5:10 pm
You have the BEST.STUFF.EVER!
Jenn
February 4, 2014 @ 9:35 am
Great job!! Love the tarps…. thank goodness you didn’t buy those blue ones!
My husband has a thing for car parts… so I can totally relate to your Craigslist angst. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve driven to get car parts… including the trip from Louisiana to Albuquerque, NM, and then back again with a ’69 Firebird BODY (just the car’s body!) strapped to the bed of a pickup truck (we did manage to see Carlsbad Caverns and eventually convinced our 4 month old son to get back into his car seat!), and the one from IL to DE to get an engine (which allowed us to visit family for Thanksgiving, but still…)
Enjoy your headboard!! Can’t wait to see how you make it all turn out fabulous!
Garden, Home and Party
February 4, 2014 @ 9:40 am
The suspense is killing me…when will part 3 be at a blog site near me. I want to know that this bed was made to work with a queen sized mattress and see it looking stately in your room. I love the looks of the bed. Did the guy selling it share the provenience with you, can you go back and buy one of those rugs for me?
xo,
Karen
Jessica@CapeofDreams
February 4, 2014 @ 9:42 am
Your saga is currently going much better than the one that I am enduring with my counters, but I have hope that both will turn out well. Can’t wait to see that gorgeous bed set up in all its glory.
Sunnie Mitchell
February 4, 2014 @ 9:43 am
Always good to have a magic spell, always. (And always good to have a spare extra-large tarp. Just in case.) What a glorious headboard – worth $300 just for the headboard!
Anne @ Planting Sequoias
February 4, 2014 @ 9:57 am
I wish I had a barn/workshop/junk room filled with incredible antiques. Like those rugs, for instance! WHY are they just carpeting his barn and not gracing my dining room?
Sarah
February 4, 2014 @ 10:08 am
Can’t wait to see it in all its glory!! What a find!
Laurie
February 4, 2014 @ 10:13 am
I do love Paul a little because he lets your freak flag fly and that truly is love.
The rugs on the guy’s floor are killing me. I’m sure they have become hopless in his shop but it still kills me because they used to be beautiful and you can’t generally convince me that things can’t be saved. And yes, I’m the person who is still nursing the Christmas poinsettias.
Mel (MSkiKnits)
February 4, 2014 @ 10:16 am
I always squeal with delight each time an update comes to my mailbox! You make me want to sell my beach home, move to the mainland and buy an old Victorian home to have 1/4 the fun you are! And your husband…I want to give give him a hi-5 and tell him ladies (and gents to I suppose) are cheering for him!
I never tire of your posts! (and my favourite is the one where you share about you & your best friend’s adventures together…the shower curtain you two decorated! Thinking of it always makes me smile and wish that everyone everywhere could have a friendship like that shower curtain embodies)
Much aloha and Mahalo Nui!
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
February 5, 2014 @ 8:50 am
xoxo
Alex @ northstory
February 4, 2014 @ 10:20 am
Ok I need and I repeat NEED to see photos of this in your car on the way home.
And the rest of his storage room would have turned me into a episode of Canadian Pickers without him even realizing it.
karen
February 4, 2014 @ 3:14 pm
Yes I agree we need a part III to the bed saga and it should definitely include pics of you car with the bed strapped on top and you inside chanting….
ronda
February 4, 2014 @ 10:25 am
Victoria this is genius. Once I found a piece I couldn’t live without 4 hours from home when my husband was on a business trip. It was a huge gun cabinet covered in antlers, which I would convert to a china cabinet. We rented a u-haul to take it home, then realized we had nothing to hitch it to…and had to take our car to have a hitch welded onto it only to be removed when we got home. My husband is still not quite over it. But it’s the best china cabinet ever.
Catherine
February 4, 2014 @ 10:33 am
I think the thing my husband got out of this was…that Paul has a clamp-silo. “See? I’m not the only one!” oh. Yes. My husband does have a clamp-silo, too. His grandfather’s clamps, his father’s clamps, his own clamps….some yard sale clamps, some new clamps. Clamps clamps clamps. Yep. That’s what he got from this post! And then…”Yep, you do that stuff to me, too.” sigh.
Michelle @ Bianchi's Barn
February 4, 2014 @ 10:35 am
I was going to suggest you get a truck or at least a trailer to transport your future acquisitions, but then I realized strapping way-too-big stuff to the roof of your car adds immensely to the crazy-fun.
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
February 5, 2014 @ 8:51 am
What I really need is a forklift or possibly a crane. That way I will not be limited in what I can acquire.
Diana C.
February 4, 2014 @ 10:36 am
You mean you didn’t have Paul distract (or hog tie) the guy briefly so you could take a minute or two and explore? Those rugs alone beckon and hold the promise of more just beyond that… uh… black “drape”.
I see old stained mattresses and shall tell a tale my sister in-law and BFF, Lisa, lived through one Saturday morning exploring some out buildings of a dumpy used “antique” furniture (and everything else) store, located in an unfashionable zip code part of town, called “Emmett’s”. The name says it all and following the store’s pot-bellied, wifebeater-wearing namesake through a maze of stained mattresses, we were supposed to be impressed that one particularly grody one belonged to an attorney. Thank goodness he didn’t give us the name; and I’m sure he knew it, for he all but had each mattress named with their histories to match!
Now, Emmett took a bit of a shine to my beautiful, tall, blonde sis in-law and gave her his special undivided attention. Knowing her aversion to all things “icky”, I purposely lagged behind in these dark hallows of smell, dust, and evidence of debauchery, to snicker hysterically under my breath as Lisa smiled politely at her would-be suiter, only to turn around intermittently and hiss, “GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!”
The antiques were reproductions; and after being told to look at appliances upstairs, which was unlighted, and to stomp on the (rickety and the only true antique) floorboards if we “saw something we liked”, we gracefully and swiftly made our exit. Actually, Lisa ran, gagging, to the car with the speed of a gazelle. I made my way there doubled-over laughing.
Leaving empty-handed, it took the rest of the day to get the smell out of our noses, but the images, and story, is forever burned into our brain (read nightmares). To this day, neither of us can look at a used mattress without reliving the horror. The End.
pj
February 4, 2014 @ 6:28 pm
Great story! Last year after ‘sourcing’ (professional term, translated as ‘hunting for old stuff’) 2 antique cast iron mantels through a Craigslist ad, I convinced my husband we should rescue them from a very scary part of a big city 2.5 hrs. away. We didn’t realize until AFTER we’d accompanied 2 men we knew nothing about– to the basement of an otherwise abandoned warehouse, via a very old cage style freight elevator– that we hadn’t told anyone else where we were going. Since the men knew we had brought at least $1000 in cash, we could’ve been walking into a trap where we’d be robbed, beaten, & left for dead while the guys drove off in our truck. But all turned out well & the mantels have been sandblasted & powdercoated, awaiting installation in their new home with 6 identical siblings (mantels). The End
Andie
February 4, 2014 @ 6:37 pm
This is why I always add stream of consciousness commentary about my husband being a police officer… and guns… and letting other people know where I will be…when I am having a phone conversation with a Craigslist seller.
My husband really IS a police officer but you could lie. How would they know?
🙂
Andie
pj
February 5, 2014 @ 6:23 pm
Several years ago I had a bad experience with a scam artist who listed various expensive cosmetics on eBay. I only received half my order but she refused to send the rest. When I asked for a refund, she threatened to send one of her goons to hurt me. I reported the transaction to eBay, but should’ve reported her to the USPS & the police. Anyway, I wasn’t anyone would actually follow up. Instead I told her I was a private detective, which was true–I had worked for a security company a couple of years earlier & still had a license from the State. I didn’t hear anymore from her, but I got enough people to file complaints & got her suspended from eBay. She may have just created a new username, but I still felt somewhat vindicated! 🙂
Lynne Hoover
February 4, 2014 @ 10:41 am
I CANNOT WAIT to see this bed in its final resting place. Pun. Who but you would get a fantastic Victorian bed for $300? W.O.W.
judy
February 4, 2014 @ 10:47 am
I swear we have picked up huge mattresses-TVs etc. and even though we embark with a smiling sun and bluebird’s on our shoulders we wind up (buying tarps) and driving through the second flood. Ha! also different from your experience is my husbands refrain. “I can’t understand why you ALWAYS do this!” “Learn to check the weather beforehand.” I do not respond-mainly because I am busy biting my tongue and ignoring the resultant blood flow. AnyHoo. I am thrilled that you have secured further Bona Fides that you are the Queen of Craig’s list…..but wow! you don’t take the easier path to anything, do you? The beauty of the results though are well worth the effort-Right?
Mellissa Rose
February 4, 2014 @ 10:53 am
You are a perfect person. I love you in a totally non-creepy way.
My Crappy Housev
February 4, 2014 @ 10:56 am
You’re getting good at the cliffhanger. I didn’t see this one coming…
maria
February 4, 2014 @ 11:10 am
you ramble, you digress, you are a judy blume character grown up. you are a delightful, creative genious who inspires me to paint things sparkly and drag furniture in through a window. thank you, Muse…
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
February 5, 2014 @ 8:53 am
xoxo.
Kiki
February 4, 2014 @ 11:12 am
O…M…..G……. 🙂