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.
February 5, 2014 @ 10:01 am
I bet your marriages could be written,
“for better or broken”-
“for e-bay or craig’s list…..ha ha….
You really keep the love going….
want to see the reveal…..
pve
February 5, 2014 @ 10:03 am
Love this. (although, probably it was better NOT to give him a heads up.)
February 5, 2014 @ 7:38 pm
Never let them see you coming.
February 5, 2014 @ 11:47 am
You, my dear, are wickedly funny!
Keep on truckin’ Mama. ; )
February 5, 2014 @ 12:31 pm
Can’t wait for Part 3!
February 5, 2014 @ 1:33 pm
My best friend and I just realized you are our long lost sister! You’re hilariously funny and a great writer too. About your bed. Ahem. While it IS lovely, it is not the work of Prudent Mallard, as someone suggested. You have there a nice example of Victorian Renaissance Revival furniture which was likely made in your neck of the woods (Philly) somewhere between 1850 and 1900. I’ve been an antique dealer for the better part of two decades (oh, the things I’ve seen!) and love to see people loving and rescuing things from the past. You get an A+ It’s a shame that these treasures won’t fit in most homes today.
February 5, 2014 @ 5:44 pm
It is beautiful and a steal, can’t wait to see what you do with it.
February 5, 2014 @ 11:03 pm
Wow! I love the bed! I love your exciting way of telling us the story! So, what happened?
February 6, 2014 @ 4:21 pm
If it comes apart, can you put a 3″ piece somewhere, stain to match wood to make it fit your mattress? It’s amazing
February 8, 2014 @ 9:16 am
Victoria, I’m not sure I have ever left a comment before but I read your every post. I usually go directly to Craigslist and look in every major surrounding city for a treasure that will blow my/ our minds. After 3-4 very productive research hours of finding nothing I decide your adventures are exciting enough for the both of us so I live vicariously through you. Please oh please keep up the hunt. We are gonna find the best stuff! The last Craigslist excursion I had was actually this week and I did find an antique library ladder which even though my 10 foot high book shelf is only 4 feet wide I have always NEEDED. My husband surprised me with it. Went to Chicago (I am from MI) and brought her back. What adventure is there in that?????? There she stands all perfect not even needing to be dusted. You really are having so much fun. (This has actually happened to me a couple of times, these surprises. )Rick is a great guy who can do anything like Paul but he is thinking ahead about all the time he can save if he just cuts to the chases and gets my latest love, brings it home, and then goes hunting for a corpse which he knows whose head will never grace my walls but he has dreams .
February 8, 2014 @ 9:31 am
I absolutely love the bed! I would have bought it too. But what I wanted to comment on was the way you tell your story! I love how you put things into words! Very enjoyable reading!
February 10, 2014 @ 1:16 am
I was looking back at former topics and went back to kitchens (cause I would like to improve ours) but can’t keep putting money into a seventy’s rancher that now seems to be worth some recycled soup cans and a ham sandwich-ouch! I came across the kitchen with the spectacular cabinetry and the mysteriously happy people and I thought-wait a minute-this seems to be not so expensive as it had seemed. They really took full advantage of the mad brain raccoon inspired original antique cabinetry and new appliances but really the island looks like stock cabinets surfaced with recycled wood (flooring?) and a large granite countertop? Walls painted a light color=wallpaper gone and how much could that really cost? No kidding-5-6 no 7 zeros! GaZooks! I gotta get a different hobby/fixation/obsession.
February 14, 2014 @ 12:14 am
What a great find! I am always searching craigslist and my local goodwill and estate sales for this exact reason! The fun is in the hunt and when it pays off it is so worth all the work you put into it!
E+J
February 15, 2014 @ 4:01 pm
When I was 21 (some time ago) I schlepped an antique bed handmade by my great-great-grandfather from Pittsburgh to Boston on the roof of a van. The bed got wet under its tarp but years later shows no signs of its harrowing journey. One it made twice I might add as literally 6 months later we decided to move back to PA.
February 15, 2014 @ 4:50 pm
Seriously! You must hurry up and post the end of this story!!
February 17, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
Wait! Before you finish the story of this bed MAYBE you would also like to add this one to your collection – I mean it is BIG and FANCY and on CRAIGSLIST!
I bet you could talk Paul into it………
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/fuo/4337516315.html
February 19, 2014 @ 4:52 pm
Honest to Elvis, you deserve a series on Netflix or Bravo or something. You are freakin’ hilarious and I cannot wait to see what becomes of this behemoth you so lovingly wrapped in plastic.
February 19, 2014 @ 6:19 pm
You are my kind of diggy-antiquey-junkey and funny to boot. I too suffer from GFTD. I am afraid mine is incurable…and I am out of viable wall space.
June 13, 2014 @ 1:07 am
Your bed looks like Elizabeth Taylor’s master bedroom bed in the movie “Giant”
January 4, 2015 @ 1:43 am
I couldn’t stop laughing while reading this. I stumbled upon it because an antique bed troll was whispering very loudly in my ear that I had to find a way to make it work to own it.
February 8, 2015 @ 2:03 am
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE that Magical, Perfect BED!!!! I found your site because I found a beautiful Victorian bed on Craigslist today and I googled how to make a Queen size mattress fit an Antique, Full size bed frame and VOILA: There you were…. My soul sister lol I have never read anything in my life I can relate to more!!!! You have such an Epic writing style I can’t wait to read more of your stuff. Truth be told I’ve never subscribed to anything in my life; I get bored easily with people who don’t get it!!! Anyone who has the passion and ability to fall in love with magical pieces of deserving furniture has my vote!!! That Bed of yours is absolute perfection!!!!
March 19, 2016 @ 8:55 am
OMGosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have that same headboard on a bed with self same rounded corners at the foot of the bed, but I’ve got a matching footboard. I also got a matching mirrored marble top dresser. For a grand total of $425. Because people are so stupid that they stop and think before they purchase stuff. They second guess whether things will fit, or how they will get them home. Losers.