July 17, 2010

He's a Craigslist GENIUS, I tell you!


Dining Room
Originally uploaded by gennabby.
OK, I have a lot of other things to blog about: what we've been up to all month, etc.--but I cannot hold this in. Matthew just scored the MOST amazing dining room set. Check this out: for the first time in our marriage, we have a table that seats more than 4! This seats six, PLUS it comes with three leaves bringing that count to twelve. He got the table, 6 chairs, 3 leaves, a gorgeous buffet and hutch for $225.00. Now, you may be thinking, "Yay, way to go Matthew." But let me tell you what we figured out about this set. It is a Drexel "Profile" set, circa 1958. If you look at Retro Renovation you can read all about it, but for starters, that site mentions the following:
"The Drexel Profile furniture collection was designed by John Van Koert, and it was in production from 1955 to 1961. Van Koert started out as a jewelry designer for Harry Winston after WWII and later branched into industrial design. He also is well known for designing silver for Towle, particularly the Contour design; his particular attention to the drawer pulls and other hardware on Profile pieces is noted in the catalog."

And now the kicker. Matthew priced the set online. The table and chairs alone are selling (fast) for 4-5K. The buffet and hutch (with gorgeous real silver pulls) easily fetches 1K.

Honestly, I was as happy with the set before we knew any of that. We love the style of it; it's a mid-century modern set in just the color, and with just the types of lines we love. We can seat lots of people together, comfortably, and it will last and last because it is solid. I just cannot believe that it belongs to us now, and we paid 225. The table we have had since leaving St. Louis we paid 200 for, and are selling on craigslist... I am SO EXCITED! Come over for dinner, everyone we have room at our table!

And seriously, Matthew may have found a calling as an economist, but I can't say enough about his incredible sleuthy research and acquisition skills, as well as his gift for selling things to buy new (to us) things that meet our needs SO much better. He is a super duper rockstar genius.

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