Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thank You Mr Craigslist, Once Again!



I honestly want to rename Potic Cottage, Craigslist Cottage. First of all, we found the house on Craigslist by chance, and then we filled it with weekend-y stuff: kayaks, furniture, a row boat, etc., all from Craigslist. And now Craigslist comes to the rescue once again.
It began perhaps in my childhood-- the seventies. The iconic ski lodge. The sexy scandinavian design. Flash forward to last year. Meandering through Craigslist I saw this intriguing headline: Jetson's Fireplace, Beacon, $300. The image: a vintage white enamel Malm. Posted a month earlier, I was crestfallen to discover that it had been long sold. The search was on. I enlisted James, whose searching tenacity is something truly to admire. After a few wrong leads,we even toyed with the idea of a new one which would waste precious construction dollars. Then James saw part of one in Virginia. Would they ship it? The trail grew hot. Why won't they call us back? The trail grew cold. 6:00 am this morning, a shout arose from James' office as he pulled up the ad. "Nadine, you have to see this." I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to hope. But there it was, an orange Preway, $125, thirty minutes away. No. It can't be. James said, "They're lucky they didn't leave a number because I'd call them right now." He sent off an email with his number and waited. And waited. 7:35 am. We ponder sending another email, but wait until 10:00. Like expectant parents we feared the worst. It was already sold to equally obsessive fans of Scandinavian design who had a pickup truck and cash on the ready on Saturday nights. It wasn't until 11:01 that I received the email: Will call you soon. Fireplace still available. And she did. And then we became one with our orange Preway fireplace.
But wait, let's remember James found a mid-century dresser in a blonde wood for $50. Where, you ask? Where else? Craigslist.

9 comments:

modernemama said...

It's safely yours? You can breathe again?

Nadine @ BDG said...

It is! I was just outside admiring it when it began to rain. Don't worry, the baby is safely in her nest.

pve design said...

Please name that baby.
She looks mighty fine.
congrats. ( & nice to meet you today!)
pve

Nadine @ BDG said...

Hey, I'm up for suggestions! And I loved meeting you today and looking through your great blog tonight. I'll be in touch soon.

heidi said...

Victory! It's beautiful. May it warm all your tootsies this winter, xoh

Jean Martha said...

Fantastic stove! I'll have to keep an eye out for orange Cathrineholm pots & bowls for you...

Jean Martha said...

Need another one...for the kitchen?

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/hsh/1272276571.html

Nadine @ BDG said...

great now they're crawling out of the woodwork!

A French Cloud said...

isn't it heart pounding when you've got the perfect find and no one responds? Glad she's yours.