CRAIGSLIST MONDAY: MAPLE LEAVES & SYCAMORE TREES

Hi guys! I'm Kat from Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees and I'm excited to be here today to share some of my Craigslist finds with you. Man, where do I start? Craigslist has been such a blessing in our lives...seriously. It's one of the first places I check (Goodwill/thrift stores also) if I need something. Really anything. We've gotten so many things for such a good deal off of Craigslist. And today I'm going to show you just a sampling. Over two years ago, my husband Mitch and I (along with our two boys, Ryder and Bryce) decided to renovate our small two-bedroom rancher instead of having to move into a larger house. We started with finishing our basement then moved up into the main living area. So while drawing up a floor plan, which included knocking out the wall connecting our kitchen and garage, we decided to update our kitchen while everything else was going to be a giant mess for a while. Why not, right? So the search for "stuff" began. We hopped on Craigslist and I'm pretty sure our first purchase ever was this kitchen island, cook top, and oven. We were going to buy the seller's old kitchen cabinets but then found a local Mennonite man who custom made our cabinets for an amazing price. Back to the island/appliances--these were brand new and we paid a fraction of what they retailed for. I believe the island and oven came to $900 (which included the soapstone countertop) while the cook top (which was currently selling at our local appliance store for $1,500) was only a mere $300. We had our cabinetmaker build the bookshelf on the end (the part that's topped with butcherblock) and paint the island black (it was originally off white but I wanted something to contrast the other cabinets). I LOVE my kitchen island! It's so nice to be cooking away while either watching the boys fighting playing in the living room, or gazing out those windows into the farm lands across the street.

You can see more of our kitchen here. It's still not completely done, but it's getting there!

One of my favorite (who am I kidding--they're ALL my favorite!) CL finds was a pair of matching golden yellow lamps. I have a lot of neutral colors going on in the living room so this punch of yellow really brightens things up:) Plus I love their chubby ginger jar shape.

I got a pair of them for $10 as well as those nesting tables and a matching coffee table for $50 (I probably overpaid for them, but I really wanted a set of nesting tables for this specific spot.)

Next up: rugs. So far I've gotten four rugs off CL. Here's a pic of one of them. (Excuse the unfinished surroundings--this will be our dining room once it's all said and done.) This rug cost me $35 and I believe is an antique. I have a sisal type rug that will be going in our bedroom, another antique one that will be in our bathroom, and I have another CL one layered over a sisal one in our family room. Craigslist is the perfect place to pic up rugs!

Oh and did ya notice those chairs up there? Another CL find--they're solid/heavy wood chairs (that were made in Pittsburgh--love that detail!) that I got for $40. That's right--six chairs for $40. 

If you haven't already noticed, we have about 27 different ongoing projects at our house. Here's the scoop--we're renovating to make room for a new addition to our family (come November) so Mitch and I will be moving out into what used to be the garage, our two boys will be moving into our current bedroom, and the baby will be moving into Ryder's current room. That's a lot of moving! So I'm collecting things for pretty much every room in our house. I really wanted a pair of antique beds for the boys' room and wouldn't ya know, I found a beautiful pair on CL for $100. Since scoring these, I've not been able to find a pair of any kind of bed for this cheap...

So those are waiting in our family room to make their appearance someday in the boys' room.

We've also scored some free stuff via CL. We were looking around for some barn wood to be used in our stairwell (yet another construction zone!) and found a barn not far from us being torn down and the owner was giving away the wood. Here it is installed on our stairwell ceiling.

During that same trip, Mitch noticed these antique barn door hardware pieces. He cut them out of a seen-better-days door for me. I have a project in mind for these guys!

And he also nabbed this huge piece of slate that we're going to make into a giant chalkboard for our dining room. 

So there ya go--just a sampling of some of the awesome finds we've scored on Craigslist. I'm a firm believer in WAITING for what you want. And that's what's been so fun for us. Yes, our renovation is taking over two years to complete, but it wouldn't be "us" without these finds. Be patient, search, and deals are waiting to be had! And what a character-filled home you could have! Stop on by Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees to stay up-to-date on our latest project(s!). Thanks, Charmaine, for letting me share today:)

 Congratulations on Baby # 3, Kat!  You are one super talented mom!   Good luck with everything!

Your kitchen island looks great and I can't believe you got that rug for $35!   I also love the nesting tables and the pair of antique beds. I can't wait to see what you do!

Thanks for sharing your great finds with us, Kat!

Now go check out her blog.  While you're there, check out Ryder's room before she turns it back to a nursery. It is adorable!

Do you want to participate in the Craigslist Monday series?  Email me here.