Thrifting

Thrifting/garage saling/Craigslisting are habits that I picked up while we were poor students with four kids. Now we're an average family but living in Silicon Valley, so that puts us back at being poor again. :( Even without that, though, my eyes have been opened to the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of a good deal and I will never go back. Sometimes I splurge on stuff I love (okay, I maybe do this more than I should), but a lot of our stuff is high quality used stuff that we found at a great price. Here are a few of my favorite finds.

I LOVE this bed. I don't know what kind of wood it is or what brand it is, but I love how solid it is, I love the color (doesn't come through too well in this picture), and I love the shape of it. We got it for $200 and I know most beds of this quality would be around $2000 or more. Really. You just have to see it in person. It is perfection in a bunk bed.

This is the girls' bunk, which we found on Craigslist for $90. It is solid maple and has been perfect for the girls. El was sleeping on her old crib-converted to a toddler bed in the boys' room (by choice!) until we got this.

And this desk. It was free. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it is huge! Much bigger than we were originally looking for, but did I mention that it was free? It is solid wood and easily seats two side-by-side. Plus it has tons of storage. The aesthetic isn't exactly what we were going for, but it has been great to have around.

This desk. It is my dream desk. I love the legs, I love the detailing and the solid wood, I love the shape and that it curves in a bit in the middle, and I love the size. It just needs a little bit of work and I'm so excited to get started! This little beauty was just $15.

And another shot, just because.
I literally pet this desk every time I get out of the car and walk past it. And I might also talk to it.

These are Jake's shoes. All of them are from Goodwill or Savers and none of them cost more than $5. They are good looking shoes to begin with, but also great brands. The left ones are Sperry Top-Siders, the middle are Vans, and the right ones are Stride Rite. He vastly prefers the Vans even though they're a size too big. We've got a little skater on our hands!

Oh, and sometimes I sew stuff, but I don't think it saves us much money. These were the kids' Christmas jammies this year. I chose to not sew them for Joseph or myself because our pajama piles are getting a little out-of-control and because I was running short on time. But I love how they turned out! It was a simple McCall's or Simplicity pattern I already had from JoAnn and it was shockingly bug free. I had to sketch a pattern two sizes bigger for Em, but that worked out surprisingly well (she's getting big!). The girls are thrilled because they were requesting nightgowns this year, and I love how it coordinates loosely with the boys'. They are all made of super soft knit fabrics, which I was nervous about, but I just used a stretch stitch and they've held up well so far. If I was channeling Boden last year it was Hanna this year and I love it!

 Anyhoo, back to the thrifting, I mostly started this post because I'm loving some of our recent finds, but I just had to look around the room and scroll through a few pictures to realize that we have thrifted a LOT of stuff. El's bike, most of our Duplos and Thomas stuff, two of our dressers, oh, and this caned barrel chair that I love but have to reupholster:

And that clock up there on the wall behind it ($12!)

This chair is Elinor and Jacob's standard Caillou/Curious George/Daniel Tiger viewing spot every morning.

Also, my very favorite plates in the kitchen, Em's violin stand, Em's desk and shelves (one shelf in her room was rescued from the dumpster in Austin), the double stroller (which you can sort of see in the picture of my favorite desk), all of our lamps... the list just goes on and on... and on and on. It's pretty great.

This table and four chairs is one of our most frequently used finds. $40 on Craigslist!

In closing, here is a picture of Jacob that I just found and adore:

He is a monkey and the ultimate punk but we still love him.