Craigslist Adventures! or....Preparing for a House of Our Own

I have never used Craigslist in my life before the last couple of months. However, when one is building and furnishing a house on a budget, I'm finding it can come in very handy! I've found many of my treasures there.

The most recent was something we weren't even expecting, and consider it to be a Providential gift.

Jordan had been pricing windows bought new, of various different kinds. We of course both prefered the more old fashioned, wood frame kind, double hung with separate glass panes. Because an old fashioned log home needs windows to match, right? But, windows of any kind, especially what we wanted, were way more expensive that we had been counting on. One place quoted us a price of between $300 and $400 a piece. And we need 16 in all. Yikes!

So, that was somewhat discouraging, we had about decided we'd just have to go with something cheaper and modern for now, and hope to be able to replace them with something more historic in the future.

Well - I got a hunch to do a quick search on (where else..?) Craigslist. I found only one listing that I thought looked really worthwhile. It was for 11 new wooden windows, and they looked 'right' to me, but I hesitated about showing them to Jordan, because they might 'not' be right....lol.

However. I did show him, and he said they were perfect - just the exact style that should go in a 19th century house.

So, the next day we were driving up to Oklahoma city to pick up our windows! They were even better in person. They were brand-new, never installed handmade window reproductions that someone had ordered for a period house restoration, but then changed their mind about at the last minute.

So -  we got 11 windows for roughly $70 a piece. Plus we got 2 more half windows for free that we are planning to use for the bathroom! 

Aren't they great?? I can just imagine looking out of them already!

They are a bit dusty right now, but will clean up nicely. :)

They even use the old-fashioned system of cast iron weights, ropes, and pulleys inside the frame to open and close the window. Sweet! We couldn't have asked for anything more perfect or period-correct.

Here are a coule of examples of old fashioned windows, inside and out:

Back at the beginning of October, I really got to thinking about the 'big' items we still didn't have for the house. I had looked in our area craigslist before for clawfoot tubs, and either hadn't come up with much, or the ones I had seen were really expensive. But, I decided to look again, this time I saw several affordable options, but finally decided to call about this one:

My cast iron bathtub!! The enamel inside is in perfect shape (forgive it being a bit dusty!), not a nick or scratch to be seen. The outside has been painted cream colored, and there is a small scrape in the paint. I may repaint it a brighter color someday, but I'll wait and see. I bought it for $150.00, which considering the other prices I'd seen for tubs in this good of shape, seemed like a deal. The man I bought it from said it was taken from a turn of the century farmhouse in Oklahoma.

I'm envisioning our small bathroom to look something like this:

Or this:

Or this:

...something looking quite simple, clean, and bright.

Since we were going to be driving 2 hours away to pick up my bathtub in one of the bigger towns in our area, I decided to comb through anything that was described by the word 'antique' in the town's craigslist just to make sure I couldn't make the trip more worthwhile. And I found a sure-enough treasure:

I loved this bathroom sink/vanity from the minute I saw the picture. It's absolutely perfect in every way for what I wanted . The hinged mirrors on the side are so cute, and I love how the small sink makes me think of a china bowl-and-pitcher on a cabinet.

The piece isn't actually antique, but a very well made, sturdy modern-made antique style. :)

 Isn't the carving pretty?

The two top drawers hide the plumbing, but the bottom drawer actually works.

Jordan wants to eventually replace the faucet with something a little less shiny. :)


I've been so thankful that over and over the right pieces for the house have fallen into place just at the right time! :)