Snobbity Snob

For somebody lives in a tin box, I have expensive tastes.

Y’all have seen the eclectic mix of stuff we’ve found when I’ve posted it online, the most recent being the mid-century-style chairs we refurbished. The one thing you WON’T find me posting is plastic, with the exception of a circa-1940’s Bakelite radio. I’ve always tried to look for better quality, but thanks to a few years of education from my spousal unit, I’ve become even more picky about materials and craftsmanship.

I’m not opposed to veneer, incidentally, or better-made plywood pieces. And I’ll nearly always go for vintage over new because the new stuff has no quality and no soul. The exception is upholstered items, where my aversion to bedbugs supersedes other concerns.

Other people in this area will literally buy plastic furniture when there’s virtually no price difference between plastic and real wood. We’ve seen it happen, again and again, and I don’t get it. People actively seek out plastic drawers for their kids’ bedrooms, volunteering to spend the same amount for which we’re offering a wooden chest.

They won’t give the chest a second look. They want plastic.

Sadly, a years-long garage sale run has begun to peter out. There are still sales in the area, just no items of any quality 99% of the time. If your sale is filled with stacks of clothes and tacky decor, all you’ll see of me is my taillights, baby.

Lately, the taillights are getting a workout.

My one decent find of this weekend was a vintage Coach brand handbag in near-new condition. I balked before ultimately paying $5 for it. The same place also had an immaculate Dooney & Burke for $7, but
1. I didn’t want to spend the extra two bucks.
2. The size and shape were weird.
3/ It was an odd-colored print.

Yes, my snobbery has extended to that area of my life, as well. I won’t go back to link it, but umpteen entries ago I groused about how I HATE shopping for handbags. (Trust me, I still do.) However, when I DO go about it these days, I don’t hit the local Wally World. I still don’t give a fig about a designer’s name for the sake of prestige. I DO look for quality in the workmanship.

And I’m still cheap.

I classify handbags like upholstered furniture. I rarely buy secondhand because you never know what’s been in them. But both this home and this bag hit the marks so I bit the bullet. It could always be a knockoff, given how many fakes are out there. As long as it’s a well-made fake, I couldn’t care less. (For the record, the seller didn’t give off “I buy knockoffs” vibes.)

This table was a different story. I like the lines well enough and thought it might be a fair mate to the chairs we just fixed up. This time I wasn’t looking for Heywood-Wakefield or even Lane, because it’s destined for a repaint. And being in rough condition is no big deal – again, I was looking for something to overhaul.

It didn’t pass the quality test. The husband person checked it out and decreed it’s not worth the trouble of new lipstick and mascara. The tabletop is MDF, not wood. So this one will be recycled to somebody else. It IS sturdy – I don’t buy wobbly furniture. Since it’s fake wood it’ll probably sell.

When I bought it, I figured if nothing else we’d scrap it for the legs. A decent set of MCM furniture legs will sell online, so we keep an eye out even for otherwise unsalvageable pieces to cannibalize for their legs.

Hubby decreed this piece didn’t even make the cut for scrap.

Ouch.

Careful or not, now and then I still end up with a dud. (I had instant buyer’s regret with this one, for the record. I already knew it was a dud.)