Our Weekend: Brooklyn Bargains

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!  Unlike so many New Yorkers who take any opportunity to get out of the city, we stayed in Brooklyn and are glad we did. With fewer people here we had less competition and were able to find some great deals for our apartments.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I despised my TV stand.  I meant it.  I don't have a great picture of it, but it was black, rickety, and let ALL the cords show.

I've wanted to replace it for awhile now, but have had a couple challenges: 1) because I always find deals, Devin does not understand how expensive furniture actually is (I got a past TV stand for $30, so that's what he thinks we should spend); 2) the TV stand would have to be at least as wide as our huge TV, but not very deep so that there is enough room to walk between it and the chair; and 3) most TV stands are hideously ugly.  Imagine my pleasant surprise when I walked into Housing Works and saw the perfect solution!

Housing Works is an amazing non-profit that works to fight homelessness and HIV/AIDS.  One of the ways they do this is through thrift shops.  Devin and I donated a bunch of our stuff when we downsized into this apartment and we like to stop by and see what new things they have when we're in the area.  This time, they had exactly what we were looking for:

It's actually a sofa table, which means that it's not very deep, and it's wide enough and sturdy, unlike our old one.  It's not the most interesting piece of furniture we've ever purchased, but at $95 we think it was a steal.  It's in place in our living room but I haven't gotten baskets for it yet.  I'll post pictures when I do.  

In other news, Devin has never been so excited about home furnishings - he won't stop talking about this thing.  Apparently when you set a 46" flat screen on top of anything, husbands are suddenly intrigued.  I'm thinking about setting a flat screen on top of this chair (that I would kill to have in my living room) and seeing what happens. 

After the TV stand, you would think that my bargain-hunting luck would have been over for the weekend, but you would be wrong.  As Devin, Bruce, and I were taking a walk yesterday, I saw the following pile of seemingly worthless junk:

Brooklyn is famous for its stoop sales; this sad group of items apparently didn't deserve a chance at a sale or a place on the stoop.  Despite Bruce's interest (see bottom right corner), we initially just walked by.  The green lamp had caught my eye, though, so we decided that if it was still there on our way home we'd pick it up. Lucky for my nursery, there it was.  It was disgustingly dirty, but nothing a little Basic H couldn't handle.

He's a good sport.  After some TLC, the lamp looks new and is in great shape.  It needs a new shade but is going to make a great addition to our nursery!  

More pictures to come once the nursery is finished.  I imagine the lamp looking something like this once it's all spruced up and mixed with other accessories:

I know it's kind of hard to see the lamp in that picture so, just for fun, some other green lamp inspiration:

Which look do you like the best?