I headed out of the desert into the wilds of Los Angeles on Saturday night and ended up crashing a party at Gregory and Emily’s sweet pad with all the Apartment Therapy LA folks. Thanks guys for letting me drink your booze and go through your stuff. I also got to check out the progress at Laure’s new pad – which is looking posh, even without a sofa.
Afterward, I headed to Bianca’s crib to crash for the night and get up fresh and early for shopping madness at the Long Beach Flea Market.
It was a sweetly perfect morning in LA, so of course we immediately left town for the heat and long ticket lines of Long Beach.
I picked up my buddies Danny and Mel since they love hunting for deals. Ah! What? Maybe that’s Erica and Bianca back there. Aren’t we wacky girls? I want to punch us too, don’t worry.
Flea markets start super early in the morning, but since we are not bright or chipper early risers, I think we rolled in solidly around 10am. Shockingly, it was PACKED. Much more attended than I’ve seen in a few years. Sweaty and poorly prepared, we made our way into the hordes.
OK, so the following things are for the swank bachelor pad I imagined with my mad flea marketing skills (and crappy iphone pictures).
This fantastic painting inspires it all.
The bachelor guy I imagine would own this painting (that he picked up at a garage sale) because it reminded him of his old dog “Hulkster”. He’s a sort of sloppy “dude”. Friendly, a bit distracted, likes to pretend he surfs but really doesn’t, you know, aimless but cute. Maybe he ran into a little money through some accident caused by LADWP or something. I don’t know, he’s mellow, doesn’t like to talk about it.
Firstly, he needs a ginormous slab coffee table for $400 to stack beers on and old magazines.
Maybe a comfy chesterfield for playing video games and macking with ladies. Only $275 if I recall…
Perhaps, an upholstered ottoman for $30 to kick his feet up on and a giant moose rack mounted above the fireplace to show off his manliness to visitors. I think this 59″ spread was $600 and the seller told me that all antlers are shed yearly, which was a fun moose fact I didn’t know. The things you learn at the flea. Now I kind of want some moose antlers.
A graphically awesome Mexican rug from Oaxaca for $80. (I almost bought this, like seriously considered ponying up the cash. I balked since I secretly only wanted to spend $60)
Then a nice slate blue wing back and ottoman that my dude would pretend to read books on to impress ladies. He think it makes him look like an intellectual. What a dummy.
Of course, some sort of boob-like pendant lights, a steep $75 for the pair. Then this fun just sort of fizzles from there…
I could dig that room. Looks comfy.
Anyhow. What did I actually take home?
This really beat up chair that needs major reupholstering and a giant geometric ceramic planter. Not too exciting. I’m guessing this revelation is a bit of a downer. I was hoping for more deals, but like all deal hunting, it just wasn’t meant to be.
The person who really scored was Bianca. I’m going to take all the credit for spotting awesome things she has been looking for and somehow making them magically cheap. Well, I guess I didn’t really make them cheap, but I swear my thrifty senses were tingling.
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30 Comments
That rug. The lamps. Friggin sweet looking. I need both. But anyways cool finds for sure. The dog painting is pretty cool as well. Oh and the planter is evry interesting.
With your negotiating skills, I can’t believe you didn’t get her down to $60. I don’t think I would have passed it up, but the chair and that planter are pretty cool.
I’m jealous of whoever walked away with the orange ottoman…and you for snagging that cool planter.
I think what you found is pretty exciting! That ceramic planter is pure awesomness-I love it!
~Tanya
dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com
U to the mutha f’n G.
that couch?! that price?!
right in my own backyard and i missed it AGAIN.
i need a drink.
Great chair! Looks like it might be a Milo Baughman design built by Thayer Coggin? Awesome!
Love the rug, love the chair you bought. Don’t like the color of the chesterfield, but damn. $275? Damn.
Love the planter! What a great find! Seriously, though, I would have been all over that sofa! That was a fantastic bargain!
hell yes. that chair you scored looks so much like the yellow chairs in my living room! the frames are identical. (http://mylittleapartment.blogspot.com/2010/10/sneaky-peekin.html)
man, I miss flea-ing in the middle of winter. so jealous.
OMG that couch. Now my week is ruined.
So jealous of you with your footloose and fancy free life! Looks like you had a fab time.
I’m super footloose. It was like 85 degrees in the middle of January.
I should have got the rug.
We were there too….I saw those boob pendant lamp shades! We picked up a few small items. Nothing big. We didn’t think this flea market is as good as the Rose Bowl one though
you’re dead for not buying that rug. DEAD.
The Danny & Mel shot is a great photographic achievement. Your photography is getting better
I mean…who else could find the freakin BEST planter in the universe.
The slab coffee table looks totally like the nakashima one in this apartment: http://newspirit-square1.blogspot.com/2010/11/hamburg-apartment.html
Probably the greatest coffee table ever.
Are you re-upholstering that chair you’ve got? That would be something we should look out for in the future.
i almost bought ever single thing that you posted. hilarious. like all of them. but my storage unit is effing full. sorry that we didn’t meet up, i didn’t see text til way late and i was in crazy work mode. first half of day = awesome, 2nd half of day = sucks really bad. xoxo
Loved your imagined bachelor pad! I’m sure I could work that dog painting into my house, bachelor or no
it was good times! next time we use your shopping super powers to score outdoor chairs.
Oh hey! I know someone with a way better Oaxacan rug. But she’s really stingy and won’t sell it.
Thanks for your hypothetical curation of the flea…who else does that?
The geodesic pot is ridonkulous. And the chair. And you know it!
I’m super jealous. I can’t believe people are actually already thrifting in shorts and t-shirts. We’re like months away from that – it’s cold, rainy and generally miserable over here. And there’s hardly any outdoor thrifting worht mentioning going on.
I think you should have gotten the rug !
I want that coffee table! The wing chair looks comfy too.
Shoulda bought the rug!
Totally should have.
…and the dog painting!!
I’ve lived in Long Beach for over a YEAR and I didn’t even know there was a flea market… Dang. I need to get with it.
The Chair you picked up is a Milo Baughman design – there is a pair in a Palm Springs resale shop going for $4,200.00. Of course reupholstered. Good find.
I WANT. THAT CHAIR. Trade ya.
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