If you ever need a couple new end tables, bedside tables, chest of drawers, or the like… check out a local antique store. You can find almost anything you might be looking for and more. Last summer my husband and I went to Asheville for a little vacation and visited a local antique market. We packed our car full with a matching set of end tables, a coffee table, a small desk, a large upholstered bench, two windows, and two other small tables. If we had purchased all of these items brand new it would have cost us a fortune. Instead we made it out of the store spending around $300, a great deal for everything we got. Even if an item looks warn and used, you can re-purpose it to be exactly what you are looking for. There’s almost nothing a fresh coat of paint won’t fix. I painted the end tables and coffee table black and placed one window on top of each end table to create two fun and functional pieces that flank my sofa. That old bench I found was great… minus the smokey smelling fabric, so I simply found a fresh piece of fabric from a craft store and reupholstered it myself. Very easy and inexpensive. That small desk I mentioned became the perfect setting for my printer and the compartment inside became the perfect place to store my extra printer paper. Now these pieces may not have been perfect when I found them, but with a creative eye and a few small alterations, they are a perfect fit in my space. Next time you’re looking for a new piece of furniture, take a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood antique market and see what you can find to fit your needs. There’s no doubt you will achieve a unique look no one else has for an inexpensive price tag. Happy bargain shopping!
