I Almost Walked Past the $40 Sofa

She looked like somebody's grandmother's couch that had been under plastic for thirty years, and somebody finally took the plastic off.

That was my first read, standing in a thrift store with my mom and my sisters. The color stopped me before the shape did. My sister thought it was ugly, and my sisters laughed right along with her.

My mom looked at it for a second and said it had good bones.

She was right, and I didn't have the language for it yet. I just knew I liked the lines. Straight, clean, nothing curved or fussy. It read modern to me, even sitting under thrift store lighting next to a rack of mismatched lamps.

What I found out later: she's a sleeper sofa. A pullout. For forty dollars.

The part nobody mentions about cheap furniture

She was so old and so heavy that delivery cost me another $40. Same price as the couch. I'd pay it again.

The room I was saving

This room was my son's bedroom.

When he moved out, I left it exactly as it was. I thought he would come back home. I thought I would save the room for him.

It took me a full year to take it. A year of walking past that door and thinking, not yet.

The practical reason: I work from home, and I was tired of working in my bedroom.

Once I started designing the office, I knew what I wanted: something whimsical, something fun. If I was going to sit in a room for eight hours a day, it was going to make me smile.

The walls are Blue Nile, from HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams. Once that color went up, the room started to make sense, and the sofa I almost walked past became the center of it.

It ended up in Apartment Therapy. Read the feature here.

What I'd tell you before your next thrift run

• Walk in with two or three things on your list. Thrift stores are a lot of stuff, and without a list you leave tired with nothing.
• My list is always home decor, men's blazers, and Levi's.
• Leave room for the thing you didn't know you were looking for. I wasn't shopping for a sofa that day.

My sisters laughed. My mom was right.

What's on your thrift list this week? Tell me in the comments.

Until next time,