apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

"Go in with a plan"? Aw, that takes the fun out of it!

Flea markets are crack to me. I'll continue to avoid them until I get a better paying job. :-)

As to the question, "Do I really need this?" I held onto two oversized Chock Full o Nuts cans for the longest because they had the logo with the Twin Towers on them. I'm a New Yorker so I held onto them for nostalgia reasons. But then I thought, 'you know, I have the memory of the Twin Towers in my mind and heart where they don't take up real estate' so I recycled the cans.

And oh, hey, sorry to read about your friend who "passed out on the chairs" (in the "Stay Within Budget and Know Your Limit" section above). :-)

Be prepared for serendipity.

If you're trying to match things you already own, take photos of your stuff on your phone, so you can compare.

Be prepared to walk away, but passing on molded plywood chairs seems insane to me.

Do I really need this? Who needs anything?

if I get it home and it doesn't work, I donate it. I figure it's good karma and brings me luck for future purchases of things that are "just right". :)

On the other hand, I'm very picky and often regret not buying things.

is there a list of flea markets around the santa monica area? i think it would be fun to go to one. never been.

I like this rule of thumb, which also works for trash finds. For me, trash finds are harder to turn down because I can't beat the price!
1. If your instinct says you MUST have it, get it.
2. But have a good place to sell it, store it, or give it away if it doesn't work out.
3. Make the decision whether to keep it, store it (out of sight!) toss it, or sell it within 3 days.
4. Stick to that decision!

I'm fairly comfortable with visualizing actually owning something in that it works against me buying things, usually. I see a lot of "potential" stuff at the thrift stores that's nice enough at first, but I hold it in my hand and look it over, and I think of my own junk, and I picture the item as just someone else's junk I don't want to take on. I buy a thing here or there, but I'm usually pretty certain that it's a good thing to have, and that I'm pretty solid about rejecting everyone else's junk that I don't need to take on, gather, accumulate, pile. I want to live in a nice place with some nice things. I don't want to hoard a lot of what I'd have gotten rid of if they were mine to begin with, or spontaneously develop a need to collect anything just because it's part of a category of thing I collect. It's just easier to like one of something until I don't like it anymore, and pass on something without some nagging justification to collect, or even labeling something to collect starts you down a path there.

I've passed on exactly 2 things I've ever seen that I regret not buying, but regret might be too strong a word. One was an ashtray that meows, or it did something cute and it was cat-shaped, and the other was a green (copper?) metal unicorn -- I thought it was a doorknocker at the time, but might have been more like a horse hitch. Didn't really get that good of a look at it, reproduction, cheaply made, "brand-new antique," don't know. I think I was shopping for Xmas presents and didn't indulge myself on something I wanted. I just walked right away from it and didn't think about it again for a few days, which is when I wished I'd looked at it a little closer. Most of the time, I'm confirmed in my decision by forgetting, but this unicorn thing was gone by then. The kitty cat ashtray, likewise, but that thing was really not nearly cheap enough to seriously consider "needing" it. I do myself a favor by letting the universe decide most of the time.

Five years ago I quit my last full-time job to pursue my own work, and I stopped buying *anything* for a year - outside of the required food, toiletries, and rent/utilities. I now do occasionally buy things that I just want but don't need, but that year (I think some people do it officially as a "diet") taught me a lot about what I really need and how to say no. My money goes much further even though I live in a very expensive city (NYC). Maybe with this economy I should batten down the spending hatches again!

My whole point in bargain shopping is that I can afford to make mistakes. So I just donate the items back if they don't quite work. No big deal. I don't make huge purchases anyway. Good tips though.

I hope your friend is feeling better.
It can't be much fun to faint at a flea market!

This doesn't necessarily apply to flea markets cause I don't go to them but if I see something in an antique store and it's over $500 I'll take a picture of it (with the camera I keep in the glove compartment). I develop the pictures that day and keep the photo near my favorite TV watching chair. After looking at the photo for a week, if I still want it (whatever it is) I go and buy it.

If it's under $500 I'll probably just buy it. If I don't like it after I get it home --- I'll live with it for a month or two or three and then donate it to Goodwill or OUT OF THE CLOSET.

Consider whether it will actually make you happy or improve your life. Sometimes things do, but usually they don't.

Matt M - I have a list of flea markets on the west side on my website at noaccountingfortaste.com, with hours, fees, parking information, and general tips. Specifically, this Saturday is the Venice High School market at (predictably) Venice High School on Venice and Walgrove.

I think Grace's advice is right on, and there is almost never a weekend when I don't go to a flea market, thrift store, or salvage yard. I do keep in mind what my grandmother told me about antique shopping, though: "I never regret the pieces I buy, I only regret the ones I don't buy."

The 12' silk rug I passed up for $100 will haunt me forever.

^^^ thank you so much! definitely appreciate it.