I have been eyeing this lovely lady since she was donated a week and a half ago to my thrift store.
Seriously beautiful right?
Its an old Victorola stereo cabinet. As if you couldnt tell by the speakers and record player…. Thank you Mr. Obvious. I named her Vicky.
This her only flaw, Court says he has it under control and can fix it. I love that man.
She was priced at $100.00 I think that probably she is worth it but, HELLO PEOPLE this is a thrift store. You go to get cheap stuff. How do you guys feel about your thrift store’s pricing? There is this one guy that works at mine, Mitch, every time I see him I say
“Mitch, we need to have a price intervention about this (enter piece of the day)”
Usually its the first or second day that its been there and he says “Mandi, if it hasn’t sold for a week come back and talk to me.”
By that time some dumb shmuck who has
1. just started thrifting and thinks that $45.00 for a dresser is a good deal
2. obviously doesn’t understand the TRUE value of furniture (lol)
or 3. Is just dumb, has paid the outrageous price and bought it. Sometimes that happens while I am standing there, I give them the death stare through my giant sunglasses and walk away.
Everything they get is donated….its FREE to them. There is not much consistency in the pricing, so I refuse to pay $12.00 for a frame when I have bought the EXACT same on for $4.00. People we must be united! If something is overpriced tell them! OK done.
So she has been there for about 10 days at $100.00. Last night I took matters into my own hands and told the guy working there that I loved it but I was not going to pay that much. I talked him down to $50.00. Which for my cheapness is the most expensive thing that I have bought since beginning my thrifting adventure but she is so pretty!!
Now what to do with her.
I am going to put Vicky in my living room in place of this black dresser.
I however don’t want to paint her black. Which means that the only other real option would be white and I don’t know if I want to do that either because I have this white credenza in sort of the same space.
Here is where we put the puzzle together. See the white mirrors in this pic? They are also in the stencil wall pic.
So whats a girl to do?
Possibly repaint my whole living room.
One of my {Crafting With The Stars} prize was this awesome stencil from {Cutting Edge}.
Its an inverse stencil meaning all of the lines are the base color and the quarterfoil are filled in with your top color. I would keep the lines gray (the colors of my walls already) and paint the top coat white-ish.
So that’s decided. Now I could paint it gray. BUT I kind of want a wooden piece in there. Like an old wood wooden piece. Does anyone know of a way to do that? Would it be terrible to do that to her beauty?
Or I could do a random color, like green or red or orange. Remember my living room right now is gray, white and yellow. I am still having a love affair with yellow so that’s not going anywhere. If I painted it a color it would be the only thing in the room that color, which I am OK with.
So now I think we should vote:
1. Leave her alone…which in my mind isn’t really an option because she is the EXACT same color as my floors.
2. Paint her gray
3. Find a way to make her look like old wood
4. Paint her a random funky color
Leave a comment and help me out of my debacle!
Random funky color!! That’s my vote. There would be nothing wrong with adding another accent color to the black, white, gray and yellow!! I usually have 2-3 accent colors in a room on top of my “basic neutrals”. Just sayin…excited to see what you do!
Paint Vicky grey.
What about turquoise or red? Either would look great with the yellow and since everything else is fairly neutral it would be a bold statement, which, looking at your blog- I think you could handle 🙂
FUNKY COLOR!! And it should totally be orange (cause that’s the bestest color on the planet!!)
Random funky color!! mustard yellow??
I would say something in wood. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
I’m stressed out just thinking about the debate. Good luck!
I would totally go with Yellow to give more yellow POP to the room… Can’t wait to see
Random and funky! Random and Funky!!
i think it would look beautiful in a glossy slate blue like the credenza that centsational girl did. i think it would still work with your color scheme. i also think a dark gray would be nice, again, glossy and undistressed. i honestly love it as is, but these are mny thoughts since that won’t work in your space!
score!!! I have been eyeing my local thrift shops for a similar piece. still not luck!
can’t wait to see what you do!
Turquoise! On my computer, the picture of your seizure wall & mirrors looks turquoise (underneath the mirrors) and I thought it looked great with the black & white! Ha!
Gray!!!! It’ll look great with the stencil that’s already there!
And yes, I think my Goodwill is too expensive!! Why would a thrift store raise their prices in a recission?? And some of the stuff is truly crap.
I vote for tuquoise or bright sunny yellow! I love bright colors that add a pop!
My thrift store has lost its senses. One particular one charges hundreds of dollars for furniture; once putting $1500.00 for a 4 chair and table danish design. Beautiful, but not worth 1500k. Their other store (which are church run thrift store) sells really inexpensive furniture. Why the disparity? I don’t know. But they need to come down to earth.
I would leave it as is. I love record players. Goodwill has records for a buck. Urban outfitters sells them too, but they are twenty bucks.
I also have a love affair with yellow so I would definitely go for that!
I say an orangish redish kind of color. Whatever you do, I’m sure it will look amazing!
Definitely random funky color. My thrift store (Salvation Army) used to have incredible prices. Then everything changed. Now their prices, on nearly everything, are ridiculous and the selection sucks. Oh, and you can’t talk them down. No no no, there’s none of that. Not even if the thing has a hole in it and smells like pee. Believe me, I watched someone try with an item matching that description. So sad.
I’m right there with you on Thrift store pricing. Its out of hand here. Especially frames. I saw one the other day they wanted $25 for….I could buy it at Hobby Lobby for less than that. I think you have to do all your buying on 1/2 off day. I did get a great thing last week on 1/2 off…full price was too much.
So…I love that cabinet. Totally worth $50. I immediately thought white. But I love everything white. But I love one piece of furniture in a pop of color too so…I’d pick your favorite color and paint it that. I can see orange or turquoise but since you love yellow….do yellow. Because of the modern lines I think it would look just fab in a funky mod color. I would not do old wood..its too sleek and modern and cool to look old. I say go with a color!
If it was mine….I’d do turquoise because I love turquoise or maybe periwinkle because I love periwinkle even more and I have a whole can of it here. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’ve been working on my dining room furniture….I don’t think sanding it is ever going to end.
Yellow, yellow, yellow!
Random, funky color is my vote!!!
What about a light turquoise or some kind of green?? I think that would be really fun with your grey, white and yellow!!!
I am excited to see what you come up with!!
https://yourheartout.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/found-turquoise-desk.jpg
https://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/hbx-wallpaper-whales-blue-dresser-0710-ewart-13-de.jpg
My vote would be GRAY all the way!!!
You’re absolutely right. Thrift stores are out of their freakin’ minds when it comes to pricing. Here in Bakersfield, CA we really only have Goodwill. The Salvation Army sucks. I miss the SA I used to go to when I lived in Massachusetts. I don’t know what has happened, but I agree with you. Everything they receive is FREE, and anything they make is profit, but come on. Some of the furniture they’ve been putting out is crap that I’d only consider picking up for free on the roadside. And, Goodwill here won’t sell the item if the price tag has been removed. Even if there’s an identical item, they send it to the back to be priced. Half the time they won’t even call a manager to make a decision. Goodwill prides itself on retraining people to get back in the workforce, but they can’t train their clerks to make a price decision on an item. Also, they are not consistent between their many locations here in town. Enough said! Mandi, I think you should do a combination of yellow, gray, white and wood, if possible, on Vicky. Mix it up and bring all of the other elements in your room together.
I just had this exact arguement with my good will manager last night! Although his response wasn’t check back in a week but “what it’s marked is what we have to get for it”. HAVE TO get for it?! Someone gave it to you for FREE! Not like you have an investiment in this thing that you have to recoupe! So so sad.
Taylor
http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com
of course I would say a random funky color!
love that stencil, i just made curtians from a shower curtian with that pattern!
cant wait to see what you do with it!
OKAY, SO now, I REALLY HATE YOU…BRAT! I love this, it is GORGEOUS. I say you “FUNKIFY” her. Can’t wait:)
Jen
paint her grey!!!!
I am new to your blog and I LOVE it!! I totally think you could pull off the Funky color!! I can’t wait to see what you do 🙂
Go for Gray. Didn’t you just finish painting the tv wall? It looks fabulous. Don’t you dare repaint that whole living room again. (Said with a smile of course). 🙂
Keep the wood! Maybe go for a lighter stain, like maple, if you’re worried about how it will look with your floors.
BTW, I am SO jealous – I have been searching for the perfect 50’s/contemporary sideboard FOREVER!! 🙂
I vote 3.
I remember hearing of a beach-wood like stain.
google might help.
Your blog is great
Totally HOT PINK! That would definitely make a statement:)
hmmm…this may sound odd but what about a glossy gray with more of a muted purple undertone…to make the yellow pop? crazy idea? maybe..
Random Funky Color! Thrift store prices here are ludicrous! I mean a torn up broken half pressboard china cabinet at Goodwill is $200 CRAZY! I generally don’t even go unless I’m desperate.I prefer yard sales and Craigslist. I think $50 was a great price for such an unusual piece, even from a thrift store. Can’t wait to see what you decide!
Umkay you rock for talking the DI down. So awesome.
So I loved your idea: GREY. I’ll just say it again:
GREY. Oooh la la. GREY! (sure whatever you pick out will be smokin’ hot 🙂
hot pink! do you watch design star with the big tough guy who painted the geese hot pink…i love pink. i’m a girl..that’s my excuse! I to have issues at my thrift store…$4 for a kids’ shirt…don’t they know that walmart sells NEW ones for $3….I want to get a job there and show them how to do it.
AND I just remember that my parents have this old record player rotting away in a shed on the farm…so taking up that truck to rescue it…how did I forget about that thing!!!?? thanks for the reminder…price: FREE (that is if they haven’t given it to the D.I. yet!)
I have been lurking (and LOVING!!!) your blog for a while now.. I don’t know if I’ve commented before, but I feel I MUST speak up on this one!
As a fine woodworker, the trend of DIYers to paint everything makes my skin itch a tiny bit – only a tiny bit because what you do with furniture makes me wish that I was you 🙂
That said, I SINCERELY think you should “restore” the wood (looks like it’s in pretty decent shape!). But if you **must** paint it, go with something funky/retro, and suited to the history/vibe of the piece.
And OMG I wish cool stuff like that popped up near me! Wow!!!!
As someone who works in a thrift shop (Habitat ReStore)and is responsible for much of the pricing in the store I feel I must comment here.
Yes, all our goods are donated. But we have a duty to get the very best price for them. We owe that to the very generous people who donate the goods to us, and to the ultimate benefactors of that generosity – the people we build houses for. Often when someone questions the price and says it’s not worth it I will smile and tell them that it is worth that to the people whose house we are building next, or the tsunami victims in Samoa, or in Nepal where we have recently had a major international project.
As they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure. Nobody holds a gun to our customers heads and tells them to buy something. If you like it and like the price, all well and good. If you don’t, then move along because as often as we have someone complain about a price being too high, we have someone else delighted they were ‘lucky enough’ to pick up that piece for a bargain.
With regards to your latest find, it is unique and appears to be in fantastic condition. And at $100 I would call that cheap. I know many people who would pay much more.
In the end, it’s not just about finding ‘cheap stuff’. It’s about sustainability, and charity; helping out those people less fortunate than ourselves. I know that I can probably buy drinking glasses at a discount store for the same or less price than at a thrift shop sometimes, but I would prefer my money go to an organisation that gives 100% to their cause than a chain store that might make donations of .005% of their profit each year.
Ummm…. Can I borrow your stencil when you’re done? 😉 I like the suggestion above to paint it turquoise. Tough decision, good luck!
I agree, thrift stores are really not “thrifty” any more.
I would have paid $100 for the cabinet without even thinking twice about it. I live in the Washington DC area and EVERYTHING around here is crazy expensive. I’ve been on the hunt for a similar cabinet to yours for about 6 months and the cheapest I’ve seen is in the low $1,000 range. My Goodwill has crap furniture. The Salvation Army has better choices but it’s never cheap. Crap dresser’s that have been in the store for over 10 weeks are still outrageously priced above $150. We have 3 Ikea’s within a 50 mile radius of my house so most of the stuff on Craigslist is from Ikea. A girl just can’t catch a break in this city!!
Oh, and I think you should paint the cabinet yellow….. she would look amazing with some glaze!
This is really hard for me because normally I’m all about painting furniture BUT I have to say in this case this piece has such amazing detail and lines that I think it could look great in wood. If there’s a way to revive the wood I think it would add a nice texture and another layer of interest to your room that a painted piece won’t (given what you already have in there). If you do paint, my vote is a bright, bold yellow. I just painted a dresser-turned-changing table in Benjamin Moore Bold Yellow and it’s a fantastic color. Can’t wait to see what you do!
Id rather have her in her wooden glory but maybe distressed back, and even bleach washed abit?
Paints too easy, she looks like shes been high maintenance lady and deserves some elbow grease!
Fun and funky. I think turquoise would be so cute. That’s what I’m repainting mine anyways 😉
so I was in a goodwill about a month ago and found a so sooo cute vintage-y vanity type chair. It needed lots of love And wasn’t even that sturdy. The price tag said $85…. seriously??? I found one of the worker guys and griped and moaned and he reduced it to $6.99 and since it was half off Saturday I got it for $3.99. Not to shabby… I’ve made her over and she is super cute.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with
Jenn
I want to know if you are going to gut it make the speakers Glass Frosted or Stained would be stunning.. If you did a stain Glass I would go Are you ready? PURPLE you could do the light gray over top.
I agree some of the pricing is outrageous I am in love with an old cabinet it need major work on the doors I would pay $100 Not $450 like you say they get it for FREE.
Excited to see what Vicky. becomes.
Thank you for my new found love of Thrift stores I now search them out when ever we travel found 4 in Kitchener Ontario Canada 2 are keepers….
Have a great Day.
Some random funky color! Spice it up a little bit and GO ALL OUT! If you don’t like it, you can always re-paint. 🙂
I wish I had a place like that to shop!
I say sand down the finish and apply a grey and a white colorwash. Yhen sand edges to expose the bare wood. It goes with the white, the black, the grey and the floors!
Marie
Old with a hint of a crazy color. Whatever you do, it will be great!
My opinion is a limey charteruse green. It would be in the same color palette as your yellow, but just a little something unexpected. It would totally pop against your seizure wall as well. Does it work?! That would be so awesome to expose your kiddos to some great music on vinyl!
And yes, I live in middle america and my goodwill is outragous with pricing. They have these two chairs that are in desperate need of love, have been there for two months, one is priced more than the other, even though they are a set and I can’t get them to budge on the pricing. Every Thursday I go in to check it out and there they sit, just screaming for me to save them…but I’m not about to pay what they want when I’m gonna have to sink even more into them to make them livable! Its a tragedy! They need to get realistic…everyone else is in the same boat as them!
I can’t see this in anything but two-tone…may black and the Eames arrow design on the front in white or gray or vice versa. Its so gorgeous! Good luck in whatever you choose I am sure it will be smashing!
I understand that most thrift and secondhand stores are trying to make money, usually to benefit a good cause. But most (if not all) of the items are used, the prices should reflect that. Are most people going to spend $5 on a worn kid’s shirt, when you can usually buy a new one at Wal-mart or Target for less? I think not. So by having higher prices, are they really making more money? Just saying…
On the cabinet dilemma…I personally would paint it a fun color, then white, and then distress it so the fun subtley shines through. Or maybe a bright color over the wood, then distressed to let the gorgeous wood shine thru. Whatever you decide, we all know it will be Thrift Store Glam!
I would do a glossy yellow. It would be gorgeous!
The “dust” spirit orb is from your pretty mirror;
And I’m new here so I’ll just wait and see.. But personally I think it’s beauty will shine thru whatever color you pick….oh how I would love a score like this… ” thrift store gods, if your listening….pretty please!!!”
Hi! I’m a newbie.:)
I’m also a newb with thrift-storing, and I need to know the key to finding a good thrift store! And I had no idea you could haggle with them!!
Aaaand, I love the turquoise idea some others have suggested for Vicki.
i know i am way late but i was so happy to see that i was not the only one that felt that way about the thrift store pricing. sometimes i ask the clerks if there is a misprint on the tag cuz the prices are insane. i agree with uniting and taking a stand against these ridiculous prices. we should arrange a strike day where all bloggers dont buy from thrift stores for a day.
I just found this blog, my sister sent me a link to the foil side table. Really loved it! Now on to Vicky! I like the wood but I was thinking of the funky pop of color, how about painting just that center bar orange, maybe a stain kind of orange so the wood still comes through. Looking forward to the outcome!
I just bought me an RCA Victor radio cabinet (for a disgustingly low price–yard sale) and I’m trying to decide what to do with the beauty. It’s much smaller than your cabinet, but it has some sweet doors on the front..some of which open to expose the lovely electronics/radio dial. I was wondering if you pulled the electronic stuff out of yours? I’m torn.
I would leave it as is but maybe oil it with a good furniture oil. It looks to me like a vintage dutch piece, very nice. But if your desire makes you paint it I would go with a bright turquoise on the body and front design in black. And I agree about the prices at the thrift stores being too high. I was at the Salvation Army the other day and they had a 60’s chair for $80. It’s supposed to be a thrift store with low prices, not a boutique.
Definitely I’d love to see something random and funky, but I’m very late to this party so perhaps Vicky is already done! I’m off to look around and see if I can find her 😉
I SO have the answer to this….Find a funky fabric or paper that combines your colors and decoupage that to Vicky’s inset areas. Once you decide what fabric/paper, Vicky will tell you what color to paint or stain her.
So since Vicky is a beautiful wood piece…why not stain her a dark ebony. You keep the lustre of the wood, but change her to a deeper shade which fits into your decor better. I love the look of wood. Although I love some of the bright funky colors, I’d keep her more natural. It’s a beautiful piece that I think would be more dramatic and luxurious in it’s natural wood.
I see comments from a year and half ago. Have you made a decision? Since I’m also having a love affair with yellow right, I vote for a not-so-random yellow paint. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Leave it as it is. The wood is gorgeous and not everything has to be ruined with paint!!
True story – went to the thrift store and found a childs table and two chairs. It had no price tag but on the bottom a tag for Ikea. The table was covered in crayon and paint and not in a purposeful way. I was sure this was going to be CHEAP! I asked them to give me a price and they did – $25. They were shocked when I passed. “No. No I do not want to pay $5 more than this sells for brand new in the store and that requires a crap ton of work.” It’s been making me angry for weeks. Thanks for letting me vent about the injustice of thrift store over pricing. We stand united.
I LOVE this piece! I can’t wait to see what you do with it. I just found your blog and I have to say it has instantly become my favourite. You are incredibly creative and I really appreciate your sincerity and your back story. Much success to you!
I just found this. Without searching and searching….what happened to Vicky?