Except this time around, this acquisition was completely on purpose. Also I’m not sure it would qualify as a “true” antique, but it is in my mind an excellent vintage find for an excellent price.

Every day, Apartment Therapy posts a compilation of good Craig’s List finds for each region of the country – Eastern, Southern, Western, and Midwest, and someone goes through the lists of major cities in those regions and posts links to the best finds of the day. [Some may remember that I did this for a brief time for my own region when AT only posted finds in the major cities they cover].

Recently, there have been some awesome items for sale in Raleigh that made the list, among them a very attractive mid-century rocker. I clicked through to the page to see this awesome rocker and really loved it despite the $275 price tag – and was rewarded with a link to a Picasa web album FULL of other great mid-century pieces for sale. I browsed the album sort of looking for another living room chair of some kind. Something that would be comfortable, but not too big or bulky to compete with my other pieces.

And I found this:

And promptly fell in love. It looked perfect. Though advertised as a desk chair in the album, I thought it would be a perfect addition to my living room seating without taking up too much space or clashing with other chairs and whatnot.

I negotiated with the seller, Debbie, and was able to score this beauty for $60 instead of $80. I was proud and excited. Some may argue that this isn’t really that good of a deal for an old desk chair, but let’s consider these brand-name options of a similar mid-century modern style:

1. This Kennedy Chair from Thrive Home Furnishings starts at $899 – down from $1,399!

It has similar lines, styling, and classic thin MMC slim limbs. And yes, it’s a little shinier than mine, but I think we all know my solution for that: D.I.Y.

2. Jen’s Chair from Design Within Reach (a name which always makes me laugh because these designs are definitely not within my reach) is currently on sale for $935, down from the original price of $1,100. No. Big. Deal.

3. And this Chieftains Chair also from Design Within Reach, though ridiculously fancy and, I have to admit, funky looking, also has similar lines and takes the modern styling to a whole new level. This is not something I would ever want in my home, but I just wanted to demonstrate that some people pay $13,900 for a chair. I know.

So. I was happy with the $60 “deal” that I got. Plus, Debbie offered free delivery to my apartment when she learned I drove a go-cart that is useless for moving furniture. Then I was even happier. Thank you Debbie!

My new chair is now sitting happy in my living room, waiting to get some love. I’m thinking a solid grey tweed or a big graphic black and white pattern. We’ll see.

So let’s have this be a lesson for everyone. Almost everything has potential and only needs a little bit of love. As long as you are willing to put in some work, you can make a $60 chair look like a $300 chair. Or at least you can make it NOT look cheap haha. And if you ever need some tips, you know who to ask!

Anyone else get really excited to score a good deal on Craig’s List? Who’s dying to get that $13,000 space chair? Crickets? Though I think I might have spied something similar on a Mad Men set. Kind of cool.