Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The DL on the CL

I've always viewed Craigslist with a bit of a skeptical eye. Though I'm a hardline moderate, things like Craigslist and Birkinstocks make me feel like a radical right-wing conservative. (For that matter, I'm not even going to look up how to spell Birkinstock, for fear it shows up in my browsing history.)

However, we did manage to part with a few overbearing, out-of-style, unused pieces of furniture, and replace them with more stylish pieces for a good deal less than retail. Oh, and Lori got her half-manniquin there. And we've met some nice people as they collect our cast-offs, or we collect theirs.

The winning argument for the greatness of Craigslist came a few weeks ago, when I found my dream desk - an old-school Steelcase. $50 seemed a bargain, since once refurbished, these desks sell for closer to $1500, and I'll keep sitting at the kitchen table for that much money. Sadly, even at $50, I have better things to spend my money on, like that urgent-care visit and the industrial-grade antibiotics for my week-long fever that seemed to kick in about the same time as the desk turned up, so I just figured that the time wasn't right and moved on.

Sunday, I got email from the seller telling me that if I wanted the desk, it was mine. Nobody had claimed it, and she needed the 500-pound monstrosity out of her garage. It's mine! All mine!




Now, it's not pretty, but I was looking for potential, not perfection. There are roller marks in the paint, some of the handles were painted while others were not, and as you can see from behind the chair, not all of the desk was painted.

The red does NOT work with the genuine imitation walnut-grain Formica gracing the top, either.

This does not faze me, since I've been told by my lovely wife that I need a hobby. Desperately. Soon. As in NOW. For my own good and the safety of others.

The goal is far loftier than the above picture suggests to anyone but those with the most discerning eye for diamonds in the rough. The 'after' picture, herein provided by a stunt desk, hints at what I hope to accomplish with my less-than-stellar handyman skills and sketchy follow-through:



Oooh, shiny! I love, too, that my double-sided desk (unlike the single-sided model above) has the deep file drawer on one side, disguised as two single drawers for a remarkable sense of symmetry (like cutting off your other thumb).

The CL truly can rock from time to time. Oh yes, it can.

7 comments:

Mippie said...

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the world. I am "pink puffy hearting" your desk. I know you said the red paint was not perfect but in the photo it most certainly is. Congrats on your great find!

Elliott said...

It is certainly better in the photo than in real life. If it were a car, I'd call it the 50/50 paint job - if it's going 50 MPH and you're 50 feet away, it looks nice.

Thanks for the compliments!

Bev said...

Congrats on finding your desk! Sounds like it was meant to be. Enjoy your new hobby, too! I'm totally jealous of Lori's "half mannequin" purchase, too!

In my younger days, I wore Birkenstocks all the time. Hope we can still be friends! ;-)

Elliott said...

Anyone can be forgiven the follies of youth and the occasional succumbing to peer pressure. I don't judge.

Well, that's not entirely true, but I don't make snap decisions based on an isolated offense.

Okay, that's not true either, but...well, I think you get the idea.

Besides, if I didn't have Lori, my fashion decisions would be even more questionable than they are already.

manchester fat acceptance said...

okay, so i love the desk. i also love CL, and speaking of CL... i have to take the opportunity to plug one of many underappreciated nerdcore artists.

schaffer the darklord (aka std) does a wicked song about the history of CL:

http://www.last.fm/music/Schaffer+The+Darklord/_/Craig's+List

check it out. really.

Sarah the Author said...

Is it wrong that I really like the red version of the desk? Congrats on getting it! I've taken a look at CL from time to time, but I'm an ebay girl through and through!

BTW, did your fever break, or is the black desk a mirage formed by your heated brain?

Elliott said...

Nothing wrong with liking the red desk, it just isn't me. A shade or two darker and I might have considered keeping the color, but even if I were to repaint the desk it wouldn't be done with a roller.

The 'black' desk in the 'after' shot is actually raw, polished steel, I want mine to look chromed once I'm done with it.

eBay is great for some things, but the freight on a tanker desk would probably cost me a few hundred bucks. We did buy both motorcycles on eBay and that turned out great, even though we had to drive a few hundred miles to get each of them. (Interested in the stories? Check out my old MySpace blog in the 'Other Links' section ...)

Be nice and share!

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