Made in the USA

I am sure you guys might think that all I do on the weekends is hop from thrift store to thrift store picking up goodies. I have mentioned my finds a few times (here & here), but I swear I am not a hoarder (I think...). I have only picked up something off of the side of the street ONCE- but I resold it for $80 so I have no shame in my quirky ways :)

But I HAVE to tell you about a find that I had recently because I was a total steal, if I do say so myself.

I was in the thrift store on my block that I pop into when I go for my walks. I spotted this amazing contemporary wing back chair in a gray/blue color with brass nail heads and I instantly knew it was a really nice piece. It was marked at just $45. STEAL.

Please note the kitten at the bottom of the screen- she was checking out her new turf:)

After close inspection I confirmed my suspicions- the tag under the seat said it was a Century Furniture chair and it was made in North Carolina. No joke- if you see any furniture with a made in the USA tag, chances are that it is a pretty well made/expensive piece. Most furniture is made overseas (Asia or South America mostly) for significantly less cost, so a USA born piece will instantly be more expensive.

So in the back of my car it went- that baby was mine!  Of course my curiosity was killing me and I went home and Googled the brand to see if I could get an idea of the value.

I found the exact same chair on the website (different fabric, but same design) and the sirens went off when not only was the furniture on the site beautiful, but you had to email them for a quote on everything. O-M-G this must be expensive! Of course, I sent them an email to get the price and this is what they wrote back:

The Century Furniture Living Room Stanford Skirted Chair.  In a grade 18 fabric = $1789.00; in a grade 40 fabric = $2245.00 and in a grade 60 fabric = $2665.00.

HOLY HECK!! JACKPOT!!

The upholstery was in good condition with only one burn mark on the removable seat near a seam. I am pretty confident that I can just take in the seam at home to totally fix that issue. I will also look into getting it cleaned down the road. To professionally clean this size chair is about $40 and the cleaners come to your home and cleans it on the spot. The only issue is that there is a $99 minimum for this service so I am going to hold off until I need a rug cleaned or something to make it worth my while.

Right now this beauty is parked in my bedroom and totally classes up the place. When I first saw it in the store I was temped to just resell it for maybe $200, but once I learned the retail value and construction I decided that it was a keeper. It does work well in my rooms since the colors are blues and aquas, but it would also be a great piece to recover down the line.

All in all this was one of my more high end finds so I was pretty pumped. So the next time you are hunting for furniture, whether its at Goodwill or on CL, just keep an eye out for that "Made in the USA" tag. Because you can hit the jackpot too!

XOXO Katie

Pin It