Confessions of a Freecycler: Latest and Biggest Freecycle Finds

Part of my decision to take the time and effort to blog definitely goes to one of my dear sister-in-law's, whose blog focuses on the struggles and triumphs of raising two children-under-three.

But my Muse? The chair I just picked up three days ago.

We moved from a small cottage to a really big home a year ago. (You can't time the market, but sometimes you get lucky!) We're house-poor, as it were, but thanks to Freecycle, and similar hand-me-down venues, you sure don't know it. We've had these extensions to our bedroom, basement, and living room, though, that have just been "run around space" for the twins. But this week my bedroom kicked it up a notch!

It's a Broyhill "Chair and a half" measuring about 55" in width. It's in AWESOME shape, given it's secondhand.. with only some wear on the arms. Cushion? Perky! Stuffing? Comfy! A nice microfiber, plenty of room for me + a half (where 1/2 = 2 squirming 3 year olds.) The color is a deep plum, but it's such a dark shade that it looks like an exotic chocolately brown in most lighting. It's the perfect addition.

Speaking of empty extensions, I'm coming up on the anniversary of my biggest and heaviest Freecycle find.

Last year, Superbowl Sunday, I saw an OFFER for a pool table! Which my husband had JUST been talking about investing in (ack!! imagining those $$$ fleeing my house!) We made the arrangements to see it, decide we wanted it, and realize there was no way we were getting it out in one piece. A couple days after the superbowl, one of our dearest friends helped us break it down to it's three-slab slate and haul it.

We DID have to pay a company to come reassemble it, level it, and refelt it. About a $300 investment in all.. .WAY cheaper than letting my spouse buy a new one, pay to have it delivered, then assembled. I bet we saved over $1500 dollars this way. Oh, and the cues, balls, and holder were included : )

And we love it! It looks great, in awesome shape, and gets used every time we get more than two men visiting.

Runner up for heaviest find, though, is my son's Freecycled captain's bed. The picture below shows it in waiting for him to decide he's ready to transition to a big-boy bed. It's got head and footboards waiting to be assembled. The 4-drawer, 1 cabinet storage space under the bed is HUGE for keeping the chaos at bay.