Dapper Home: The Ever Changing Room Gets a Secondhand Addition

Captain Dapper loves a good Craigslist find.

The last time you saw the living room at Captain Dapper HQ, I was showing off all the little changes that had finally started coming together. In that post, I mentioned that I was looking for a small love seat or settee to replace one of the blue wing back chairs in the room. Although I still adore the wing backs, having two matching chairs in this small room is not working. I was initially considering a love seat, thinking it would be the most comfortable, but this room is so small that that proved impractical. Even the smallest of love seats are 55" wide. By my measurements, anything wider than 48" would be too big for the space. Still, I searched and I pinned possibilities to Pinterest and I searched some more. Every love seat I liked was either too big or beyond my budget. 

Once I ruled out love seats I devoted my time to searching for settees. I started out looking at new settees but, well, I'm not willing to spend much. As frequently as I redecorate, I've learned not to spend much on furniture. Within a year or two I'll tire of the decor and want to switch things up again so things will get re-sold or donated as they lose my favor. While I was searching around for new settees, I would also do a twice-a-week perusal of the local Craigslist ads. When I searched for "settee" in the furniture for sale category, I mostly ended up with a bunch of listings for other kinds of furniture. I don't know if the sellers don't actually know what a settee is or if it's just a way to game the search option for more hits, but I found it incredibly frustrating.

And then, last Friday, I hit pay dirt. I came across an ad for a refurbished white settee for $150. I couldn't believe my eyes. The fact that it's a white settee is just too perfect. From the minute I finished mounting the mantel to the wall, I envisioned a something white in this space. I emailed the seller, heard back within minutes and then made my trek forty miles outside the city to buy it.

It couldn't have been an easier transaction. I pulled up to the seller's house, she welcomed me inside her very tidy, smoke-free home to see the settee and, within five minutes, had helped me slide it into the back of my Prius. I love it when Craigslist transactions are so easy. Once I got home, I carried the settee upstairs and put it in its place beside the mantel. While the size was absolutely perfect, something wasn't looking quite right. I left it until morning and then reassessed with fresh eyes. It turns out that I just needed to shift things around a bit.

As I mentioned, I had originally planned on removing one of the blue chairs from the room. And then, in a moment of I-don't-want-to-carry-this-chair-down-three-flights-of-stairs inspiration, and after I had shifted the rug and re-positioned the coffee table, I moved one of the blue chairs near my desk, creating a little conversation pit. And suddenly it felt like it all came together. I'm still not in love with the fact that I have two matching chairs in this tiny little room but, hey, I'm working with what I've got here. I'll either recover one of the wing backs or, more likely, replace one with a different chair as the room continues its evolution.

Images: Jason Loper