Furniture Bargain Hunt: San Diego North Park

By Mary M

Furniture Bargain Hunt: San Diego North Park

Just spent the weekend in San Diego visiting Matt. We picked up a local map Urbanist…love this map… at breakfast and found some shops and restaurants in North Park we wanted to explore. So what’s a boy and girl to do when found with some free time? Hop in an Uber and have a stay-cation. We had a gourmet pizza lunch at URBN, and window shopped mainly (note…most of the vintage clothing shops are closed on Monday & Tuesday). Loved the vintage concert T’s at Home…Picked up some books at Pigment…Sampled varieties of local Hess beer at the Hess micro brewery tasting room and a free souvenir glass…Matt and I also experienced a first together, our first thrift store. Honestly, I was surprised he wanted to go in with me. I kept offering to go explore the store while he was enjoying his Hess samples but, the up-for-new-things kinda guy he is insisted we explore together. I was happy to wait but he couldn’t finish those samples fast enough for this girl!! I was anxious to see what kind of thrifting North Park, San Diego had to offer. The San Diego Rescue Mission Thrift Store was well organized and had a good amount of furniture to choose from, light on the clothing and home accessories. They even have a 10% off entire purchase coupon on their website. Check out the solid furniture we found…

This chest of drawers with mirror is solid Ash, with a pair of matching nightstands, and fabulous hardware you’d be hard-pressed to find at your local hardware store. Dovetail jointed drawers (no glue or nails here!) with wood center mount glides, very well made. The makers mark I found inside the drawers said ‘LA Period Furniture Mfg. Co.’ Doing a quick online search said these pieces are authentic and not reproductions. These pieces can be refinished and stained and will survive the ages and for a mere $160.00. Refinishing for all three can run about $1500.00 but you can strip and paint it for much less. Just remember to remove the hardware before painting!

This single nightstand below is also a great find with similar features as the Ash wood pieces above; dovetails and center wood drawer glides. I couldn’t find a makers mark but this piece would be absolutely gorgeous white washed. The strip of Art Deco above the drawer is a nice detail. These sort of details end up looking very unique with a coat of paint. $20.00 plus the cost of sand paper and paint!

Other items that I loved…

The baby bassinet ($45) I imagine painted white and frilled up with girlie bows…lockers ($75) painted in chalkboard paint and placed at a back door to house odds-and-ends (think a cubby with family members names, or activity specific cubbies like ‘beach’, ‘picnic’, ‘dog park’ that store grab-n-go specific items). Online these can run you over $130 not including shipping and unique paint job 🙂 The sofa is a beautiful mid-century piece. This would of course need new upholstery and stuffing and can start to get pricy but the end result would be a custom upholstered sofa at a lesser if not equal cost to an off-the-shelf version (new this sofa would cost over $3,000.00).

I can’t wait to explore this neighborhood again. Next time I plan to visit Ms Vintage and The Girl Can’t Help It. Very excited to explore their racks.

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