Fun Find: Rattan Chairs

A few weekends ago, I took a day trip with some girlfriends up to a barn sale (similar to the one I went to back in the fall, but smaller). While I didn't find anything there, we did stop by another thrift/antique/junk shop before we left and I found two beautiful rattan chairs sitting just off the road by the entrance. I immediately said, "Ooo! I LOVE those!" and everyone else in my car agreed they were really cute. Sold.

Here's one of them sitting in its new home on our balcony:

I've been casually looking for a pair of chairs for our teensy balcony so we can really enjoy sitting out there, and thought these would be perfect. We've got a really pretty view from our balcony into a park, so we sit out there a lot when the weather is nice. Previously we had a wooden bench, which just didn't cut it in terms of comfort. These are com-for-ta-ble. You don't even need a cushion.

I love their clean lines and slightly worn edges. The look like they were well-loved (and well taken care of) by their previous owners.

The price wasn't quite thrift-store rock bottom, but at $60 for the pair, I snatched 'em up real quick. Turns out that was a good deal, because when I tried to look up similar chairs and prices, I found this one at World Market for $200 for one chair.

{World Market}

Annnd this very similar one from Anthropologie (not available anymore), that was $298(!). Uh, yeah, WINNER goes to my side-of-the-road find!

The only issue is that I'm not totally sure how "outdoor-ready" they are. Does anyone know how to weatherproof chairs like this? At this point, we're bringing them in when it rains, but other than that, is there something we could treat them with to keep them in good condition?

I've got big plans in my head for our little balcony so we can use it to its full potential this summer. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop as my ideas go from my head to reality!

How I Scored A $6 Rug

Last week I was perusing the dollar store across the street from work (as I often do...you never know what you're gonna find!), and I was just getting ready to leave when I strolled down the home improvement aisle to look for one last thing. I didn't find what I was looking for, but right under the clothes hangers, I spotted something totally unexpected: carpet squares.

I know what you're thinking. Ugh, really, Chaney? Carpet squares? From the dollar store? Are you out of your mind?

Maybe a little, but again, at the dollar store, you never know. So I did what any normal(?) person would do, I started digging through the pile of squares, just to see if there might be any interesting designs or patterns. At $1/square, I couldn't help myself. You know I love a good bargain.

So imagine my excitement when, under some ugly purple squares, there was a beautiful sky blue, tan and white batik patterned square. I pulled it out and took a good look at it, and instantly thought, ok, this is legitimately pretty. Please, please tell me there are more.

And there were. Five more. Making six total squares. Certainly enough to put together a nice-sized rug. 

I snatched them up before anyone else could try to take them (although I think the competition was slim), quickly headed to the cash register, paid my $6, and hurried home.

I found a nice home for them in my kitchen:

Pretty, huh? I think it adds a really nice pop of color and pattern against our white cabinetry and appliances. You almost can't tell they're squares when they're positioned all snugly against each other. The rug measures about 3'x5' with the squares assembled.

And here's what one of the individual squares looks like though, just in case you were curious.

They reminded me of FLOR carpet tiles when I saw them at first, so I actually did a quick search on their website to see if they had a similar pattern. Lo and behold, they had something, um, almost identical. 

Take a look and tell me if you can tell a difference between my dollar store find and the Hide & Batik FLOR tiles:

{sorry for the small-ish image - this is the largest one I could find!}

Eerily similar.

Let's do a little price comparison, shall we?

• FLOR tiles: $14/tile
• Dollar store tiles: $1/tile

Total savings: 92%. I'd call that winning.

Now in terms of quality comparison, we'll just have to see how well they hold up - especially in a messy, high traffic area like a kitchen. I did spill some corn/black bean/bell pepper salsa on it over the weekend and it seemed to repel liquid/stains like a champ. I think it's a keeper.

Have you scored any great items at a steep discount lately? Found a good knockoff for a steal? Let me know! I love hearing about great bargains!