If you spend any time at all looking for furniture on Craigslist in Los Angeles, you have seen ads from Street Faire Antiques in Torrance. There’s a small flea market held in “historic downtown” Torrance on the last Sunday of every month, where you’ll see a few familiar faces if you do the flea market thing a lot; it’s small, just a few blocks long and wide, but there are some treasures to be found. There’s at least one permanent store worth checking out there if you can’t make it on that Sunday, located at 1317 Sartori Avenue. It’s sort of between a thrift store and an antique store – the prices are reasonable and they have some great pieces.

This adorable bookshelf is only $55. This table below is listed on CL for $45, although the Picasa page says $75:

Street Faire Antiques’ for sale list on CL

Pictures of items for sale on Picasa

So what makes this part of green week? First, you’re only going to buy furniture if you need it, and if you’re replacing something, you’re going to recycle it by giving it away, selling it, or reusing it. Second, you’re going to pitch the idea of going there to the friend whose car gets the best gas mileage, make sure their tires are inflated, and get them to take you, unless you’re that friend, in which case, congratulations (I considered adding that you’re going to take public transportation, but it’s hard to carry a dresser on a bus). Third, if it’s a piece you’re going to refinish, I highly recommend checking out some alternatives to traditional stripping and sealing materials. When we finally refinish this table, we’re going to try a couple of less-toxic products:

• Soy gel paint stripper – this non-toxic, biodegradable stripper is made from soy, and rumor has it that it works amazingly well. About $26 per quart, you can order it online or find a local retailer – Livingreen in Culver City and Santa Barabara carry it as well.
• AFM Safecoat’s Polyureseal for a clear finish. AFM’s finishes are not non-toxic, but they are low-VOC and seem to be very durable so far – I used just two coats to refinish a floor and it’s holding up very well.

For more green refinishing options, check out these resources (links will open in new window):

• Green refinishing
• GreenHomeGuide
• The Green Guide
• Soy Clean Paint Stripper
• Treehugger’s ‘How to Green Your Furniture’

Why don’t I have any pictures of Pepe’s Thrifty Shop? Because on our way from Wertz Brothers Antique Mart (not terribly thrifty, by the way), we stopped at this really great taco place at Bundy and Santa Monica called Taco Plus. They’re serious about the plus; the food was really fantastic and cheap. So fantastic, in fact, that I left mi bolsa right there on the floor and happily skipped back to the car, half-eaten burrito in tow, oblivious to the fact that my iPhone and $100 in birthday spendy cash was sitting under my erstwhile chair. We got all the way to Pepe’s before I realized my lack of bag, and had to call Taco Plus to tell them that I was an idiot and would be coming back to get it. We checked out Pepe’s first, and it was pretty thrilling. They have a lot of old furniture stacked to the heavens. We happened to be looking for a sofa, which we didn’t find, but had we been looking for chairs or tables we would have been set. Prices are reasonable. Highly recommended.

I didn’t write it down, but I think the hours were something like 10-6 Monday through Friday, and 10-6:30 on Saturday. They are closed on Sundays.

Update:

Thanks to Laure from Apartment Therapy – I knew these were in there somewhere!

Oh right, usually I include such vital information as location:
4577 S. Centinela Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
map it
Street parking is metered out front, and we didn’t have any trouble parking there on a Saturday, so I’m not sure what other parking options are available.

A few weeks ago, Alex and I decided to have a downtown LA adventure, which involved visiting Olvera Street and Chinatown, as well as the American Apparel factory store and every antique, junk, and thrift store we saw along the way. We took Jefferson Boulevard all the way downtown because we could, and happened upon this amazing junk yard at Jefferson and Edgehill Drive. I went to go get a map of this intersection, and was totally creeped out and impressed that I could see it this clearly from my living room. Google’s street view has really advanced:

We were totally blown away by this place. Stacks of furniture, glassware, lamps, and clothing, and at least two incredible midcentury bars made out of vinyl, which I didn’t take pictures of because I wanted to buy them because I was caught up in the moment, but I realize in hindsight that I should have. Taken pictures, I mean, bot bought them.

I bought a Bitossi-esque footed candy dish for $2.00. Nothing was actually labeled with any price, but it was clearly a thrifty paradise. The owner was so nice, and I’m sure we’ll be back.

We also visited The Peddler’s Rack across the street, but they were a bit older and pricier. Overall, it’s definitely worth a trip out there.

There are positives and negatives to shopping at the Salvation Army thrift store. On the plus side, they take credit cards, they’re very well known so they get a ton of donations. However, if you’re out looking for a bargain on Sunday, you pretty much have to concede the day to the stores affiliated with Christian charities, and this is one. Parking at the 11th street location in Santa Monica is about as frustrating as Trader Joe’s.

This location sports a sort of class-based duality that doesn’t always make sense. They have a traditional warehouse-style warehouse and, next door, a boutique-style boutique that appears to sell a lot of what was probably expensive and upscale in the 80’s & 90’s, as well as some Victorian-esque objects thrown in to make the joint classy. This means that often the midcentury stuff gets relegated to the warehouse – at much lower prices.

I found this nightstand in the warehouse side for $25, along with this dresser – I don’t remember how much the dresser was, but I’m sure it was under $100.

That’s not to say that the boutique doesn’t have some great finds – they’re just much more expensive than what’s next door. These chairs was marked $475 each.

Salvation Army and Goodwill always have good bric-a-brac. If I find nothing I came for, I can almost always find some flatware in a pattern I collect or something weird that will serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever, like this … thing.

Of course I bought it. It was fifty cents. I’m still not sure exactly what its true purpose is. Any thoughts?

The weekend is upon us! Here are some things happening around town:

South Park Flea Market

8th Street and Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
map it
website: http://southparkfleamarket.com/
Hours: Every Sunday, 9am – 4pm
Rain or shine

This is a new market opening this week. From their website, they have over 200 vendors, ample parking, vintage and collectibles, and lots of clothing and jewelry. Dogs are welcome on a leash, and it mentions that they aren’t allowed in the farmer’s market area, so apparently there’s one of those too. This market is founded by Phillip Dane, who also founded the Melrose Trading Post, so apparently he knows what he’s doing. He calls his South Park venture “the Fred Segal of flea markets.” Click here to read an article about the market from LA Downtown News. Adult admission is $2.00.

Long Beach Outdoor Antique & Collectible Market

Veterans Stadium
Long Beach, CA
map it
website: http://www.longbeachantiquemarket.com/ – be warned, it’s not pleasing to look at.
Hours: Third Sunday, 6:30am – 3pm (early admission from 5:30 – 6:30)
Rain or shine
$5 admission, $10 early admission
No pets allowed

If Long Beach weren’t so far away, I would go there all the time. But the prices would also be higher. Long Beach is a collector’s mecca, and at reasonable prices. They have some of the best thrift and vintage stores in Southern California, and this market is no exception. Make a day of this one, you won’t be disappointed.

And, this weekend only:

The All-American Collector’s Show

Glendale Civic Auditorium
Glendale, CA
map it
website: http://www.allamericancal.com/
Hours: Saturday, Jan. 19, noon – 6pm, Sunday, Jan. 20, 10am – 4pm
$7 adult admission, $2 for kids

From their website:
“200 dealers from around the world will gather to buy, sell and trade Tin Wind-up toys, Cast Iron toys, Disney memorabilia, Dolls, Americana, Arcade machines, Movie memorabilia, Gambling items, advertising and much more. Collectible items are on display and can be purchased for as little as one dollar, while rare and highly desirable pieces, such as a Cigar Store Indian might fetch $65,000. Antique and rare advertising signs have been sold for prices ranging from $100 to $100,000, carousel figures from $600 too as much as $50,000 and all-in-all, the Show offers a carnival-type museum look, full of excitement and activity.”

So this doesn’t seem like a thrifty event exactly, but if you’re in the area and you love antiques it does sound like fun. Plus, in their gallery they have a picture of “regular attendees” Jonathan Winter and Robert Blake. What? Robert Blake? I think if i were trying to promote something I’d probably advertise it without the help of someone accused of murdering their wife. Come to this year’s model train expo, hosted by O.J. Simpson!

Have a great weekend!

Starting next year I’m going to add a little section called the thrifty guide. Since I live on the west side, it will primarily feature stores and markets located in or easily accessible to the area, but I’ll try and branch out when I can. For example:

Boys & Girls Club of Venice Thrift Store

13347 Washington Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
map it
310 437 4514
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 10 am to 6pm, closed Mondays
Accepts credit / debit cards

BGCV has a lot of glasses and dishware, some lamps, a lot of heavy wood furniture (dressers and such) from the 80’s, a lot of chairs, and other assorted knickknacks and furniture. Their prices range from being outrageously over the top for a thrift store (in line with vintage store prices) to being totally normal, and it seems sort of arbitrary. The poster below was marked $600:

Is it worth it? Sure, if it’s original, but it feels a little pretentious to charge this much for something in a thrift store. I understand it goes to a good cause, but that doesn’t make me have $600 for a poster, and if I did, I would shop at Surfing Cowboys. Anyway, I’ve also seen amazing things there for $10 or $20 (like my working 1950’s sewing table I bought there for $10). You can park on the street in the nearby neighborhood, or at the Costco parking lot if there’s no street parking (Sunday mornings, usually – there’s a popular breakfast spot next door whose patrons take up most of the street parking). They also list things for sale on craigslist, some of which are wildly overpriced and some of which are reasonable. It’s a nice feature if you see something you like before you go, but they have much more that they don’t post.

Now go clean your kitchen! Oh, I’m talking to myself again. Nevermind. Unless you need to clean your kitchen, in which case, by all means, do so.