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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Five Dollar Faucet

We had an awesome yard sale Saturday this past weekend.  Our best find was this guy.  He was only five buckaroos from a yard sale across town.  It turns out the people hosting the sale had a daughter who bought this faucet, used it for a year, then got a fancy free faucet (say that three times fast) from work.  There wasn't a price marked on the box, and we were fully ready to pay up to $20 for it.  But Mr. GI learned a chunk of wisdom from American Pickers:  always ask the seller what they're willing to take for a piece, never offer a price first.  The buyers (you!) are always in control, so if the seller offers a price that's too high, you can always work it down. 


He'll either do single stream or rinse, just by tapping that gray button on the side back and forth.  We have no idea what brand it is, but it looks suspiciously like this $150 Delta faucet from Lowe's, maybe a year or two older.
Pssst...  Mr. GI found out that our five dollar faucet was more like $400!  Check out the product description here.  And we do faintly see Delta inscribed at the base of the faucet.  That makes this find even cooler!


He's so fancy and flexible.  I haven't had a detachable sprayer since I moved out of my parents house for college years ago, so I've been filling up pots on the counter just for kicks, spraying out the sink every five minutes, and having spray wars with Chewy.  You know.


It makes that side of the house look better and less messy (visually, not actually) than the old two-handled faucet did.  And the new faucet actually matches the stainless sink, whereas the old faucet was cheap-looking chrome.  We've kind of been waiting for the faucet to explode on us (who in their right mind would sell a $150 faucet for $5?!), but so far, so good.  Mr. GI installed it as soon as we got home Saturday, and it's still trucking along beautifully. 


We also found this awesome mirror for ONE DOLLAR, Bob.


He's actually pretty hefty.  When I first picked him up, I assumed it was made of heavy plastic, but Mr. GI thinks it's composite of some kind.  I tried doing some research on the company, Turner Wall Accessory, and it looks like this guy might be vintage, perhaps from the 1950s or 1960s.  Turner went out of business in the 1970s, but not before selling lots of mirrors and wall art in the twenty years they were around.  There's a similar one on ebay right now for $70, and there's someone with a mirror like it on Instappraisal that could be valued at $50.  Not like I plan to sell this guy again, but it's kind of neat finding out his history.  (On a side note, somehow I've managed to give genders to both of the things in this post.)


I might be painting him, but I haven't made up my mind yet (I'm thinking a vibrant color).  I kind of like the variation in tones right now.  And I might be putting him in the guest bathroom.  But I haven't decided.  I just couldn't turn down this ONE DOLLAR mirror.  Could you?


Have you had any lucky yard sale finds this year?  We bought several yard sale items for the bathroom project (hopefully one last update for that project on Friday!).  We're not always so lucky with yard saling, and sometimes we strike out completely, but it seems like we do definitely have luckier Saturdays.

5 comments:

  1. I WANT THAT MIRROR. Please paint it bright blue.

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  2. Joel found a juicer ($50-$80+) for a few bucks. Also, for $2 he brought home a Projectascope, which projects images from printed material onto a wall. I don't know why I said it was ok to bring home (he generally runs these types of purchases by me first) and then I realized that Hon could use it. It's not nearly as fancy as the reader he uses but it might justify $2!

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  3. Sweet find on the faucet! We have a detachable faucet and I love it, it makes washing dishes so easy. I'm also spoiled by our detachable shower head we got at Target a while back too. You don't realize how much you use them until you're at a sink that doesn't have one, ha!

    Nice mirror too! I've been thinking about trying to find some sort of framed mirror like that in black (or I could paint it black) for our half bathroom.... next time you find a $1 mirror call me :)

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  4. Nice finds! I was just thinking yesterday that I needed a good yard sale to go to.

    What color are you thinking for the mirror if you paint it?

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    1. I'm really not sure! I've thought about yellow, lime green, bright blue, now black (thanks, Mel...). I guess it really depends on where I end up putting it. I'll probably live with it for a month or so before I make up my mind. Guess that's the fun of finding stuff on the cheap!

      Erin

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