HOW I BECAME AN EBAY STALKER: the tantalizing allure of antique sofas

Ebay
transformed
my artistic appreciation for antiques
into an
obsession with
18th & 19th
century
style
furniture

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Allow me to paint a clear picture of my situation. 

I have a two year old daughter who thinks it is her calling in life to be a human tornado. I have a (soon to be) seven year old step-son, who isn't overly messy, but did I mention he's a seven year old boy. I have a husband who.. well, I have a husband. 
And I'm an artist.

And not this kind of artist..

But this kind.

Anndd.. did I mention I have a two year old? So yeah, you get the picture. If one was to describe my home in a single word that word not be grandeur. Never the less, from time to time, I can hear a little voice screaming from inside my head saying "I want nice things damnit!" And being that our love seat, functioning as our couch, has a cracked frame and is such an eye sore that we attempt to cover it with a poorly fitting and incredibly annoying couch cover; and the only other place to sit in our living room is one of those chairs that fold out into what some evil bastard decided to call a bed, but when you sit in it you slowly slide out as if you're melting onto the floor... I took it upon myself to begin searching the inter webs for new furniture. 
Now don't make fun of me, but I was up until this point in my life oblivious to Ebay. I mean, I knew what it was and what it did, but had never experimented with it before. Usually if I wanted relatively cheap and ok looking furniture I would go to IKEA, which I now see was a gateway store. However, my best friend Hannah Banana, who just recently bought and renovated her new home turned me onto the idea of this Ebay with her new and fancy black leather, tufted, over-sized ottoman.. which was some kind of great price, that I don't even remember. So one night when the baby destroyer of worlds was asleep in bed, and my husband at work, I decided to try out this Ebay and see what all the fuss was about. I don't remember exactly what I put into the search engine, but I eventually found myself scrolling through page after page of antique, Rococo & Victorian style sofas. 

and when it showed me this..

Find this sofa here 

And so my obsession began

With the allure of Ebay's reasonably priced antiques and my artistic mind whispering me promises of reupholstered masterpieces, I was seduced by the Dark Side like a young and naive Anakin Skywalker. I couldn't stop, I had a full on artistic boner for all the beautiful carvings, cabriole legs, and wonderful potential I saw in these classic works of art. So for weeks I searched the farthest corners of Ebay for these beauties, planning out color schemes, the arrangement of my living room when the pieces would be mine (I was in a constant state of 'my precious'..), and even contemplating driving to New York to claim those pieces that were 'local pickup only' bullshit. 
What's so bad about this, you ask? What's wrong with having an eye for a good deal, and an artistic plan to bring it all together?...I will tell you. My goal was to find an affordable seating arrangement that was better then the one we were currently in. But the pieces of furniture I was drooling over.. the chesterfields, the camelbacks, the settes.. they were out of my price range. Yes they were reasonably priced for antiques, but a reasonably priced antique is three times as much as a reasonably priced plain-Jane couch. And reupholstering a sofa, I discovered, was going to cost ATLEAST as much as the sofa itself. And let us not forget..

...I saw this.

DisfunctionalDesigns Blog

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TwoStringJane on Etsy

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Timorous Beasties incredible shop of awesome furniture 

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my house

soo not my house

So alas, I had to come to grips with the fact that I may not have in my possession a beautifully antique - turned modern style Victorian sofa.. YET. Sometime during my weeks of sofa stalking on Ebay, late nights of researching Rococo to Victorian style furniture, learning how to tell the difference between Louis XIII style and Queen Anne style carvings, and studying the science behind dating pieces based on the curvature of their supporting legs.. I fell in love. I am in love with 18th century furniture, and for the artistic beauty that this unexpected artform is adorned with. So I vow to one day own one of these insanely unique and amazing masterpieces.. but sadly, today is not that day. 
Tomorrow isn't looking good either. 

Have you found yourself in a similar predicament of needing antique or Ebay rehab? Even better.. have you transformed your antique find into something too lovely not to share with us addicts? Share with me in the comments, and for the love of God post some pictures...So we can all drool over your Victorian wonder!

stay artsy my friends,