Peggy, a cane back three-seater

We bought Peggy last week. She is a three-seat fixed sofa with delcately curved and shaped armrests and legs, and a cane or wicker backrest in perfect condition.

If she were human, she would be that lithe, late 30's almost-a-model woman that looks good in anything. Which is fortunate, since her dusty pink seat and back cushions are a fashion error of huge proportions.

We cannot find any maker's identification on her - feel free to tell us if you know her breeding.

Peggy has recently had a slightly hard time. A tradesman builder has attempted to fix her by adding some self-driving screws to strategic points on her frame. We will have to repair this misguided surgery, and at the moment we are looking for teak dowels that can be used to at least match the frame and look original. Her timberwork, apart from the scars of surgery, is in good condition, and a gentle sand and re-oil should be all thats required

We will also re-cover her cushions in a sympathetic (probably very simple) fabric that will allow her to show off her great lines and lovely backrest, or to "cover-up" if you want.

At the moment its raining and dark, and full image photos are not possible - we'll post them when conditions improve and allow you to watch the progress on this pretty little piece.

We hope to have Peggy up on Trade Me in about a month (late August 2009), so keep an eye out for her!

the aztec or tapa suite

This suite was one of the first we got, and was attacked enthusiastically!

It was purchased from the outskirts of Hamilton and so presented to opportunity for a road trip. As a bonus, we spent a relaxed half-hour opposite the seller's house watching a model aircraft do an aerobatic display just for us.

The suite had been advertised as being valued at over $600. We paid significantly less than that, and a good thing too. It was in a pretty bad way cosmetically, but as is typical of these designs, the bones were good.

Back home, we stripped the chairs completely threw away the cushions, and sanded. And sanded. Then we thought, stuff-it, paint stripper. Then we sanded some more.

Sick of sanding, we smoothed everything off and applied a whole lot of Cabots urethane. The chairs looked stunning.

Around this time, we found some fabric on Trade Me and Jos got stuck in to the upholstery side. Wildly overconfident, she went with a piped seam to the boxed seat and back cushions. 12 metres of fabric ended up giving its all to the cause. They looked great.

Then we turned our attention to the sofa, and decided that the folding part was fine, but the base frame needed the treatment. So we sanded some more. And urethaned.

We were well pleased with the result and put it all up on Trade Me feeling real good about it. The chairs and sofa were photographed separately and images posted. Anyone spot our first mistake?

A buyer asked for some more images and it was only then that we put the chairs and sofa together in the same light. The frames looked very different - two unmatched shades of timber. On closer inspection, it turned out we had not completely cleaned up the arms of the chairs, and this was the cause of the mis-match.

Since then, we have (you guessed it) sanded some more. A slightly tinted Cabots urethane has brought the chairs and the sofa into a match and we finally have a product we are happy to sell.

a change of identity

We have been trading on Trade Me for a few years under Ashton's account - aardvarkash10. While thats all well and good, we intend to concentrate a bit more on the furniture as we have a lot of it, the result of compulsive and impulsive purchases!

So, we have started a new Trade Me account - loungelizards. The tough part in this is that we start with no feedback history. No-one knows whether we are a good reliable trader, or some fly-by-night rip-off merchant.

Thems the breaks.

So, over the next week or two, you will find us migrating the furniture and retro stuff to this new account name. Its not a tactic to disguise anything - far from it! Its just us trying to separate our hobby of furniture from the sports gear, music, lego and other stuff that we also buy and sell.

All you need to remember - loungelizards is us in our furniture and retro fetish, aardvarkash10 is us with all our other shortcomings!

Trade Me, furniture, and the tyrany of character limits

Its all very well this Trade Me on line selling, but its hard for people buying to get a sense of what goes into a piece of work. The limited space and time of a Trade Me listing makes any description fleeting and any image temporary.

So here is where you can follow the story of the pieces that we list for sale. You can even find out what they sold for and, as a buyer, you can make comment on your satisfaction (or otherwise!) with your purchase.

At the moment our kick is 1950's to 1970's scandinavian-inspired New Zealand furniture. Its light and relaxed style suits New Zealand well, and it looks great in a wide range of settings. We hope the images and stories here inspire you to look into the style, or if you are already a dedicated follower, to consider your next piece!