Chairish: Covet + buy…or sell. (And a giveaway!)

Sometime late last year, I heard about a new site for buying and selling furniture called Chairish. The idea behind Chairish is that you can shop for pre-loved, pre-owned (OK, used) furnishings without having to sift through a bunch of junk. Everything for sale on Chairish has been approved by its staff curators, who have what professionals in the industry like to call “good taste.” Aside from selecting great stuff, Chairish also screens sellers and handles the shipping (where applicable—local pickup is also often an option), so you don’t need to worry about driving four hours and finding out that the credenza you thought you were buying was already sold while you were on your way there.

On the selling side, things get really good: You can either take your own good-quality photos of the stuff you’re selling (Chairish provides the silhouetting services!), or you can have a Chairish pro come to where you are and take photos for you if you’re in the Boston, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Greensboro, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, or Seattle areas. They’ll even do all the measuring and description-writing, too, if you want. When larger furniture items sell, Chairish partners with a white-glove shipping company who will come and pick up your dresser/table/sofa/whatever to be delivered to its new owner. I don’t know about you, but the main thing stops me from selling big pieces of furniture online (I’m looking at you, Heywood-Wakefield dresser) is not wanting to have to deal with getting the thing out of my house and arranging to have it shipped. And yes, they have an iPhone app (direct link) that makes the whole process ridiculously easy.

But enough about selling, let’s talk about BUYING! Chairish is hosting a giveaway for a $250 site credit for Door Sixteen readers! You can shop from my collection or from everything else on Chairish.

When Chairish approached me about putting together a collection of things I love and covet, I spent an afternoon looking at everything on the site. Before I knew it, I had marked 87 things as favorites. EIGHTY-SEVEN. I managed to narrow it down a little bit, and you can see my top 30-ish picks over there. Instead of just leaving you with a collection, though, I thought it would be fun to pull out my 12 favorite-favorites and show how I’d use them in a Door Sixteen-ish way.

1. Room & Board Harding Queen Sleeper Sofa
2. Pink Dyed Grain Sack Pillows
3. Yaacov Agam Signed & Numbered Serigraph
4. Vintage Brass Candlesticks- Set of 3
5. Original Herman Miller Eames Fiberglass Rocker
6. Vintage Kantha Pillow
7. Walnut Tambour Door Credenza by Milo Baughman
8. Royal Holland Pewter Coffee Service Set with Tray
9. Distressed Pair of IB Kofod Danish Lounge Chairs
10. Patrick Townsend White Orbit Chandelier
11. Black Square Boucherouite Rug
12. Danish Modern Teak Marble Top Coffee Table

Vintage neutrals + bright textures. Well, if that doesn’t look like Door Sixteen, I don’t know what does. Black upholstery can be very somber-looking, and there’s nothing more satisfying than throwing on a few brightly-colored cushions and watching the whole mood of the piece change instantly. I love the combination of black, wood, and hot pink! I want to curl up on in one of these chairs and wait for someone to bring me coffee.

Shown here: Distressed Pair of IB Kofod Danish Lounge Chairs, Pink Dyed Grain Sack Pillows, Royal Holland Pewter Coffee Service Set with Tray

Bold graphics + warm wood + metal. I know there are people who can’t get enough brass ‘n glass in their lives, but I personally prefer metals when they’re paired with much softer materials like rich, warm wood tones. I hadn’t heard of Israeli artist Yaacov Agam until I started putting this post together, but now I love his work! Check him out if you’re into op-art and color theory. Great stuff.

Shown here: Walnut Tambour Door Credenza by Milo Baughman, Vintage Brass Candlesticks- Set of 3, Yaacov Agam Signed & Numbered Serigraph, Original Herman Miller Eames Fiberglass Rocker

Contemporary high-low + mixed vintage patterns. I don’t mean high-end and low-end, I mean literally high in the room and low in the room—something contemporary on the floor, and something contemporary on the ceiling. As much as I love vintage furniture, when you’re using a lot of mismatched vintage patterns, it can all start to look kind of kitschy and retro if everything else in the room is also vintage. Trust me on this—just two contemporary, neutral-colored pieces will take the edge off and make everything feel pulled together and fresh.

Shown here: Room & Board Harding Queen Sleeper Sofa, Patrick Townsend White Orbit Chandelier, Black Square Boucherouite Rug, Vintage Kantha Pillow

There’s TONS more stuff hand-picked by me in the Door Sixteen collection at Chairish, which is where I’m headed now to ogle coffee tables and lamps. I should probably be thinking about doing some spring cleaning and selling a few things, too—our basement has become quite the dumping ground for some really nice pieces of furniture that followed us home but don’t physically fit in our house or apartment. Sigh. Someday!

p.s. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

This post was written in partnership with Chairish, but all thoughts, opinions, and selections are entirely my own.