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Homes

Here, few bucks go long way

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published March 11, 2005

Here's the challenge: Is it possible to decorate a one-bedroom apartment for $250?

The Chiselers dare me to do it.

The Chiselers are a group of fiercely dedicated women who hold the annual mother-of-all thrift sales to finance historic preservation efforts at the University of Tampa.

The Chiselers' annual sale is tomorrow morning, at 9 a.m. sharp.

Get there early if you want the really good stuff.

I've seen it all myself, having browsed the Chiselers' warehouse with that hypothetical $250.

Bear in mind, I am the proud steward of a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment. I own things like my grandmother's buffet, a pre-Civil War sleigh bed and possibly one of the only 1950s Jean Nate advertising lamp in existence.

So I really don't need $250 worth of furniture from the Chiselers.

The point is, I will pretend I need it.

I will pretend I am 23 again and starting over.

I could blow my whole budget on a fine-looking Hepplewhite-style breakfront.

Tempting.

Or I could be sensible and buy a French provincial bedroom set for $100; a faux bamboo table and chairs for $40; and a retro, slightly shabby but very feminine chaise lounge with sexy lines for $15. Add to my hypothetical shopping cart a nicely aged cubbyhole desk for $15, and an original still life painting of flowers in a blue vase for $2.

A set of $5 wooden shutters will cover the windows.

The $2 TV works just fine (tested by the husbands of the Chiselers).

Throw in the beautiful old buffet for $100.

And, well, I'm over budget.

Just a little.

I haven't even gotten to the china, crystal, books, rugs - or the bargain basement.

Not to worry. Come early afternoon, the markdowns begin.

Plus, the Chiselers have some serious decorating advice to dispense, something to chew on while bedecking my pretend pad.

Susanne Cleckler, market co-chairwoman, teaches classes in textiles at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa.

"Start with a basic color scheme when buying artwork and rugs," she says. "Buy what you like with the idea that you can change things slightly."

If you think those wooden card-table chairs look right for your grandmother's bridge club but not your breakfast nook, paint them.

Ditto for shutters or a table base.

"Be eclectic," Cleckler advises. "Don't worry about buying matching pieces."

Velva Clark, the Chiselers president, offers an exotic accessorizing suggestion.

Orchids.

Real ones.

Cultivated by Chiselers' gardening gurus.

About $15 to $20 a pop.

Or, for $30 you can buy a fully decorated seven-foot Christmas tree, strung with twinkling lights.

Top off the whole experience with a homemade Chiselers pimiento sandwich, their trademark recipe, long a culinary tradition at this delicious day of high style slumming.

The mother-of-all tag sales.

Where it's possible for the not-so-picky to deck out an apartment for $250. The only rub is that you absolutely must cart away what you buy - the day of the sale.

Wear running shoes.

And bring a truck.

The 42nd Chiselers Market, Tampa's largest one-day flea market, takes place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the University of Tampa, 401 E Kennedy Blvd. All proceeds go toward the restoration of the university's Plant Hall, formerly the Tampa Bay Hotel built in 1891. Items for sale include furniture, kitchenware, plants, art, china, crystal, silver and books.

[Last modified March 10, 2005, 09:33:10]