A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles is at the Fairfax Flea Market. In the parking lot of the high school on Fairfax and Melrose, this market has live music, good food (tacos, crepes), and lots of stalls with all kinds of goodies. Of course my favorite items are the ones that have been re-worked or repurposed.
I’ve been going to the flea market for years, and have noticed that with rising popularity, prices have also gone up. The key to flea markets is negotiating, so you can still get some things at very reasonable prices.
Here are a couple of my favorite things from yesterday:
This was just awesome. I wasn’t brave enough to even ask how much it was going for, but it would make an amazing statement!
I love the look of all the industrial/ metal furniture from the 40’s and 50’s and have noticed a trend where stores have been stripping the paint off pieces to show off the pretty natural gray. This table is wood, the effect is achieved through paint. A pretty cool piece, and the drawers were stable (it’s pretty normal to find a piece you love that’s a little off kilter.) The center of the table lifts up, it would be a great place to store your notebooks and laptop if you’re a student, or you could install a mirror on the top and keep your makeup inside. He was asking $230 I think, but you could probably talk him down. Still, I think that’s a little overpriced.
This piece was awesome. The guy had some really cool stuff. His lamps were cool, too. I love the metal and wood mix that’s so popular right now. This piece was super sturdy, and my friend and I both were wishing we could weld. This booth was kinda in the corner, so he wasn’t getting as much traffic as he should, but people were still flocking in, talking about the pieces, and taking photos. Because his stuff is clearly that good.
I didn’t end up buying any furniture, I prefer to source stuff that’s a lot less expensive (and a lot of the vendors have pretty much already redone their pieces.) But more on that later! All in all, a pretty successful and inspiring Sunday afternoon at the Fairfax Flea.
Roadside Rehab 