visit ready: VaVoom Value Furniture: Nadeau like Playdough

On the top - a selection of metal storage
from Restoration Hardware for $149-169.
On the bottom - similar options from Nadeau for $69.

Almost everyone loves a great deal (some snooty patooties like to brag how much they pay, but not any of my friends.)

Stagers by our very nature, HAVE to find good deals. We need a table that looks super fancy, but my client needs the price to be super tiny. Inventory items have to be sturdy enough to move from house to house and still look great. We want to spend the least while making the most impact. I do check Craig's list and Goodwill, but I have a favorite place that you may not have heard of. You may have driven by and never guessed at the treasures within.

This is my love letter to Nadeau, furniture with a soul. It is the perfect furniture store for me. It is one of the reasons I wanted to become a stager. They have so many pieces I love, but my house can never hold them all. Now, I can help others pick out some to go in their house and then add a ~~dozen~~ couple to my inventory.

all the treasures piled up, this
one is for my sistah (shhh)
via facebook

There are only in 17cities, but I had no idea they were so rare. We had 3 at one time in Charleston, so I thought they were all over.

Everyone loves IKEA and I love the sleek look and great prices -- no one loves the wordless directions and that crazy little screwdriver thingy. It is a giant, well lit box filled with treasures and they babysit your short people. As close as that is to perfect, Nadau is a completely different kind of wonderful. It feels like a crazy furniture dream exploded into a warehouse space. There are dressers stacked on top of one another, chairs on top of tables, screens peeking out from behind consoles. There are distressed pieces next to deeply carved next to brightly painted next to Asian inspired next to primitive. It is a wonderland for those of us who love to dig and explore.

bed, dining, dresser, orange shelf with green pigs department
BUT THE BED IS ONLY $535!

The prices are unbelievable on everything. It would allow your designer to pick the perfect piece for your fabulous 3rd country estate and then mark it up a gazillion percent. Since I only have one servantless house, I go digging for my own perfect piece and drag it home in my F-250.

Pottery Barn version

My first piece was our beautiful farm table. I had been lusting in my heart over the Pottery Barn version. I had shown this collection (over $3000 on sale plus shipping) to Hunky Husband several (thousand) times. On a whim, I ended up cruising through Nadeau and saw the exact same table for $400. It is not the exact same though, because this table was made of solid Plantation grown Mahogany, the PB version has a MDF top with veneer.

Southern Living shoot $465 Nadeau version

Big girlie doing homework at ours

Hunky Husband was not happy to be summoned to a furniture store. His mood improved exponentially when he saw the price/value/beauty of the table. Let's be honest he really only cared about the price. He was so overwhelmed with relief that he had dodged the "if you love me you'll buy this Pottery Barn table" bullet. He picked out two bookcases and an end table to fill the adjoining Living Room. The total purchase was still less than the PB table alone.

Some of my Friends may or may not have used that same trick once they heard this story. I take no responsibility if you do the same.

The bookcases are in my office now holding the revolving collection of treasures when they are not on the table at a party or in someone else's house. The end table is the nightstand in my little girlie's room.

Value aside, I just love Nadeau furniture. My huge TV cabinet is one of my favorite pieces of furniture ever. You don't hear women say that very often. It looks as if a classically trained furniture maker fell off a ship and landed alone on a deserted island. It is the kind of furniture he would make -- traditional lines, rough hewn, hand rubbed, imperfectly perfect with 2 tons of character.

Each store location has different availability of items and they get different shipments all the time. In case you're wondering, I have never worked for them and did not receive any payment for this post. Besides my credit card slips, they do not know I exist. The important thing is, now you know they exist. You even know how to pronounce it.

So, good luck & happy hunting. You'll find something to make your home more visit ready.

just bec

adding this post to a great linky party at HOUSE OF HEPWORTHS. Hundreds of links for you to check out with projects, recepies & ideas.