By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
After fielding a few carefully disguised concerns from condo neighbors about how long my $14.99 sky blue


plastic Adirondack chairs would remain on my deck, I finally gave in and made a BIG furniture purchase.

A big furniture purchase to me is a little different from a big furniture purchase to a lot of people, because I am by nature thrifty and quality-conscious and have been known to wait an unusually long time for just the right thing to go on sale.

So two weekends ago, I found my solution at a Lowe’s sidewalk summer clearance sale. I bought two natural all-weather wicker armchairs with matching ottomans and plump cushions.

They are heavy and substantial, big and roomy enough to fall asleep in while reading a book.

I paid $170 for each set, a slashed price that still seemed like a fortune on my budget.

But they are exactly what I wanted, and it took me almost exactly one year from the day I put a contract on my condo to buy them.

Waiting for the right piece of furniture was something I learned as a young 20-something living alone in a strange city and working at my first newspaper job.

Among my dearest friends at the time were a young architect and his wife. They lived across the courtyard from me in an urban townhouse complex in the heart of the city’s downtown. My friends were aesthetic and careful and living on a serious budget like we all were at the time. But they wanted a beautiful home with just the right furniture pieces to give it that straight-from-the-pages of Architectural Digest look.

That meant eating at a folding card table and sitting on the floor when we socialized.

After much saving and perusing the pages of home magazines, my friend found a cocktail table that he fell madly in love with. It was granite or marble – I can’t remember exactly which – and had a soothing abstract shape like a piece of Henry Moore sculpture.

Alas, he had found the perfect cocktail table, but not the perfect living room chairs, so for several more years his guests sat on the floor around the beautiful cocktail table, drinking wine and listening to jazz and feeling very grown up.

I learned from him about waiting for just the right thing, something I took to heart and followed religiously.

A pair of den chairs and my dining room set are purchases that date back to my 20s. They are good-looking and good quality, and I would never dream of parting with them.

Lately though, I’ve been struck with the plethora of furniture choices available to the budget-conscious. Places such as Ikea and Target have a lot of well-designed pieces at affordable prices, unlike when I was starting out.

There’s really no reason for anyone to eat at a card table or sit on the floor anymore. It’s now possible to buy copies of furniture by famous mid 20th century designers as well as fresh, modern pieces that look like a million bucks.

Yet there was something fun about that time, knowing that by searching and saving we could create our dream homes.

In fact, I ate on a folding card table for years, too.

I covered it with a daisy-yellow linen cloth and entertained with wild abandon, throwing dinner party after dinner party, never ashamed of my modest digs. Once a neighbor offered to loan me a real dining room set, but I politely declined.

I was waiting for just the right thing, no matter how long it took.

I was thinking about that the other night as I sat in my attractive new outdoor chair, feet propped up on an ottoman, novel in hand. The sun was setting all around me, transforming the sky into ribbons of pink and apricot.

I was happy I waited for just the right thing.

And I’m sure my neighbors are, too.