3 Keepers & a Regret: Sade Strehlke
Facebook Marketplace scores, a $45K dining table and the danger of learning what you didn't know you wanted
3 Keepers and a Regret is a recurring series on Retail Therapy on Substack where I ask people I admire to name 3 things they’d fight to keep — bought, inherited, stolen — and 1 thing they regret.
As a former journalist, when I come across someone who’s worked at some of the biggest magazines, I’m always a bit jealous and a lot curious. I want to know how they’ve done it and sneak a peek into their life and success. That’s why Sade Strehlke is my guest on this week’s 3 Keepers.
Sade served as the editor in chief at POPSUGAR after time at other lifestyle publications including SHAPE, Refinery29 and Teen Vogue. As the Home editorial head at WalMart, she opted out of moving to Arkansas for the job. I get it.
Since then, the mom of three has gone out on her own. Her Substack is Resting Rich Face, which is something I think I want? And she’s launching Roux and the waitlist is open.
Three Keepers
3 things you’d fight to keep — bought, inherited, stolen
No. 1 — Francesco Balzano custom table
My Francesco Balzano, custom, resin, pink, 600-lb. dining table. Cost $45K, I acquired it from a private seller on FB Marketplace, whose whole house I basically bought for a fraction of the price!
No. 2 — The Row black mink coat
The Row black mink coat, also from FB Marketplace seller, still had the Barneys New York tags on it, $27.5K, but I got it for $1,500 from someone who was ridding herself of her ex-husband’s gifts that she never uses. She also had two others, a pink, purplish one and a red one — the latter was still available, also for $1,500 and I’ll never forgive myself for not getting that one too.
No. 3 — Shakudo locket from husband
A rare Shakudo — a traditional Japanese metallurgical alloy composed primarily of copper with a small amount of gold, made by Japanese metalsmiths after the fall of the Samurai class — locket that my husband gave me for Christmas. It was super expensive and I begged him to get me a Miele dishwasher instead, but he insisted and wrote the sweetest note. It's of a traditional Japanese rickshaw puller carrying a woman through the mud, and he said he will always carry me. Once you've been together for almost 20 years, it's hard to get sentimental (at least for us haha), but this hit me. And, whenever I wear it, I get endless compliments from the most stylish people.
One Regret
now the regret
My AGA 48", double oven, black matte, induction range. Called the "Elise," it's gorgeous. I got it (new, since I'm such a vintage shopper haha) during the pandemic, waited 9 months for it and it now retails for double the price. It up leveled my kitchen, but two ovens in a 48" range? Regular pans don't fit and because it's such a special piece, when one of the ovens broke, it took a year for the warranty company to find someone who could actually fix it. When we gut our kitchen soon, I'm swapping it for a custom L'Atelier Paris range that they're going to custom match to my beloved Balzano dining table — European design, construction, but made in the USA with top notch service.
Why I’m Still Shopping
Sade’s 3 Keepers exposed me to a lot I was totally unaware of and sorta wish I didn’t know existed. Too often I learn about something new, feel left out and unaware, then fixate on thinking I need it. So I’m ultimately better off never knowing these things exist.
As for Sade, she gives us a history lesson, a bit of a fashion show, and some interior design know-how. This mom of three has figured out how to make all aspects of life look good. Somehow. And I’m starting to understand her M.O. on the goal to “still look expensive,” no matter the situation or the NYC summer heat. It all evades me, to the point I sometimes wonder why I try.
I appreciate learning about Shakudo and definitely have a new take on Facebook Marketplace. Sade’s significant scores have me reconsidering my avoidance.
Having just been through a remodel myself, I understand Sade’s oven disappointment. Mine is in the form of a dishwasher. Sure, all the appliances now match, but it’s much noisier than the practically new one it replaced. Between all the glasses I go through each day drinking various beverages, and all of Radio’s food containers and bowls, it always seems to be on. I can’t not hear the gurgling.
It’s also become obvious we now need window coverings in two rooms but we’re going without because the cost is obscene — we just spent boatloads of money. Sure the neighborhood may see me walk around naked, but they don’t have to look or they can just close their eyes.
Sade’s keepers and regret have definitely schooled me on things I never knew existed. I skip fur and you’ll never hear me ask for any appliance as a gift because I barely cook. It’s everything else that’s my danger zone. A few minutes ago I didn’t know it was possible to find anything from The Row with tags still intact and at a price I can afford. Now I want to find that. So I’ll spend all night looking instead of sleeping. That’s the actual problem. Wanting only requires knowing.
Thanks to Sade Strehlke of Resting Rich Face. If you know someone else who can't unsee an item, this post is for them.
When life stops making sense, we shop. More soon.
I'm obsessed with that table, wow.