Do you go through a garage sale slump during the winter? Winter usually slows down my secondhand hunting. Garage sales won’t pop up again until the weather warms, but estate sales are still happening. Don’t overlook these sales. They’re actually my favorite kind of secondhand sale. If you’re not familiar with estate sales, they’re a way of liquidating the belongings of a family or person, so everything in the house is for sale. Room by room, all of the items from towels to beds to muffin tins are tagged and sold. If you haven’t been to an estate sale before, I can see how it might be a weird experience. You’re basically going through someone’s entire life. But if you can get past that, these sales have some advantages. Looking for specifics If you need a specific item (I needed a muffin tin, for example,) you have a pretty good chance of finding it. I also find that estate sales are great places to find tools. I’ve purchased everything from hammers to boxes of screws for next-to-nothing. Half off days Most estate sales begin discounting all of the items after one or two days. Estate sales often run Thursday...
Weekend Finds: Neighborhood Garage Sale Galore
Saturday morning garage sale hunting is one of my favorite activities. Especially this time of year when the spring coolness lingers until late morning and you can just browse and enjoy being outside. Yesterday, I was treasure-hunting solo, but usually my twin sister goes along. We both love bargain shopping and get really excited when we spot a good sale. We’re super efficient and can gauge the quality of a garage sale quickly. Without even speaking, we both know if it’s time to leave after just a few glances, or if the sale is worth a closer inspection. Twin intuition or lots of garage sale practice? Hard to say. Garage sale shopping was easy this weekend because the neighborhood across the street from my house was holding a neighborhood garage sale. House after house of garage sales in a small area. My bliss! Here’s what I found: Ship bookends: $2 “Tom Sawyer” book: $0.50 Four small plates: $0.50 Crate: $10 Two mini clipboards: $2 Industrial light (not pictured): $0.50 Silver chandelier (not pictured): $10 These miniature plates were labeled $0.25 each, but I got them all for $0.50. I was immediately drawn to the bird plate and the others went so well...
Weekend Finds: Saturday Garage Sale Haul
Last weekend I got up early and hit the garage sales. Driving from spot to spot, I scoped out some good deals. It was a prefect weekend for garage saleing. The cool weather meant tons of people were having sales. I didn’t drive far at all and found some great stuff for low prices! Here’s what I found: Small wooden end table: $3 (Yes, $3) Glass ice bucket: $5 Two books: 25 cents each Random hardware: 25 cents Two 4×6 Crate & Barrel rugs: $35 total Two dark wood shelves: $15 total I bought a couple of cheap paperbacks to take on my upcoming trip to Cambodia!. You can’t beat 25 cents each. I’m excited to add this ice bucket to my vintage bar cart! Perhaps my best finds of the day were two barely-used 4×6 Crate & Barrel rugs. They’re a pretty white and beige color and they feel so soft! Also, they’re pup-approved. Check out my past weekend finds! What do you think of my finds? Let me know in the comments!...
Weekend Finds: Friday Night Rummage Sale
This weekend I went to Kansas City’s First Friday event, an art walk held once a month in the Crossroads Arts District. In between checking out the art galleries, I came across a rummage sale. What luck! There’s nothing I like more than rummaging. Besides maybe the word “rummaging.” Rummaging. Rummaging. It’s an excellent word, no? Anyway, the rummage sale was held at Broadway & Penn, a local vintage-inspired clothing and home décor store. It was like an upscale garage sale. And of course I found a few goodies. Here’s what I found: Metal two-tiered basket: $10 Yellow plastic compost bin: $2 This metal basket is exactly what I’ve been looking for to hold fruit. We eat a lot of fruit. And I’m always moving bowls of fruit out of the way in our tiny kitchen. Now all of my fruit can live in one place! It’s so funny sometimes how you can find exactly what you need at secondhand sales. For weeks now I’ve been thinking about how I needed some sort of bin with a lid to keep my compost in. But I’m too cheap to buy a new compost bin. When I came across this yellow...
Weekend Finds: Junk-to-Treasure Estate Sale
I hadn’t planned on checking out any estate sales this weekend, but I drove by an estate sale sign on Saturday so, of course, I had to stop. I’m sure the sale was great when it started on Thursday, but as of Saturday it was slim pickings. Don’t get me wrong. Usually I like junk. But, I like what I call, “good junk.” These are items that have the potential to be awesome but you can’t see it right away. Maybe because the item is covered in dirt or a bad paint job. Think chairs with a good structure but chipped paint or a picture frame without the glass. That’s “good junk.” What was left at this sale was just junk. (Or, really expensive items.) I thought I was going to leave empty-handed until I dug through a pile of fabric and pulled out a few sweet swatches. I love how they all go together. And, I also grabbed a small glass jar. Here’s what I found: Five fabric remnants: $3.75 Glass apothecary jar with lid: $1 The estate sale was held by one of my favorite estate sale companies in the Kansas City area, Brown Button Estate Sales....
Weekend Finds: Winter Estate Sale
You know you’re really into thrifting when you’re braving the snow and scoping out the seriously slim pickings of estate sales during the winter. Last weekend I stopped by a local estate sale that was pretty junky–my favorite kind! Here’s what I found: Large wire basket, $1 Fish posters, $1 4 metal bookends, $1.50 My favorite days to go to estate sales are on Saturdays and Sundays because everything is usually half off or discounted even more. Check out past weekend finds! Have you hit any estate sales this winter? Tell me about your favorite estate sale finds in the comments. Keep Up With Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest....
Weekend Finds: Garage Sale Lamp Shades
This weekend I stopped at a few garage sales and picked up two lamp shades for $3 each. Normally I can’t find cute lamp shades while thrifting. I love picking up lamp bases at the Goodwill, DAV and other secondhand stores. You can score really stylish secondhand lamp bases for cheap. Finding lamp shades is not so easy. At secondhand stores the lamp shades are usually dented or way outdated, if you find them at all. Lately, I’ve done well searching for lamp shades at garage sales. I’ve found that garage salers tend to have near perfect condition lamp shades because they bought them and they didn’t work for their particular lamp. And, then I buy them for less than a fourth of the price of what they would cost new. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this other lamp shade yet, but for $3 I know I’ll put it to use at some point. Check out past weekend finds! Have you found any good garage sale finds lately? Tell me about them in the comments… Keep up with Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. This is the twenty seventh post in...