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: 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: Multi-Family Estate Sale
A couple weekends ago I checked out a multi-family estate sale with so many rooms of stuff I got lost trying to find my way out. No joke. It was awesome. I wanted to buy a lot more but I had to pick and choose because a lot of items were overpriced. Here’s what I found: Cute leather shoes: $8 Wood cutting board with feet: $5 Fabric glasses case: $0.50 White linen: $4 Black and white gingham: $2 The pieces of fabric are for projects you’ll see here on the blog. The shoes and glasses case were just for fun. I’m especially excited about the shoes. They’re so cute! Reimagine how you think about secondhand stuff and you can find some real gems. Check out past weekend finds! Have you been to any estate sales lately? Find anything good? Tell me about it 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 fourteenth post in a 31 days blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. Start from the beginning....