It was a multi-family sale.  Proceeds were going to a charity that helps support mentally impaired adults in the Nashville area.   I started noticing immediately that there were lots of Pottery Barn items, most of which still had tags.  Upon further inspection, I found each piece had some minor damage.  A small spot here, a barely chipped frame there. 

I don’t typically shop at Pottery Barn, except for clearance items and ideas.   But I hit the jackpot this Saturday morning.  After asking a few questions, I discovered that a local Pottery Barn store donated damaged items they couldn’t sell for this yard sale.  Check out these 2  8×10 rugs I snagged:

I dished out a total of $65 for my treasures.   Then I went home and checked out Pottery Barn’s online catalog.   The 2 rugs together would have cost over $700.  The lampshades would have set me back over $170.    And those two clocks – over $100.  So I figure I scored over $1000 worth of Pottery Barn items for a mere $65.  Lucky me!

How do you like my new living room rug?  It’s super-comfy and warm on the toes.   It should warm things up for the winter months!  And the art, clocks, wooden bowl, and rattan tray were all used in the two homes I staged last week.  Ah, there’s nothing like a good yard sale . . .

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist.

I love vintage Christmas ornaments, and I have a small collection of deer.  So I was thrilled to find this sweet pair:

Ok, this is really cool:  I decided last week on my next Cooking Club theme.  I’m hosting it the first week in November.  My mother-in-law gave me the great idea to do an “Election Day,” theme since elections happen to fall in that week.  So, how happy was I when I stumbled across a wad of small American flags?!  $2 for 40 – not bad!

Do you do estate sales?   What have been some of your favorite finds?

Photo Credits:  Kristie Barnett.

Here’s my most recent example.  A few weeks ago, this was the vignette on the table in the entry to my house.  I love grouping vintage books by color, and pink is a hard color to come by.  I love the children’s book on top, The Pink Motel.   But it’s obviously a bit worn, torn, and dirty.   I usually don’t display books in this condition – I like to have clean, functional pieces in my collections.  But I really love the pink cover, the title, and the illustrations on the cover.

So I stopped by a yard sale recently, and came upon this for $1!  It was The  Pink Motel in perfect condition – even with the original paper cover!

So now I had a dilemma:  should I just get rid of my old copy?  I love the exposed hardback cover, but now I see that I love the art and colors on the original paper cover.  Hmmmmm . . .

I took the paper cover off the nicer copy and put it on the ragged copy.  Now the nicer copy sits atop my stack on the entry table.  And the paper cover is now on the ragged copy, which I am displaying elsewhere.  This may seem silly to you, but these kind of little things really make my day.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was determined to recreate a sweet part of my childhood and started buying original Fisher Price Little People buildings on Ebay.

One night I dreamed I went to a yard sale and found a Fisher Price School House and Airport sitting on a blanket spread out on the ground.  Next weekend I went yard saling with my friend, Cathy.  As I parked the car and walked across the street, I saw before me a Fisher Price School House and Fire House sitting on a blanket spread out on the ground.   OK, in my dream it was the Airport and not the Fire House, but in real life I already had the Airport and needed the Fire House!

I about had a fit right then and there and totally made a fool of myself as I tried to explain this dream to the yard sale lady who then gave me an inflated price on the items, quickly realizing I would probably pay too much for them since I dreamed about them (and because I was probably crazy!).

All this to say, great things happen to me at yard sales.  Seemingly small, but great things. I’ve come to think of these things as little presents from Jesus.  Who else knows the secret, silly desires in my heart and sets them in front of me?  This mindset has helped me open my eyes to potential blessings in unexpected places and situations.  I just don’t believe in coincidences anymore!  Especially when it comes to yard sales .

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My latest bargain was found at my local Goodwill store.  Just stopped in to find a gray belt, which I found.  I always go through the leaning stack of framed art in the back.  I found not one, but two bamboo tack boards with white frames.  They looked so cool, I thought at first they were just framed bamboo.  Then I realized someone had made them to be tack boards.  They totally look like they are right out of a Ballard Designs catalog!

I’m going to start part-time homeschooling (yes, you can do that) with my oldest daughter this fall, so I knew these would work great in our new study.  This room was previously our nursery, and now will function as my design office and Audrey’s schoolroom.  I envision using one to post special assignments or studydates.   The other might be where I pin my daughter’s latest piece of artwork.

But you know what?  There’s other ways to use these.  Since there are two, they’d work great as a pair of everchanging art displays.  Simply cut out colorful scrapbook papers or old wallpaper samples and tack them in the middle.  They’d be great in a child’s room.  Change them out when you want a different look.

Or, I could use them as mini-inspiration boards to pin fabrics, color swatches, decor ideas, and pics when working on a room for a client!

What’s the best thing about these?  They were only $2.99 a piece.  And they’re recycled.  And the money went to a good cause.  And they make me happy!  Go, Goodwill!

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You can use the tiles to spell whatever you choose.  Make it relate it to the occasion, holiday, or season.  You can always just spell it out, quite literally.

 It’s even more interesting if you choose words that are not necessarily what you’d expect.  Rather than spelling “happy thanksgiving,” why not spell “gobble gobble?”  Rather than “merry christmas,”  try “jesus is born.”  For New Year’s try ”start fresh” or “resolutions.” 

 Use the tiles for display on side tables, mantels, or as part of a dinner tablescape.  Use them as place markers at a dinner party – just use initials if you don’t have enough for full names.   Even nicknames would be fun.  Those wooden scrabble tile holders make this super-easy.

If you don’t have a Scrabble game, you can often find one at yard sales for a dollar or two.  Different versions of the game have different colors and sizes of tiles.  I currently have black ones with gold lettering, as well as cream ones with the little numbers beneath the letters that even come with a few wooden letter holders.  What other ways can you think of to use Scrabble tiles?

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I have a fabulous oil portrait in my dining room.  If you’ve ever been in my home, you’ve seen her.  If you’ve looked through my blog much, you’ve probably spied her in the corner of many of my pictures.   No, she’s not my grandmother or favorite aunt.  I found her on the side of the road propped up next to someone’s garbage – she was too large to fit in the can, and way too lovely to end up there. 

Anyway, it was starting to rain and I had to make a quick decision.  Do I let this beautiful painting of a dejected mother-in-law go to the city dump?  Or do I risk embarrassing my own mother by picking through her neighbor’s garbage before our lunchdate?  Yes, my mother was humiliated and shocked that I would do such a thing.  But it was worth it.

After finding my beauty, I decided I might like to collect these kind of oil portraits.  But, guess what?  They are often poorly-done (the quality of the hands is the mark of true talent) and/or just plain spooky.  You know, the eyes-are-watching-you, Scooby Doo kind of thing.   I hung an oil portrait of my husband’s grandmother for a little while, but it creeped out my children.   Maybe it’s best if you don’t know the person.  Portraits that are really well-done are difficult to find and very expensive.  Portrait painting is becoming a lost art.  There’s this guy I went to college with in Nashville who does amazing ones – but they cost thousands of dollars to have commissioned. 

Earlier this summer, I was at a yard sale scooping up some rejected but stylish shirts for $1 a piece from a 14-year-old fashion diva.  And then I spied something interesting.  It was a rolled-up canvas with a $2 price tag.  I unrolled it and gasped.  It was a blond lady in a light blue dress, and she could have been a younger version of my own lovely lady!  I quickly paid the teenager, so afraid that someone else would see my amazing find and snatch it up for themselves.  But that’s the good thing about the way I think – others rarely see the potential in the crap, I mean stuff , that I fall in love with.

I got home, unrolled my treasure, and notice something distracting and disturbing.  My lovely lady is wearing a beautiful evening gown, but with a diamond-shaped cutout on the belly area.  The thing that makes it even more disturbing is that the artist used plenty of shading that makes the lady appear to be showing off a hint of her under-bosom.  UGH!  

I thought about hanging it as-is, knowing it would be a humorous conversation piece.  Then I showed it to my friend Michelle, who said “why don’t you just take some paint and cover that up?”  Could I do that?  I’m no artist, and I certainly don’t have any oil paints.  I reminded myself that my initial investment was only $2, so what did it really matter if I screwed it up?  I pulled out 3 shades of blue craft paint from Michaels and got to work.  Tah-Dah!!!!

Now it just looks like my lovely lady is wearing a gown with some interesting detailing.  So much more couth than the bare belly and hint of under-bosom.

My husband made a very simple wooden frame that I stapled my portrait to, no exterior frame required.  He did it under duress, as he doesn’t understand why on earth I would want to hang this in our home.  But I guarantee you, it will grow on him.  Thankfully, he has learned to trust my vision .

There are several points I want you to get from this post.  Embrace what you find beauty in, no matter if anyone else sees what you see.  Don’t be afraid to alter things you have to make them more interesting or more beautiful.  Separate the object from the context – something can look old-fashioned or tired in someone else’s home (or in someone else’s garbage), but look fresh and fun somewhere else with a different design aesthetic.  Don’t take yourself or your decor so seriously.  And most importantly, call me if you find an old oil painting for cheap!