This past Friday and Saturday was my town's spring city-wide garage sale. Several of the towns in my are organize these, alternating weekends so as to draw in people from other towns. We have one in the spring and one in the fall. By getting everyone to have garage sales on the same day, people get more traffic. This also means that you have to be up really early to get the good stuff.
Friday I stopped at an estate garage sale at a house I have been in love with for several years. I actually was unaware that the lady that lived in the house had passed away. I asked about the house while I was there (the sale was held outside so I couldn't just go in the house) and the guy running the sale thought the family was going to put it up for sale. "It's very dated though" he told me. Perfect! He also let me go in and look it over. It was only a 2 bedroom house, but the rooms were quite large, the living room looked to have the original late 1950s / early 1960s carpet, the bathroom had been updated with a new vanity, but the tub and toilet were the original mint green. The wall tile in the bathroom was a brown . burgundy color. The kitchen had also had all of it's cabinets replaced in the 1970s with some very dark ones, It made the room very dark, even though it had 4 windows in it. Still, it had the original turquoise tile backsplash and the 40 inch range. I could work with it. It was a larger house over all than the Shack. It also had a nice den area just off the kitchen. The only thing it was missing was a utility room. The two car garage (two car! woo hoo!) had the washer / dryer hook ups in it. I think if I had the house, I would make the back part of the one garage bay into a utility room, keep the garage door operational on that side to keep the lawn mowers in, and effectively make it a one car garage. This would be an easy way to give the house a utility room without having to change to footprint. Hmm... can you tell I have actually put some serious thought into moving into this house? I don't know if I could leave the Shack, though, especially after all the work and money I've put into it, just to start all over on another house. I picked up a bunch of great 1950s stuff for practically nothing and went to work as happy as can be. I went back on Saturday when it was half off and found a few more treasures.
All in all, I am quite pleased with the items I was able to pick up over the two days. Take a look for yourself:
Lots of stuff in this picture - Pyrex Old Town salt and pepper set for 40 cents, Colonial Mist bowl for 75 cents, two large fridgie lids for 10 cents each (no chips). Let's see... a planter, a couple of vintage cannisters, a Fire King mug, a Hazel Atlas creamer, and a little Frankoma pitcher. Also a vintage mixer bowl and a really old clear lidded Pyrex casserole. Over all, I think I spent about $4.50 for all in this pic.
A set of 4 black painted vintage metal wall corner shelves for $1, the large corner shelf from an old set of metal kitchen cabinets was free, and the box of chrome and black kitchen handles, knobs, and hinges was $1.
Some vintage kitchen goodies. I got the toaster and the waffle iron for half price (I never knew General Mills offered kitchen appliances - that waffle iron is awesome!). $2 for everything here.
Various saucers, platters, housekeeping books and a thermos. Around $2.
I love old metal picture frames. These were 10 cents each except for the big one, which was a quarter. A couple of them have 24 karat gold stickers on them. Also, a cool vintage desk lamp for 50 cents.
This antique Bissell Grand Rapids wooden sweeper was 50 cents! It still works!
Various pieces of Homer Laughlin Rhythm dinnerware. I love the colors. My favorite is the light green tea pot. Approximately $3.50 for all here.
I got this great vintage acrylic trash can for 25 cents! I was thrilled to get this for the bathroom. The vintage metal one I had been using in there has been leaving rust rings on the floor.
Lastly, a Haeger pitcher / vase in the perfect orange color for my avocado / brown / burnt orange living room! $1!
That pretty well sums up my finds! I was thrilled, and spent less than $20!
Have a great Friday!