this weekend was the city wide garage sale that happens in our neighbourhood each year (apparently), and with the state of our garage, we really thought about participating, but decided that we'd get too many people offering $2 for our fully functional air conditioning unit, and $1 for that old playstation 2 etc. so instead of hosting a garage sale we did our duty as residents and went garage sale shopping! :P
as soon as we made it out the door, we were directed where to go. we took our little cart on wheels, and cooper and mckenzie helped us sniff out some bargains.
my first bargain to gloat about is this cute little piano bench that I got for $5 which is going to be perfect as the chair for my sewing table. I am going to paint it white and replace the fabric with this great velvet striped fabric I picked up at a flea market.
and it's perfect for storing sewing supplies too
but this guy here was my absolute steal! guess how much you'd pay for a solid walnut mid century side chair... guess!
if you answered about $50-$60 you'd be about right (according to ebay and craigslist), so when I asked the guy how much he wanted for this chair and he said $1, I had to pretend not to be too excited! yes it needs some work, but I am excited to sand this guy back, and replace the vinyl aged cushion with the same stripy green velvet fabric. it's a really solid piece of furniture that will go great in our place.
we also got some tools, picture frames, some vintage tupperware, a couple of vases and a cute little owl - all for less than $12. thifty indeed!
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great looking chair! i can't wait to see what you do with it!
ReplyDeletexo,
cb
Garage sales are the best! People are usually just wanting to get rid of their stuff vs. make a profit, so you can pick up some killer items for cheap. I love your chair!
ReplyDeleteI love garage sales! Unfortunately I don't get to go to very many here, partly because on the weekends it's next to impossible to wake me up that early. I love them, they are so much cheaper than going to a swap meet!!
ReplyDeleteLove the chair! Can't wait to see the 'after' photo. God, I haven't been to a garage sale for years!
ReplyDeleteONE dollar?! Oh wow, that's absolutely remarkable. Wow.
ReplyDeleteOoh you got some great bargains there! Can't wait to see what you do with them :)
ReplyDeleteYou know that chair would come up real well if it isn't knocked about
ReplyDeletetoo much. My secret to sanding back that type of furniture to good wood
is to use wet and dry emery paper- about 100 grit. Use it wet and it
will strip off all the varnish and the water will help to clear all the
grime away. With the timber wet you can see what it looks like when
re-varnished. A lot of that type was glued together with a gelatin type
glue. (horses hooves) and the water may loosen the joints. Use a good
PVA glue to re-fix it. Ya gotta sand right into the joints too - no
fudging!
Dad
One dollar for that chair?! Unbelievable! I live in an apartment and hardly go to garage sales anymore (I used to quite often when I lived back home with my folks years ago). A couple months ago I randomly decided to stop by one and picked up a beautiful vintage beaded handbag for $3. I had to pretend to not be over anxious too (so the seller wouldn't up the price!), his wife asked him "But honey isn't that really really old?!" and he just looked at her like "of course it is, that's why i'm selling it." :)
ReplyDeleteGotta love a cute old couple.
Bre