Why I Stop at Yard Sales!

I thought I would take some pictures to show you why I stop at yard sales! I have found some of my favorite things from yard sales and it keeps decorating (which I do often) cheap! I love a good bargain. Here are some of my favorite ones:

I LOVE OLD SUITCASES! But, they are hard to find. I was lucky to find all three of these at different yard sales for about $2 each! They make a great side table in our porch. The old fisherman's basket was a find by my mom and I filled it with old horseshoes (all pointed up for good luck!!!!).

I have posted this before, but I just love this little area. It is right inside our porch and all we did was add some all door knobs (from my grandpa's garage) to some old wood we had in the garage and then hung them on the wall. Great place to hang coats and backpacks. The old ladder was also a score from my grandpa. My husband cut it down to fit and we added old baskets (yard sale score for $1!) to it. It houses a lot of our shoes and whatever else we throw in there. All this keeps everything off the floor, which we need in this small space. 

My husband made this bench out of old wood and an old wood shutter we had in the garage. Again, it is nice storage for shoes and what not. The quilt I scored at a flea market for $5 and the pillow was only $1 (it is a needlepoint bird - I LOVE BIRDS right now). The rocking chair was a thrift store find for $15!

This desk is an old sewing table. I scored it and the chair for $20 at a yard sale. The sign above it I got for $3. The lamp was a birthday gift from my husband (got it at TJ Maxx). 

This old record cabinet sits in my living room. It is an orange/red color that adds some "pop" to the room. 

This is a favorite! I got the bench for $20. It was not painted (just raw wood) so I painted it white and roughed it up a little bit with sandpaper. The seat opens up which adds much needed storage! I got the wool blanket from a friend who was getting rid of it and the pillow was a plain pillow until I stenciled the word "cozy" on it (I blogged how I did this on a previous post).

I got this round table from my grandmother. I covered it with a round table cloth I found and topped it with a round mirror that my aunt was getting rid of. The mirror fit perfectly (that is sheer luck)! The lamp was a $3 find and the old boat was $1! I put magazines inside the wire basket.

This sits right at the top of our stairs when you come into the front door. It was at a moving sale for $15! The bench has storage which is where we house some of our toys. The star is something I had previously and just hung it on the hook. The iron horse was an incredible find at a sale. It was $2! The original Pier One price tag was still on it ($99)! The basket is a recent find from a yard sale for $3! (I want to start carrying that basket around - it is too cute)

This is the wall in my bathroom. I always get compliments on this. All I did was measure out a rectangle that would fit these three pictures, and painted it a darker color then the walls. It makes it a little more interesting then just pictures hanging on the wall.

I couldn't pass up these old cabinet doors (75 cents each!!!!!!!). I loved the way they looked (old and beat up). I had these horseshoe hooks laying around (waiting for the perfect project) and screwed them on the doors. This display hangs on the wall in my bedroom for all my "pretty" things (as my daughter calls them - she made me the tissue paper flowers on the left side).

I love this side of our bed (minus the phone all the cords in the bottom). I bought the table for $3 and then the suitcase (another old suitcase!!!!) at a barn sale for $5. I laid the suitcase on the table which made the table more interesting. I got this lamp at Target on clearance for $3 and the doll was a $2 find (my mom had one when I was little in our house so this one reminded me of that, I had to take her home).

This chair was $1! It had a dark green, fake leather seat. I took the seat off and stapled an old feed sack I got for 25 cents to it. I screwed the seat back on and now we have this great chair in our bedroom (it only cost $1.25!)

I am sorry this picture looks so off-centered. I basically wanted to show the pictures above our bed. Instead of just hanging them from the backs, I wanted my height/drama, so I just added some black ribbon to them and hung them with that. It makes the inexpensive pictures look much more substantial!



These are some of my favorite things in the upstairs of our house. I will take some pictures and post some of my favorites from our basement. I would love to see and hear about some of your great bargains too!