Garage Sale Gold

I've never had a lot of luck at garage sales.  I usually find that everything is completely overpriced and/or is a pile of junk.

This week, the garage sales were in my favor.  As I drove home from the grocery store, I happened to see a garage sale sign and decided that the ice cream in the back of the car could hold out long enough for a quick look.  This was a complete impulse buy, but I came away with a violin for only $20.  It's nothing fancy and it's just a student model, but I wouldn't mind trying to learn violin and I figured if either of the boys showed any interest in the future, I would have a cheap model for them to test their interest with before really putting money into it.

Then on my way to a Pampered Chef party hosted by our daycare provider, I spotted a yard full of furniture.  Even though it was going to make me late to the party, I had to stop and look.  I've been completely overwhelmed at the idea of paying full price for furniture, so I couldn't resist.  It was a gold mine!  In ten minutes, I bought an antique dresser for $40 and a black miscellaneous cabinet for $20, and had the cabinet loaded in the back of my car.  My husband was a little put out when I frantically called him to go get the dresser while I went on to the party, but my hero came through.

All of my purchases need a little TLC, but my faith in garage sales has been restored.   What was your best garage sale bargain?

Dining Room Furniture

Since we've moved quite a bit in the past 11 years and always rented our homes, we didn't really buy nice furniture because I wanted to wait until we were in "our" house and would know what furniture fit the size and style.  We're finally in our own house, so we're finally starting to acquire some grown-up furniture!


With a nice-sized dining room and the potential for more dinner guests, our tiny table and chair just weren't cutting it any more, so a dining room set was one of our first purchases.  My husband does a little woodworking, so he was concerned about construction and materials, while I had strong opinions about the style and finish.  After browsing around for a few weeks, we finally found a set at Slumberland Furniture that satisfied both of us.

 

A nice heavy table that should last us for years!  Easily seats 6.

With the foldout expansion leaf, we could fit as many as 10!

Since it was on clearance, we didn't have the option of buying more chairs, but I'm not sure I want it all to completely match anyway.  We'd also like to find a nice bench for one side and then we'd only need extra chairs if we actually tried to fit 10 people.

Who's up for Thanksgiving Dinner in Des Moines?