I am only one yard sale away from an episode of hoarders.
Every fall, our neighborhood has a town-wide yard sale. I wake up that morning feeling like I have been injected with pure meth: excited. I love being able to roll out of bed, walk out the front door, and start yardsale-ing RIGHT AWAY… no traveling, no wasted time, no waiting.
It’s not unusual for me to be one or two houses ahead of Paul because I like to yardsale FAST… I have anxiety that other people are beating me to the good stuff, so I try to go twice as fast as everyone else.
Paul on the other hand, likes to talk to the neighbors and his leisurely, garden-party-mentality makes me insane… This is not a social event. This is war. Someone will win, I would like it to be me.
Some years I get something really fantastic. Like a four-tier barrister bookcase for $30… Is it in pristine condition? No. But it’s totally intact and at 2-feet distance, it looks perfect.
Some years I don’t get anything big or notable but I always come away with a good combination of smaller things: dishes, vintage jewelry… crap I do not need but cannot leave behind… stuff Paul tries to talk me out of but fails.
Last year that category was occupied by these Victrola boxes. When I asked how much, the guy said– one is $5… but you can have the other two for free.
Clearly, a bargain.
Finding broken-useless-stuff makes me kind of manic. So my thought process was– for five dollars, why would we not buy these?
Paul said – so that we have five dollars, instead of a pile of junk?
I was like– umm… nope.
Paul said– well, why don’t you just get one? Then, if you find that you NEED three, you can get more.
And I was like– right, you must be confusing me with your other wife. She sounds great.
Besides, I explained – just getting one doesn’t make any sense. We need to get them all… So that I can store them in the garage along with all of the other things I have bought that I will never refinish or repair or do ANYTHING with… but pretend I will so that you cannot throw them away.
See all my other salvaged junk treasures.
March 25, 2014 @ 11:10 am
Well, I’m going to this thing in Warrensburg if you are. I’ve been heartbroken not to be at the World’s Longest Yard Sale for years now, but it simply is not in a good location for me. Upstate New York is home*; I can make that happen.
*Not in the sense of being anywhere near where I currently live, of course.
March 25, 2014 @ 11:11 am
we are sisters lost at birth. I recently bought a slightly lopsided bamboo/rattan tall rack for $5.00 at a neighbor’s sale. YES FIVE. I actually really scored because I got there a day early as I was driving by she was setting up her garage… Do you mind if I take a preview of your sale?
Anyway, I bought the large tier rack for $5… and paid $5 to have it delivered by her helper. I showed it to my husband and thought he would think I just totally scored and he said it looked like junk. broke my heart. Had to prove him wrong! Spent $28 on spraypaint (which was an investment for the $5 piece) and now it looks FANTASTIC and on the patio. But typing this story reminds me that $5 is never just $5.. It turned into $38 pretty quick!
I love those boxes you got and how wonderful to have three!
March 25, 2014 @ 11:17 am
I love yard sales but there aren’t as many great things in our neighborhood yard sales as the treasures you find! I love the boxes and the dining room looks great. Where did you find all of the assorted blue and white porcelain? Or should I even ask?
xo,
Karen
March 25, 2014 @ 11:18 am
You can marry me and we can hoard happily ever after! Love your blog!
March 25, 2014 @ 11:20 am
Perfect! Now when are you going to show us what you did with the other two?
March 25, 2014 @ 11:32 am
I love you. That is all.
March 25, 2014 @ 11:35 am
Those are the best kinds of yard sales, the neighborhood ones. And in your own neighborhood! You can’t beat that! Great find. I probably would have passed them up, as both my spare rooms are so full you can’t walk in them anymore. Of course, the fact that my now-14-year-old-son decided to attack and rearrange both those rooms didn’t help. He wanted to see what I had stashed – lol.
My current passion is awesome yarns and beads that I can make things with. 🙂 They take up way less room and the outcomes are endless. My neighbor and I decided to open up an Etsy store. It’s http://www.etsy.com/shop/mtnlorecreations, if you’d like to check it out.
I so remember the days of the hunt at yard sales and flea markets. Have you heard of the Swap Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida? It’s 87 acres of flea market and Thursday mornings are garage sale day. You never know what you’ll find there. One time when I was set up to sell my junque there and I found a set of 4 humongous kingdom chairs for lack a better description. They were awesome and I got the 4 of them for like $25. Only afterwards, when I got them back to my site, did I realize, OMG, they won’t fit in my car if I don’t sell them. Thankfully I sold them before I had to leave, so I didn’t have to worry about it. 🙂
I love reading anything written by you, Victoria. You have such a way with words. 🙂
Andie, do you have a blog? I’d love to read it also!
March 25, 2014 @ 11:35 am
Reading all the comments makes me realize that I am not completely insane but, rather, a member of an elite group of “junk-ies.” I’ve always believed I do not have a problem unless I try to hide and deny it.
So…here goes…
Hi- My name is Joanne, and I am a junkie.
Although I have been recovering from hand surgery (read- carpal tunnel from excessive repeated actions like sanding, scraping, and painting), I have still managed to purchase the following this weekend on CL:
a lovely single board antique blanket chest for $120- managed to slide it out of the back of my car without damaging the incisions. (did I mention that I am doing this all while my husband is away on business?)
a great antique pine cabinet in pristine condition- this cabinet is still wedged into the back of my little Rav4 since I cannot remove it without incurring more surgery.
a set of hand made windsor chairs for 230 for all 4! How did I pick these up? I did not. The wonderful, kind couple took pity on me and brought them to my doorstep so I could see if I wanted to buy them! which, of course, I totally did.
While I know that my demise will most likely be a result of a Craigslist deal gone sour, I continue to meet the best people via CL! (disclaimer- not an endorsement of CL, especially if you still have life plans;)
Anyway, why blog when I can let VEB do all the work for free? Some labor I AM willing to hire out.
LOVE these blog breaks, girl! Keep em coming…
March 25, 2014 @ 11:47 am
No one purchased my parents’ antique (empty) Edison stand-up cabinet at their estate sale. One dealer said that the key to the cabinet was worth more than the cabinet, but I wouldn’t part with it. I couldn’t see it going to the junk truck (like so many treasures that broke my already broken heart) so I brought it home, much to my husband’s non-antique loving chagrin. I put it in the converted garage (where most of my parental memory belongings now live) and got the little fax machine to fit in the top of it even with the lid closed. I pulled off the scrolled and meshed insert and have a nice little display shelf below. Yes, it’s clunky and not modern, but they just don’t make furniture like this anymore and the wood is gorgeous!
March 25, 2014 @ 11:50 am
I am giggling. I think the same way. I would buy all of them. Then I would decided what to do with them. Those neighborhood yard sales call my name. Good thing I am working on Saturdays for the next few weeks. I need to clean out some of what I already have before shopping for anything else. By the way, I kept waiting to see a wagon that you might be pulling to carry all your finds. 🙂
March 25, 2014 @ 11:54 am
Speaking of “rolling out of Bed”– I am dying to see pics of your bedroom with the gorgeous Victorian Bed that you hoisted inside the upper window.– Did I miss them? How did you make it work with the mattress that doesn’t fit? did you cut the side rails and add on to make it longer ,? or?? Xo,-Valery
March 25, 2014 @ 11:57 am
“Buy one”. That cracks me up. Everybody knows that three is a “collection”, and totally gets you out of the hoarding category.
March 25, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
This was (as usual) just a darling anecdote that makes being a little out there-somewhere? sound completely fascinating and charming! You must be cloned! because I swear I always see you as the opposite of that Peanuts character that had the cloud of dust whirling around him whereas you must be speeding everywhere (-impeccably garbed, conquering the mundane and transforming the unwanted, abandoned, no long chic into loveliness) in a cloud of giggles chuckles and outright guffawing from your adoring fans- Thanks – you brighten an old persons day-now I need to get to the local “Antique Shop” and pick up some more kick knacks cause Damn! I never realized I could just keep em on the floors-now that every other surface in the house is full up.
March 25, 2014 @ 12:19 pm
What you understand that in said war the winning maneuver could have been the acquisition of all 3 victrolla boxes and, by God, no one was going to outwit you and win the war. Do you feel like the victor? Yes? Then, my dear, you won!
March 25, 2014 @ 12:26 pm
I remember the days that DH and I would yard sale and antique together. The pre kids days when we needed stuff to furnish our new old house. Nowadays he is too busy fixing our next house that the three kids have filled with kid stuff… Don’t get me wrong I still yard sale and consignment shop and when I find must have, cajole him into picking it up with his truck. He still obliges with barely a questioning look…so for that I am grateful!
March 25, 2014 @ 12:51 pm
I absolutely adore your blog – you bring a smile to my face every post!! I loved the video you posted of you and Paul hauling up the bed – I played it for my husband so he knows what to prepare for 🙂
March 25, 2014 @ 2:08 pm
Once a year a small town in Ohio (where I am from) has neighborhood yard sales and i totally am the same way. so excited about what i may find. I fly there from atlanta (my home now) just to go with my mom and sister …its a family tradition (and addiction!)
over the years we have found soooooo many good deals.
my sister and I always say “things you can’t use at prices you can’t refuse”
I am looking forward to it again in May. last year my best find was a brass lion, but
2012 was a particularly good year! my finds on this post here:
http://cindyjespinoza.blogspot.com/2012/05/navarre-garrage-sale-mania.html
March 25, 2014 @ 2:26 pm
I love what you did with the Victrola box! I tend to be more of a minimalist, as far as stuff is concerned, but I do love rummaging through a good yard sale.
March 25, 2014 @ 2:45 pm
Victoria, I would love to hang out with you!
March 25, 2014 @ 3:49 pm
$5 clearly falls under the “you can buy whatever you want” category. It just doesn’t count as an expense.
He should count himself lucky. I got a box for free and proceeded to spend about $40 just to “make it over” into…a prettier box.
Made sense to me.