Just about every Thursday, if there is an estate sale, we’re there. Today there were 2. The first one was at a gorgeous home. While we were walking around looking at everything we met the owner’s sister. This was here dream home and she lived in it a little over a year before she passed away from cancer a few years ago. Her husband just couldn’t see living in this big house by himself so he moved to a smaller place and it’s going on the market next week.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this house is HUGE and the grounds are just beautiful.

This tree had the prettiest flowers.

We met up with the sister in the backyard. She showed us where the vegetable garden was and how her sister used to have plants all around the pond. I can only imagine how beautiful it looked.

I hope whoever buys the house restores it to its former glory.

Because this was the second day of the sale there wasn’t a whole lot left. I saw this cute Santa made our of tree bark and these vintage TV trays that were super cute.

I found a Harlan Coben book and Donny found a combination hoe weed puller. While I was waiting for him at the checkout table I saw this cool little eye rug that was almost brand new and was only $2.

Donny walks through every sale like this. I guess it is a safe way not to break anything.

We headed to the second one and didn’t really see anything that we thought we couldn’t live without except this vintage oak glider rocker. They wanted $150 for it. Although I loved it, I couldn’t justify paying that.

It was yellow (my favorite color). It was well made. It was so comfortable.

This evening Donny and I had to run to pick up some supplements and afterwards he said, “what do you want to do now?”. I told him we should just go by the estate sale to see, if by chance, the glider was still there. At 5 everything goes to half price. It was almost 6, so I knew we’d probably be out of luck.

When we got there we saw it and while Donny helped a couple carry out a dining room table and chairs I bought it. I’m not exactly sure where it’s going yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I’m so thankful that Donny likes the same things I do, well most of the time.

And our 3 legged cat Tommy is deathly afraid of the vacuum and when I got it out of the laundry room, ran and pretended like he was dead underneath my car.

When Donny and I moved to Longview, we ended up renting a house that was almost twice the size of our home we had for sale in Baton Rouge. This was fine, except for now we had two living areas and only had furniture for one. One of my biggest pet peeves is having rooms that you don’t use. I hate wasted space. I had just thrown some chairs I had on hand in there.  I wanted to go shopping to find the right furnishings, but the fact that we were still paying bills and the mortgage for the house we had for sale plus rent and bills for our rental here in Longview,  it just wasn’t in the budget. Not to mention that we had a giant tree fall at the house in Baton Rouge and had to shell out almost a $1000 to get it cut up and hauled away. I just had to be patient, which is hard for me.

On a trip to Dallas we stopped by Ikea and found a couch that we both really liked. The only problem was that we would have to rent a uhaul to get it home. Not an easy task, but it was doable. Still I didn’t want to pull the trigger yet. It was almost $1200 and although I love ikea, I still thought that was pretty steep and wanted to look around some more.

We also needed a new fridge. We left ours in the Baton Rouge house because it was an incentive to a potential buyer to not have to purchase one and because we really didn’t want to move it. Those things are HEAVY! I got a used one when we moved. We knew as soon as the Baton Rouge house sold it would free up our budget to get the one we wanted.

The house sold about a week before school started. We began to seriously start looking for furniture and a refrigerator. The Home Depot had the one we wanted. Side by side, water and ice. Basic, but still a little over $1100. I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to wait to see if they would go on sale or maybe we could find a scratch and dent one. Y’all, I just couldn’t spend that kind of money for a fridge. Just couldn’t.

Two weeks ago this happened. By total accident. I was just taking a short cut through my neighborhood.

I had seen the signs earlier in the week, so I was positive that nothing good would be left. It was Friday and the last day of the sale. I still wanted to check it out.

When I pulled up and parked, I saw this lady struggling to get a computer desk to her car. I got out and helped her carry it. We tried, unsuccessfully, to get it into her small car. I told her that if she’d let me look around a few minutes, I’d put it in my SUV and take it to her house for her. She said she wanted to look some more too, so that would work.

I walked into the kitchen and BAM!!!!! guess what was for sale?????? A side by side fridge with ice and water. I grabbed the tag off of it. It was $230!!!! I was SO excited! I got even more excited when I walked into the living room and saw the perfect sofa. I sat on it and it was perfect. I swear, it had never been sat on.

(Picture is from my living room. I didn’t bring my camera because I didn’t know I was even going to stop at the sale)

It wasn’t the type I was looking for, but I loved it. I immediately called Donny at work and told him that I found a sofa AND a fridge. The sofa was priced at $250. He told me to get them both. It was such a great deal. Wait, it gets better. Since it was the last day EVERYTHING was half off! What the what? So, my fridge would be $115 and the sofa $125.

You may be wondering why in the world were they still there? Because when you buy them, YOU have to figure out how in the world you’re going to get them home. Donny was super busy at work and couldn’t rent a truck and help. I was stuck. The ladies at the sale were trying to come up with a solution. I threw caution to the wind, and paid for everything. I knew I’d find a way, I just didn’t know how. It was 11:00. They were closing at 6, so I had 7 hours to come up with a plan.

Remember the lady I helped out when I first got there? Well, she had found some more furniture she wanted to get so she found me and told me not to worry about helping her get her desk home. She had called a friend, with a truck, to help her move the stuff. There is was, the answer to my prayers.

When he showed up I asked him if there was anyway he would be willing to move the fridge and the heaviest couch I’d ever seen to my house around the corner? He said he’d be happy to! Holy wow, it pays to be nice because if I wouldn’t have helped the lady earlier, I would never have met Byron, my moving angel.

So, with my new friends, we moved a fridge, a sofa, a chair and ottoman and a coffee table to my house. Hey, I was there for over 4 hours because of a torrential downpour and it was all HALF PRICE!

So, here is my family room with the new (to me) furniture.

The leather chair and ottoman’s final price was $40. It’s a great cream color and is in excellent condition and most importantly, comfortable.  Donny calls it a real chair, unlike my dark brown bucket chairs that he is not overly fond of.

The coffee table was $30. It was more expensive than I would have liked, but I just really loved it. I’m not really into the farmhouse look, but it goes really well in this room.

I had told Donny that the sofa was pleather. Not my favorite fabric, but it was so pretty, I was okay with it. When he got home and finally saw it, he wanted to look at the tag because he didn’t think it was pleather.

Well, guess what? He was right. I got a leather and wood, barely used sofa for $125. Even the back was pretty, which was a very good thing because it faces our fireplace.

 

I can’t forget to show the fridge. It’s beige, not the color I would have chosen, but it matches our cabinets perfectly, and just kind of blends in.

The freezer side was a bit smaller than the one we had seen at The Home Depot, but we have a stand up freezer in the garage, so it’s not a problem.

We still need a few things for the house like a rug to layer over the jute rug in the family room. We also need a chair, I have one in mind, for the family room so I can move the brown bucket chair into the living room with the other one. I’m still looking for a small table for our breakfast nook. The one I have in there right now works, so it’s not a pressing issue.

My advice is if you are needing furnishings for your home, be patient and have an open mind. Don’t overlook a good deal just because it’s not exactly what you are looking for. The things I purchased at this estate sale might not have been exactly what I was looking for, but they work perfectly for what I needed them to do and for $310 plus the $100 I paid Byron to deliver everything, I saved a ton of money, which makes me very happy.

Stay frugal,

Stacy