lindsayraemyers's Profile

And although I personally have no problem with people's choice of carpet I was recently trying to decide what to use for flooring in a newly acquired rental property and a friend of mine who is an allergist put a firm NO on carpet anywhere in the house. Wood and tile it is!

I shared a bedroom all through college and at least one year after with a platonic friend. In college we did have bunk beds and I always enjoyed that. In both cases my roommates were heavy sleepers and that can help or hurt. The first always woke after me and my quiet alarm didn't bother her. The second was a snoozer and woke before me and it ruined me for life because I had to learn to deal with the alarm prior to when I wanted to get up. Best to figure that stuff out!

I will say I also had a lofted bed sans roommate but in a small bedroom and I loved it, it really helped open the room up. In all of these rooms I had twin beds. In terms of people who say you can buy quality linens etc for the twin beds more reasonably... I would actually suggest the opposite. If you go for twin beds, sure, get nice things and it will be cheaper but one day you are probably going to share your bed with a partner and wonder when you will EVER use those nice sheets again! So that's the argument if you are thinking of investing in a good bed!

What is the closet situation- that seems more problematic to me....

These are great suggestions- I have a few more to add...

DEFINITELY price things low! And decide what sort of sale you're having from the outset- are you trying to get rid of stuff or make some money? If you are in the latter category be prepared to have to store your stuff again and list it on craigslist or ebay. If you are in the former category just price low and know that your stuff is going to a home where someone will appreciate it!

I also like having some hospitality- setting out a few boxes of donuts goes a long way towards people staying to mill around a little bit.

I also think putting on crowd-friendly music is important- Elvis, Johnny Cash, or even Taylor Swift are good options! People like to discuss things together and not be overheard by everyone else. Nothing is creepy like a silent yard sale!

Organizing and styling is SO important. If I drive up to a house where it looks like boxes were just dragged from the basement to the front yard I will NOT be stopping. Put some interesting/big/fun looking items by the road! My dad put his jeep in my front yard to string a clothesline between it and a tree and every other person wanted to joke if they could buy it- stuff like that helps.

I think having a group yard sale is confusing but if a bunch of friends are chipping in small amounts of stuff consider strategically locating the group yard sale in an area known for having "good stuff" people will be attracted to yard sales in pricier or more historic neighborhoods just because of their previous good buys in that area.

Happy yard saling!

I would just like to add a few suggestions after finishing a similar project.

The filing cabinet I started with had layers of disgusting paint all over it- including all the hardware. I decided to STRIP the paint before priming. I stripped and sanded but I realized to sand it down perfectly would be quite a long process and I was hoping for a quick project! Plus it looked like it was getting ready to rain.

Anyway, mine isn't nearly as nice and smooth- perhaps another few layers of primer would have done it but the bottom line is I shouldn't have stripped it. I should have just primed it. The only good thing that came from the stripping was getting the hardware nice and paint-free but I could have potentially done that ONLY and left the rest alone.

My two-drawer filing cabinet DEF looks a ton better and will look nice where I am going to keep it but I just want to offer a word of warning for anyone who is paint-stripper happy (usually me!) and thinks it would be better to get it down to basics. WAY easier and few chemical burns to just prime and paint and would turn out smoother.

In summary:
primer is enough
take off hardware to strip if necessary

The end result is fabulous! Thanks for the inspiration!