kheila's Profile

Sigh. I adore this house. If I had free license to decorate with as many antiques as I like, having a house decorated even half as good as this would be the goal. Unfortunately my husband hates antiques, so it remains a pipe dream. Be proud; your house is incredible!

One thing that a lot of people don't seem to realize: if you don't do the signage right, it makes a huge difference. If people can't find your house, they won't show up! Use arrows on your signs - don't just put the address and expect that everyone will know where it is. Color-coordinate your signs, especially if there are other sales happening at the same time. You don't want someone else's sign to hijack the traffic to your sale. Put the date and time of the sale on the sign, not just "Today!". If it's nice out, make as much of your stuff visible from the street as you can - if everything's in the garage, many people will just drive by because it looks like you don't have much. If you're not a garage-saler yourself, go to a few before your sale so you get a feel for how to price things. It's painfully obvious when someone is holding a garage sale and has never been to one themselves - things are waaaay over priced. Put a price sticker on everything, or signs like "shirts $1, pants $2" unless you look forward to answering "How much is this?" about 5,000 times. And some people (like me) tend to just not buy anything rather than bring an armful of items up to ask the price of every single thing.

Just some tips I've gathered as an avid garage saler :)

As others have mentioned, be prepared for your cats to dislike a change in their litter. When we tried switching from clay litter to all-natural, my previously accident-free cat decided to protest by peeing on our bed and clean laundry. Switched back to clay litter, and no accidents since.

I rue the day my parents chopped up their teak 60's stereo cabinet and used it for firewood, after they couldn't unload it for $5 at a garage sale. If they'd held onto it for just a few years longer, it would have still been around when I was old enough to appreciate it and snag it for myself.

Every few months, I just take down the shower liner, fill up the tub with a couple inches of water, add some detergent and maybe a splash of bleach, swish it around and then let it soak for an hour. Then I just rinse it a bit and hang it back up. It's easy, there's no laundry space taken away, and the mold/mildew is gone.

Incredible! I love love love the teal color. In the absence of colored tiles but with a bathroom that still has a 40's vibe, it fills in for the lack of funky color perfectly.

Just realized that the bathroom in my new house is exactly identical, except reversed and we have the "dreaded" pink tile instead of white (why all the hate on pink tiled bathrooms?)

@rexrayfan: My thoughts exactly. Pretty sure it would get thrown against the wall in my house. This is definitely an alarm clock for cheerful morning people only.

"Repurposing items in an awkward and obvious fashion."

THIS. I was never able to see the appeal behind old-CDs-as-wall-art (in the 90's) or lamps made of old soda bottles. 99% of the time it looks like exactly what it is: repurposed garbage.

OMG, I would love to do something like this. Unfortunately Mr. Clean-lines-modern-minimalism husband would probably have a heart attack. Love the tan sofa against the chocolate wall. I'm guessing someone is a Mad Men fanatic :)

EclecticLife: "I can understand the granite countertops hate, but they take so much abuse- hot pans right off the stove, cut your veggies without a cutting board, kind to knives, easy to clean. I love them from a utilitarian perspective, not necessarily an aesthetic one."

My husband feels the same way. When the time comes to remodel a kitchen, I think he might get his granite countertops, simply because they are so durable and I can't argue with that. I've seen some that were almost completely jet-black with tiny flecks in them -- something like that wouldn't be so bad, rather than the obviously-granite pattern in the stone that most kitchens have.