Love, love, love the idea of keeping the paintings in the home! Such a great story that you’ll be able to tell for years!

I’ve never been to an estate sale but I’m an antique market junkie :) I live in California and the Long Beach flea market is AMAZING! A must see if you’re ever out here.

estate sale virgin… but dying to try one someday.

YEAH for the new home.
cannot wait to see it!!!

Congrats! Can’t wait to see and read more about the new house!
I also like the thought of keeping the paintings.
Today is my hubs Birthday too!

wonderful finds! Congrats on the new home! I always wanted to hit up estate sales but I don’t really know how they work in terms of nabbing up the items you want!

Congratulations on finding your new home! That’s so exciting, and I can’t wait to see it!

I haven’t attended any estate sales, mostly because I’m trying to get rid of excess stuff. It feels so good to donate or sell items that I don’t care to have any more. Next up, my old (really old) computer and the old couch. Although I really don’t want to get rid of the couch. I might keep that.

Enjoy your transition to your new house! (Honestly, I’m really excited for you!)

Jenn(ifer) – Happy Birthday to your hubs!

Courtney – I don’t know if they’re all the same…but the one I went to started handing out #’s at 8:30am and the actual sale started at 9:30am. I was there to get my # early and since the home was small {remember, we’re downsizing} they allowed 15 people in the house at a time. Items were tagged with prices, so it wasn’t like an auction. It was very strange seeing all these people in the house that will soon be ours. I definitely had a lot fun though.

How great! Can’t wait to get the lowdown on the new house.

So exciting, congratulations!

i’ve never been to an estate sale, although i love thrifting at flea markets. I think it’s great that you were able to find a few pieces to keep with your new home.

Congrats!!!!! So exciting that you found your place. I can’t wait to hear the story behind it and see all the photos!

Oh, and estate sales (with the exception of the super expensive ones) are amazeballs. Woo hoo!

I’ve attended several auctions and when I was a pre-teen, my mom snagged a tandem bike for my sister and I to ride around. Man, was THAT a bonding experience!

Congrats!! That’s so exciting! I obviously don’t know you and I’ve only been following your blog for a few months, but when I saw you found a home I got super excited…I had to laugh at myself. I cannot wait to see pictures and read about how your new home came to be. I think hanging the paintings is a wonderful idea. I’m sure the previous owner/artist would be very pleased. I look forward to watching you make your new house your new home!

Congratulations on your new home to be! That’s so exciting. I’m sure you’ve got a slew of ideas rolling around in your head already and I can’t wait to see what you do with the place.

Estate sales have been hit or miss for me. Sometimes you can really get some nice deals, especially if it’s a true estate sale of an older family or couple. If it’s just a garage sale or a moving sale marketed as an “estate” sale, often they’re MIGHTY proud of their things and they’re marked down just a hair from new price. With all the sales at retailers these days, it’s not always a better deal.

Great plan to go in with a budget — makes it easier to stick with your commitment and not overspend.

Congrats again!

Emma
City Roots, Country Life

I’ve been wanting to check out some estate sales, but it seems that ones in my area are often filled with junk and they make me wonder why they even had a sale to begin with. I love the paintings and congratulations on finding a new house!

Congrats on venturing into the world of estate sales – truly a hit or miss experience, but if you hit a great one…it is a really good thing, I go to estate sales pretty much every weekend…they are my entertainment. I always see the regulars, find some amazing things and I just find it interesting to see what has been saved over the years. Off in a bit to sign up on the list for an estate sale tomorrow a.m. – wish me luck!

Congratulations! I can’t WAIT to hear more about the house!!!!

What?! I don’t want to talk about estate sales when you just bought a new house!! :) Tell us more!

Can’t wait to hear about your house! I am excited for you!

So exciting! Can’t wait to see pics!

never been, but have been to general auctions and there are definately some great finds to be had!
ps -happy birthday to your hubby! today is mine as well!

I usually check ebth.com for Cincinnati area estate sales. It’s a pretty great site. I have been trying to find other estate sales in the area, but haven’t been able to find any. If you have a source please share!!

Steph – Happy Birthday!

Wow – Congrats on the new place! Can’t wait to hear about all of the details.

I am so in love with estate sales…always a great place to find deals!

So super LOVE estate sales (I’m addicted). The ability to reuse quality materials, give them new life and make them yours? What’s better than that?

Good luck with your new home!

What a great story! Love that the previous owner’s art will stay in the home. :) Funny you mentioned the necklace, I know exactly the necklace you mean as I covet it too! I was able to find a similar version at Goodwill for probably a dollar or two. Love it!

First, congratulations! That is a great story. Second, I am an estate sale whore! My husband got me started and now I can’t drive past a sign without stopping. By far my best score was a mirror that was marked at $225. The sale was taking bids, so I put a $50 bid on the mirror. If by the end of the sale it hadn’t sold they would ask the seller if she would sell it for that price. I figured I didn’t NEED it so no loss if she said no. Well, a couple days went by….and I got my mirror!!! I’ve had some good good buys since then, but that was the best. You’ll become addicted for sure!!

Congrats on the new house!

I was a total estate sale junkie in Memphis. We once got our dining room table (solid walnut with two leaves that extends to over 9 feet and came with custom made felt and leather table pads), six chairs, buffet and china cabinet– all made by Henredon in 1975– at an estate sale on the last, rainy day of it for $1000. We since sold it because we don’t plan to have a room entirely dedicated to be a dining room because we never used it—for more than we paid for it–after using it for about five years! That was a total score.

There seemed to be lots of them in the Memphis area, but I have not been to any in the Columbus area yet. I was just thinking about that the other day. You have inspired me to start looking for them here!

Again, congrats and good luck on the packing/moving and all that!

That is awesome you finally found a home! Congrats. I love the items you found. Never been to an estate sale but would love to one day. :)

I’ve never been to an estate sale, but it’s definitely on my list. I know so many people who’ve found great things at estate sales, always for great prices. Congratulations on the house – I can’t wait to hear more!

Congrats on the new house! A few of my coworkers and I skip out during lunch and go to estate sales frequently, our most recent was yesterday actually! I love finding used stuff that can be painted or re purposed!

YAY! Congrats on the house!…and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you bought the art work of the previous owners. So neat! Look forward to seeing your house and the inspiration that comes with it!

I just love that you bought items that will be returned to the house they came from! It makes me smile. Congratulations on your new home!

I have been following your blog for a few months and just realized that you live in Cincinnati! I am fixing up an old house in Norwood and have gotten lots of inspiration from your blog. I just painted my cabinets and put in granite and butcher block counters— love Home Emporium! I am sure that house won’t be on the market long… its a great area and a really cute house!

Congrats on the new house! Also, fyi, I saw that vase in blue and white at the Springfield antique mall for $150 this weekend! Ha! You got a great deal!!

I have been so behind on my blog reading! What great finds and then to learn that you actually bought that house! Love the art work.

I have been going to Estate Sales for about 4 months now. My hubby was working weekends and I needed something to help pass the time so I started going to the sales in 20 miles of our home every weekend. I learned in the trial by fire way and at first it was strange but, now I love it! I learned that you should always bring your own bag, have cash, check, and debit cards with you, if you love something don’t leave it to come back for, and always go on the second day so that everything is likely to be 1/2 off!

Have fun!!

Haha! So obviously I hadn’t read through your blog yet… or I would have known she was an artist…. I found you it on apartment therapy last week, which I frequent…a lot…. I’m super excited to keep reading! Again good luck with the new house!

By the way I LOVE estate sales…my first one was last summer and I got an amazing bust of Mozart….now I’m hooked:)

How neat! My husband and I bought some things from the estate sale at the house we bought in 2009, too. (In our case, we bought a house that had had a pretty bad fire, so we tore it down and rebuilt a super-green house.) My favorite thing we picked up is a piano bench…still haven’t gotten to refinishing it, but I’m really looking forward to incorporating it into our new home….

(Sorry I’m so late to the party — I’ve just started reading from the beginning….)

And to think you painted over that $95 painting. Too bad it looks like such a nice painting, love the green.