Blog Archives

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Decorating on a Dime: Imagination Possible

We all know children’s imaginations can run wild, especially when it comes time for them to help decorate their bedrooms! Today we’re excited to feature and introduce LouLou Marshall of LouLous Whimsicals. LouLou is a designer, muralist and product room designer. She has been designing and illustrating childrens rooms, both residential and commercial, for over 18 years. LouLou enjoys creating and adding unique pieces to these rooms, and she has found great pieces to refurbish at estate and yard sales, church bazaars and flea markets. Her whimsical room designs and accessories engage children with colorful characters and humorous messages, bringing joy, delight and interaction for everyone.

For our “Decorating on a Dime” series, LouLou shares some of her awesome work with us! With a little artistic skills, some bargain hunting and an imagination, you can start upcycling second hand furniture and bring it to life for any child’s bedroom!

1. Jungle dresser found at a flea market for $60.00. I illustrated it for a little boys room.

2. Nautical maple dresser and mirror, found at an annual yard sale at a church for $75.00. Painted and highlighted it for this nautical themed bedroom.

3. Table found at a flea market for $45.00. I painted and monogrammed for a little girls room.

4. Dresser found at yard sale for $45.00.  Illustrated for girls nursery.

LouLou travels nationally with her goal of creating wonderful spaces that inspire imagination, recreation and education. She offers personalized services that include interior decoration, custom fabric and furniture design, color consultation, custom mural painting, faux and distressed finishes, illustrated floors, canvas art, personalized growth charts and wall decor.

Be sure to check out LouLou’s website, http://loulouswhimsicals.com/

Decorating on a Dime: What’s your Favorite Find?

Over the past couple months we’ve featured some amazing Interior Designers and Decorators from around the country who’ve incorporated amazing second hand treasures into their homes or the homes of their clients. From Flea Markets to Yard Sales, you can find some awesome deals on items you can bring to your home and give them [...]

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Estate Sale Profiles: Timesavers

Today’s Estate Sale Profiles features Charlene Macias, Owner of Timesavers Estate Sales in Illinois. Estate Sales are a sensitive business and required the utmost professionalism when conducting them. We are excited to be able to present some of the best, have them share their background and a day in the life of an Estate Sale Professional. Check out Charlene’s story:

Timesavers Estate Sales is a family-owned estate liquidation company specializing in conducting estate and moving sales in Chicago, Illinois, the Chicagoland suburbs & Northwest Indiana. Owner Charlene Macias and staff her staff have over 20 years combined experience in conducting estate sales as well as antiques and personal property consignment sales. Charlene says, “My passion for collecting antiques, extensive experience and knowledge of selling a variety of items on EBay, and drive to have my own business, led me to start Timesavers Estate Sales—and I can honestly say that I absolutely LOVE what I do!”

At Timesavers, we work closely with each of our clients to tailor the sale to their specific situation and needs and throughout the process enjoy getting to know the family and the stories behind their belongings—was the carved antique chair their great-great grandmother’s, have they been collecting lighthouses for over 30 years, or did they get the 10 ft. totem pole from a family friend. Some of the stories we hear and items we come across are truly unbelievable! Each sale is so different and that is what makes this profession so interesting — we learn something new everywhere we go!

In addition to estate sales, as an accredited member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America, we can provide certified appraisals for estate, divorce, insurance, charitable donations, IRS, casualty loss, bankruptcy, etc. We also can provide consignment for specific items, senior relocation assistance, assistance in coordinating certain items for auction, and contacts for estate buyouts or cleanouts.

The Estate Sale business takes a lot of hard work, knowledge, and dedication, but we have met so many wonderful people, found some truly amazing treasures, and most importantly have helped hundreds of families through a difficult time in their lives. Many of our initial conversations with customers consists of explaining step-by-step how the estate sale process works and it is so great to hear their sigh of relief once they realize that we handle everything from the organization, set-up, pricing and advertising. Helping families liquidate their belongings or that of a loved one and repurpose those items to new families and homes is what this business is all about and we plan to continue to help families for many years to come!

To find out more about Timesavers Estate Sales, find us at www.timesaversestatesales.com or read our blog at http://timesaversestatesales.blogspot.com

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It’s Garage Sale Season

With every year, it becomes more and more interesting to find ways to save time and money as you try to hit as many garage sales as possible. Every garage sale guru knows that time is truly money, and I believe that the best way to maximize your time is to utilize two resources: Tag Sell It and Craigslist. Tag Sell It has an extremely helpful smart phone app (as well as a website) that I frequently use to find the nearest garage sales. Craigslist also has an entire section of their listings devoted to garage sales. Between the two of these resources, you should have no problem finding the garage sales nearest to your location.

Once you decide which sales you’d like to visit, you’ll need to map out a route. Tag Sell It makes this step extremely easy since they provide you with a google map of each sale location. You need to save as much time as possible, so make sure you have some plan of attack. As you’re planning, if you come across a garage sale that you’re really excited to visit, use my earlier tip and head over there a day early. Offer the seller $20 for a peek at their items. Worst case scenario, they have nothing you like and you’re out $20. But on the flip side, you will have saved yourself the extra trip and hastle of running to this stop early the next morning.

When you plan to spend the day visiting multiple garage sales, make sure you’re well prepared. Time is money, and you don’t want to have to make any unnecessary stops. Make sure you have enough cash, some sort of food or snack and plenty of cold water. The first couple of hours at garage sales are crucial, and you don’t want to miss out on a great deal because you decided to stop for a snack.

Good luck, happy hunting, and maybe I’ll see you at your next garage sale!

Look for the new edition of my book, The Garage Sale Millionaire, on Amazon.com and in all of your favorite book stores!

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or email him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Estate Sale Profiles: Xcntric Estate Sales

Today’s Estate Sale Profiles features Kim and Claire, founders of Xcntric Estate Sales based out of the Chicagoland area. Estate Sales are a sensitive business and required the utmost professionalism when conducting them. We are excited to be able to present some of the best, and share their background and a day in the life of an Estate Sale Professional. Check out their story:

Xcntric Estate Sales started business in 2009. Our passion and experience of things from the past lead us to create our company. We found that most people felt their estate was never truly an “estate” because they thought it had to be filled with valuables, antiques etc. and most of the time that is not the case. From teepees to mansions (and everyone in between), they all qualify to have an estate sale when left with belongings of a loved one or moving/downsizing and not being able to take everything with them.

Our firm is an Illinois licensed business, bonded and insured company along with a member of the Better Business Bureau which assists our clients in making the decision of who to elect to host their sale. We believe these credentials along with our extensive list of referrals helps put our clients mind at ease when picking and choosing a specialist.

We take great pride in our work and showcasing our clients possessions by carefully planning their estate sale thru methodical layout and organization. We most enjoy the stories the families share with us about the items they have collected over the years and how they acquired them. The “thrill of the hunt” always seems to be more exciting to them than the actual possession of the item.

Although our days can be long and strenuous we always find ourselves laughing and having fun while we are working and sorting thru things. It helps keep the momentum and work environment positive and upbeat. Our greatest find to date were some older original etchings that “eagle eye” Claire found in a secret panel of a vintage wardrobe trunk. Our motto is leave no stone unturned because folks back in the day hid things for whatever reason and our job is to find it for the family then decide which is the best way to sell it in order to maximize the proceeds for the family and their estate.

For us, we not only love what we do but we are driven by the passion to make sure many of these collections of the past get recycled and enjoyed by someone starting a collection or someone missing a piece from their current collection. The everyday items instead of being tossed away helps reduce waste and will be repurposed by families during these challenging times. We feel we make a difference for two reasons: We have liquidated our clients estate and generated income for the items they or their family members worked hard for over the years; along with watching our customers leave the sale with a smile on their face with a “new to me” item to brag about.

-Kimberly & Claire
Xcntric Estate Sales

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Design on a Dime: Stretching your Dollar with Thrift Finds

Sarah Bradburn has been an interior designer for 7 years and began her career by designing model homes for various builders in the Phoenix, Arizona area. “I’ve always had a passion for utilizing yard sale and thrift store finds into my own home because they bring an instant sense of character and history to a space,” Sarah says. Sarah started her own business, Sarah Elizabeth Interior Design, last year to help others incorporate second-hand items into their own homes in a timeless and beautiful way that looks anything but cheap. These days we all want our dollars to stretch as far as they possibly can and scooping up thrift store, yard sale and estate sale treasures is a savvy way to get the look for less!

Today Sarah shares some of her awesome second-hand finds and takes us through their impressive transitions.

The headboard was FREE. My sister snatched it up from her in-laws who were preparing to take it to the dump. She had no use for it but just couldn’t bear to see it tossed away. Luckily I happened to see it in her garage and within minutes I had it loaded into my vehicle. It was initially an unattractive wood tone with plenty of chips and scratches. So I painted it light grey, sanded the edges to reveal a little wood tone underneath and accentuate the beautiful curved shape then finished it off with a little finishing paste to protect and seal it.

The two lamps were rescued from a local Salvation Army for six-dollars each! One of them was a dusty pink color straight out of the 1980′s and I hit it with a few coats of glossy white paint to match the ginger jar lamp. I recovered a pair of plain, white shades with a floral fabric and for less than 50 dollars I have a beautiful pair of custom lamps.

The blue and green bedspread you see at the end of the bed was from an estate sale and was the jumping off point for the entire color palette of the room.

The wood dresser was also from an estate sale. The knobs are original to the piece and are solid brass that had seen better days. I used a little Brasso to remove the years of buildup and now they shine like new. It’s gorgeous!

To learn more about Sara Bradburn and her Interior Design in Phoenix, Arizona, check out her website, www.sarahelizabethinteriordesign.com and her blog, www.sarahelizabethdesign.blogspot.com.

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Decorating on a Dime: Effortless Glamor and Affordable Luxury

Amanda Gates is an interior designer and lifestyle expert out of Nashville, Tennessee. She opened her company, AB HOME Interiors in late fall of 2004 out of her studio apartment and has grown to a full service interior design firm, and online retail company. Amanda specializes in deceptively beautiful interiors that are both beautiful and functional for an active lifestyle. Many of her interiors include a mix of thrift store finds and high end furnishings.

Today we’re excited to share some of Amanda’s work with examples of items she has purchased at flea markets or estate sales and used in her high end design:

1) 1960′s American of Martinsville 9 drawer chest, purchased at an estate sale in Nashville, TN and installed in a formal dining room after having it professionally painted. Hardware was polished and cleaned up, furniture was restored.

2) Lee Industries, 1960′s Estate sale. Reupholstered and installed in a reading nook off of the kitchen for a client.

3) 1960′s cane chairs. Purchased in St Louis MO at a garage sale. Had reupholstered and painted for the November Southern Living Show house in Nashville TN.

To learn more about Amanda Gates and her company, AB HOME Interiors, INC. check them out online, www.abhomeinteriors.com

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Denver Colorado Treasure Trove Estate Sale

DENVER – It’s a house filled with history and treasure. It’s a home to a long-time Denver family whose members have lived there during the past 100 years.

There are pocket watches, antique clothing, jewelry, furniture, photographs, arts, books and knick-knacks. They’re the type of items people just don’t hold on to anymore.

The location of the house is not being announced yet. It was built in 1917 by John Wesley Gibbs for Richard Yardley Force. Force was the second Denver school teacher ever, one of the founding members of the Denver Sheriff’s Department, sheriff of the three-member department and a founder of the Denver Fire Department. He moved here from Pennsylvania with his family in the late 1800s.

Kyle Koster is in charge of the estate sale. He says this sale “ranks as the most historic sale closely tied to Denver history that we have every seen.”

Everything will be priced but is negotiable. The sale is March 8 to 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Source: 9News

Ensuring Estate Sale Safety

Running an Estate Sale can be an overwhelming experience if you don’t plan for the worst and are not prepared. Be it reality TV or personal experiences, Estate Sales are known for drawing a solid turnout, and a mix of people, so ensuring the safety of your clients, staff and shoppers is your number one [...]