Estate Sale Love

I love HGTV! When my husband gets home from his business trips he jokes, because all of the televisions are either turned to HGTV or Bravo (any Housewives fans?). Anyway, the programs on HGTV inspire me to work on our house. Isn’t that what the producers of HGTV shows want you to do with a slogan like: Start at Home? So, I recently started to add HGTV’s Cash & Cari to our DVR playlist. Cari's honest and inspired approach to selling other’s treasures is fun to watch. She has inspired me to seek out estate sales in my area. I love to find old treasures and repurpose them to fit into a modern lifestyle.

As a child I wanted to be a cashier. I have always been fascinated with cash registers, and I loved the detail on this one.

So a couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law and I sought out after our first estate sale experience. We were beyond excited. We pull up to the auction estate sale warehouse, and we were like children in a candy store (literally, because the items from this auction used to be in an old candy store and pharmacy). It was wonderful to see these unique pieces and imagine what kind of life they had in the candy store and pharmacy. As I scoped out the pieces, I wrote down the items that I thought I would bid a small amount on. You never know if items will go high at an auction estate sale, because most of the bidders will sell the items they buy for a profit. If they don’t think a particular item will sell well they won’t bid on it. So this left many pieces that were sold for a much lower price than their worth.

Vintage Pharmacy Storage from the Estate Sale

Vintage Christmas Decorations from the Estate Sale

My husband and I received some beautiful wedding china, and we didn’t have any place to store it or showcase it. So, I technically didn’t go to buy a china cabinet, but I told myself that if I saw something that I liked I would try and bid on it. And, I did find something I liked, no loved. I spotted an oak Lady Pitt kitchen (Hoosier) cabinet. My mother-in-law informed me that it was used for kitchen storage in the 20s and 30s. It had a place for the flour with a sifter. It also had a place for cookbooks, and a spice rack. It even had a pull-out ironing board. It was still in really good condition and I loved the lead glass. When I looked at it, I saw someone (maybe one of my ancestors) kneading bread around the cabinet. It told such a wonderful story.

Kitchen Cabinet at the Estate Sale

I really enjoyed watching the process as the auctioneer started to call the items and prices. Most of the items that I wrote down earlier were soon scratched off my list because they were not within my budget. However, I did walk away with one very special item and that was the kitchen cabinet. It found a home in our main living area with our china inside. It is in such good condition that I just gave it a good cleaning, and ta da!

The experience was a lot of fun, and I would definitely go again. Have you ever experienced or bought anything at an estate sale?