What to look for at a yard sale

I’m one of those annoying people that do a ‘drive by’ when yard saling. I’m sure it drives sellers crazy to have people slow down and drive by without getting out to look around, but really, this is where staging really helps. If you don’t have the good stuff on prominent display, you won’t get anyone to stop and look around. And for someone like me, who’s looking for vintage, beat up pieces of furniture, if I don’t see it during the drive by, then I’m probably not stopping.

I always keep my eyes open for solid wood, not too large, pieces. Something that I can easily throw into the back of my mini van. Another thing I look for is a piece that can have multi purposes. Take a sideboard for example. A sideboard/buffet can be used in a dining room, obviously. But I’ve also used them as a table in a foyer, a changing table, and drop a piece of butcher block or granite on top and voila, you have a fantastic kitchen island. Pieces like that I snatch up in a heartbeat!

When planning out your yard sale-ing, don’t steer clear of the less expensive neighborhoods. I’ve found that those are the neighborhoods that have more well used pieces. And a lot of times those pieces are solid wood and have been in the family for a generations. It’s the newer, more expensive neighborhoods that have stuff that’s pristine, and pricey! Neither of which are good for my purposes.