Decorating your home from weekend treasure hunting can be not only a smart money saving idea but fun and creative as well. Start with a plan, make a budget and make some new friends.
1. Plan and list for the items you are looking for by visiting your favorite home decor websites. Mine is Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Also plan a timeline for what items you need first and prioritize with your budget in mind. You will not find everything you want in one weekend so be patient and find places to store your things until you need them.
2. Research the current prices of furniture pieces you are looking for and know what is a good deal when you find it. Although you have access to a mobile phone during the yard sale, sometimes a quick decision in a crowded estate sale doesn't give you the opportunity to do ample research. Often pictures of estate sales are listed on www.estatesales.net and www.estatesales.org before the sale so you can have more time to research a fair market value.
3. Keep an open mind when shopping that repurposing, painting and easy maintenance may be all it takes to turn that table into the red one on your list. However, reupholstering furniture is quite expensive.
4. Take advantage of all the places you can find second hand items. Local Facebook buy, sell and trade pages are the newest and fastest growing sources of buying used merchandise. Craigslist, Estate Sales and Moving Sales Companies, auctions, Flea Markets and thrift stores are listed weekly for weekend treasure hunting.
5. Lastly, a well planned direction of pictures of your items and lists accessible on your phone either in notes, photos or Pinterest album will be accessible while you are on the road and eliminate random buying and an overabundance of items you thought were a good buy at the time.
