FINDING SECONDHAND TREASURES

Do you have a friend who always seems to find that perfect item at garage sales, antique and thrift shops? Who always comes home with these beautiful pieces that match her decor perfect. It almost makes you wonder if she knows some secret she isn't sharing. Well, not to worry. In this article, you too, can learn how to find what you need, as well as, how to avoid what you don't need.

Many people think all you have to do is get up early and be the first at the sales, so as to get first pickins. This won't be very helpful if you don't know what pickins you want. Instead, we would want to plan before we taking off on the hunt. By not planning first, you could find yourself owning a lot of odds and ends that you don't know what to do with. Then you have to store it and it just becomes clutter! I've found it more productive to have a method to my madness. ;)

First, I make a list of the things I need around the house or yard. Then I take measurements of windows, furniture, pictures, room size, etc., depending on my needs. I keep these two lists in my wallet at all times. In this way, If I see a certain piece of furniture that I like, I can pull out my list and see if it is something I can use.

Maybe it's beautiful curtains in the perfect color, but I'm not sure if they will fit my window. Once again I pull out my list to check my window measurements. This is really helpful when you would like a nice frame for a photo or mirror. So what if the picture doesn't look like much, what is the frame like? Is it solid wood and in good condition? If its very ornate and carved, could you use it to replace the plain frame on the big mirror over the fireplace. Even if the measurements aren't exact, if its a little too small, you could always have your mirror cut down to size. You could then go from having a nice mirror, that looks like you may have paid $60.00, to having a beautifully ornate mirror that looks as if you paid $400.00 or more for it.

I have all solid wood frames for my family photos and they were all found at yard sales or thrift/antique stores. I was even able to collect them in the same style and stain color.

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