now and then house again and tips!!

when we first moved to yakima our house was EMPTY. in seattle we had a little one bedroom apartment. here we have a two bedroom house. when had moved everything in, sat down on the couch and started talking there was literally an echo! our living room was so sparse. i very much enjoyed having an excuse to buy furniture and have filled my house with things i love.
here is a list of my living room furniture:
couch: craiglist $15
carpet: antique store $40
green chair: yard sale $5
black chair: st. vincent back lot sale $5
shelving: restore $10
george washington portrait: thrift store $15
piano: free
lockers: restore $40
table and chairs: free

you do not need to break the bank to have the look you want in your home. here is a list of tips that i often use.

1.  be patient. the couch for example was exactly what i had been looking for. i made due with our old gray couch until i found what i really wanted. i just happened to find it at such a great price! i had been willing to pay much more for a chocolate brown vintage couch. but my patience paid off in the end.

2.  yard sales are where it's at! i find tons of treasures at yard sales. though it can be easy to just buy junk when yard sale-ing. i find its helpful to have a list of what you want exactly and not stray from it, unless you find something you cannot live without.

3.  try and try again. you know that the bookshelves are not my first try at organizing our books. my previous shelves were ok. but i wasn't happy with them. so i tried something else. dont be afraid to try something else if you are not quite happy with what you have. sometimes you have to do things a couple times to find out what works for you.

4.  if its free, why not? i accept things all the time from people who know i like old stuff. my table and chairs and the table under the bookshelves were all free, from the same person too actually. if u find you dont really like it or need it, just pass it on cuz you didnt pay anything for it :)

5. dont be afraid to barter. mr. george washington, whom i love, was $25. i offered $15 and i got it for $15. usually people will overprice when selling to you because they assume you will give a counter offer. start low so you can go up if they arent happy with your first offer. this takes some guts! but is well worth it. think of it this way, they have stuff they want to get rid of, you have the money that they want. their gonna sell to you high or low. so you might as well try for low.

6. take advantage of restore. i find tons of good stuff here. it is not usually just building supplies and if they do have furniture its usually very well priced.

7. go early. if you are looking for something specific its good to get to yard sales early. but if you just want some good deals go the last day. usually they give stuff away cuz they dont wanna haul it away.


here are some before and after pics. i know you've seen all the afters, but its fun to see them next to each other isnt it?

arent we cute?? only 3 years ago. that is libby, my little sister.