Garage sailing is the best kind of sailing

Or so says Nidhi. After this weekend I think I would agree!

In anticipation of my new roommate moving in, I finally decided that I can't live like a bum anymore. I had somehow managed to put together my makeshift couch in a way that was presentable, but the apartment needed some more furniture to really pull the look together. I wanted to spent little to no money on this so I decided to do a garage sale scavenger hunt weekend.

First I had to find the garage sales. While I could just drive around and look for signs and posters, I wanted to at least plan a little for my path. I discovered a neat site Gsalr that maps out locations and descriptions of sales, pulling from different websites including Craigslist. While on the road, I also found an app for my iPhone that did the same thing, iGarageSale. These were both great tools for plotting the path of least resistance.

Since I'm new to the area, I decided to put in all the addresses into my GPS. I thought I was getting completely lost in Cleveland Suburbia, but it turned out that I actually was just circling around Shaker Heights and University Heights.

There were some things on my list: coffee table, couch, dining table, and lamps.


At one of my first stops, I discovered this beauty. Well, it had been a beauty at some point, by by now it was a little beaten up. Not anything you would notice unless you were really paying attention though! The clear glass top isn't shown in this picture, but the two supporting blocks are marble/granite. It was super heavy and didn't exactly match my wood couch and tv stand. The guy was desperate to sell it though, offering it for $20 and said he could help me load it in my car. I said I'd think about it, then 20 minutes later after visiting another sale, came back and bought it! And even better, he then offered to deliver it as well!

The ladies of Shaker Heights really think they're something. I went to a few more garage sale there, but they weren't actually garage sale prices. These sales were advertised as vintage sales. You know what the difference between used old shit and vintage is? How much you have to pay for it. I'm not that kinda sucker, I'll pass! They did have these cute business card sized cards to give to parking assholes. I didn't even bother asking for a price, I'm sure they would have asked me for something ridiculous!


This lamp was a great find at a rummage sale put on by Cleveland Heights High School bands. It was $3 plus I also got for free a great piece of fabric that I used as a belt. All the proceeds from the sale went towards supporting the band for the year. It was fun to rummage around while listening to the great show they put on in the front lawn. These were some talented kids!

This owl tea set is so cute! No price tag so I offered $2. Sold!

I stopped by a bunch of other places and picked up various items in the picture above. There's Tango playing with my new actually new scarf. There a serving tray ($1) under the two Scrabble games ($4 for both). Why two you ask?

I've been on Pinterest way too much! I'm planning to make Scrabble letter coasters :)

That wooden box was actually a free gift from a lady just down the street! It's a champagne box. She was wrapping up her garage sale, putting things away, and most of the goodies were gone by then. We started talking a bit because she had this wonderful huge easel for sale for $65, which would be a steal too! It turns out she's an artist and works with mixed media. Such a sweet lady - I'll be back to see her for her next sale if she has one!


I found this wonderful bedroom set of headboard/footboard ($30), dresser and mirror ($50). I asked the lady of the house if I could get it delivered, but there was no way. They were such nice pieces and the price was so amazing that I decided I would take it and figure out the delivery issue later. There's plenty of two guys and a truck movers, so I could probably hire a couple of guys for not too expensive. I talked the lady down to $70 for both ;D and we had a deal!









Here's a few pots and table cloth ($8 all together). The table cloth is just perfect for my kitchen table, though we might move that out to the sun
room. New shower hooks and a nice vintage style glass ($2).







Phew! After all that, I was headed home and saw signs that there was a street sale just on the next block from my apartment! I picked up this couch for $40, signed, sealed and DELIVERED! Since this super nice guy was delivering the couch, I thought maybe my dresser and headboard problem would be solved. I ask him if he could help me get some other furniture I had bought already and he gladly agreed, even before I offered him $20! I figured it would be at least that much to hire movers.

I stopped by this guys house the next day and picked up this chair from him too, which he delivered as well.

So after a long day, I thought about cooking for about half a second, and decided that after all that hard work and moving heavy furniture, it was time to celebrate with a home cooked meal from Hunan Coventry. Their General Tso's Tofu is awesome and so is their cashew tofu. Yum!