I went to a bunch of garage sales with a girlfriend last week looking for an oval coffee table. (I’m redecorating my living room with the money we’ll get from selling our Vespa scooter.)
I burned out on the coffee table – the furniture selection was terrible at the five sales we hit – but I did find this great little table (image right).
I knew it would fit perfectly in our entryway. But it had an awful coat of cheap lacquer, was dirty, and made of cheap wood. I was giving it the once over when the seller walked over.
“Five,” he said.
“Huh?”
“Five dollars. I’ll give it to you for five dollars.”
I was willing to pay $10 so this was a bargain!
Because we zipped through all the garage sale listings in thirty minutes (timing is crucial and it helps if one person can jump out and size up the sale – it may not be worth parking) I had time later that morning to begin refinishing my little desk.
First I sanded it down (at left). The mold, spider webs, and dirt came right off. A few gouges in the top pice of wood were too deep to sand of, though I was able to sand down the worst one in the front right corner (see light spot)
Next I slapped on a coat of primer. If I want to change colors later, primer will make it easier.
The baby woke up so I delayed putting on two coats of color until Sunday. I used leftover paint from our kitchen renovation, so I didn’t spend a dime on paint!
The desk is gray and the drawer is sea green, below. I wanted to buy a new handle, but it is an odd size (3 and 3/8 inches) so after a number of internet searches I gave up. If you have a standard size handle, I like the pricey designs at Anthropologie.
I let it dry a few hours then installed it in our entryway, replacing an ugly roller drawer desk that was cheap-looking and half chewed by the dog. The benefit of having less storage area in the entryway is that less crap accumulates!
What’s the last deal you found at a garage sale?
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Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
This past weekend a girlfriend of mine and I went to a few sales looking for a lawn mower. Instead, we found a sale with child bikes and scored two 2-wheeler bikes with training wheels for $20. The seats are at their lowest now for the boys, so they should last for a few years for each of the kids.
The desk looks awesome! pretty cool to see it come to life again
Lovely job of polishing up that table! I didn’t realize you had had your baby. Congratulations! As for my best garage sale “score,” I found a Swarovsky crystal vase for $1 at a sale once.
Had a garage sale last weekend. Sold some dishes for $20 that I had paid $7.00 at a garage sale about 10 years ago and used since. Pretty good profit!
If you live in a college town – find out if they have a surplus store… ours does & it has some really great deals…chairs, computers, tvs.,ours is on facebook too.
I love what you did with the table, chic.
I scored a a blue, quilted-style Chanel Bag (80s style) for $1. It was thrown in with everything. Sometimes even junky sales could be hiding a gem.
You did a great job with the table for your entry. Just large enough to hold mail, etc., but not large enough to let a lot of things accumulate!
Very pretty! I love it!
I did something similar. It was the tail end of our elementary school’s rummage sale and the volunteers were waiting for the truck load the leftovers for Goodwill. I bought some clothes and toys, and when I was on my way out, I noticed and liked a cute bookshelf, about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide, solid wood. It was also covered with spiderwebs. I asked how much and the volunteer said, “Just take it – I don’t want to load it onto the truck!” I put a coat of white paint on the frame, and each shelf got a different primary color (red, yellow, and blue) and the kids loved it. The colored paint were the tiny $2 samples at the hardware store and the white came from the kitchen remodel so $8 for a new bookshelf!