Garage (Sale) Finds

The garage never seems to stay as neat as I'd like.  We move out one thing just to add add another.

But this weekend, Ryan did a great job making things disappear more permanently.  And no, he didn't blow them up with fireworks or throw them in the Missouri River like I asked him to during one particularly crazy fit of rage.

He hung them on the ceiling! We had two bike rack thingies my dad gave me four years ago (I know, I know--I never keep stuff that long without using it or giving it away, but I knew we'd put that bike up eventually).  The bike and ladder are so much more conveniently placed now, especially the ladder, which is huge (and an estate sale find--got it for $30 and retails for upwards of $200 or more).

Brass beds are cool!  

We also finally put the side-of-the-road dresser in place for tool storage.  It is a super el cheapo piece not even worthy of paint, but it'll do the job.

And of course, there's the brass headboard I scored for almost nothing at a garage sale a few weeks ago.  Why did I purchase it?  Well, our IKEA bed, which had survived four moves, decided to die.  And I'm sad to say we weren't even doing anything fun on it when it collapsed (and we managed to sell the bed even in damaged condition. The one benefit of living in an IKEA-free town is that people will pay for the broken stuff!).

I don't have many photos of the old bed.  Well, I do, but it's dated back to our move, so the room is quite frightening and the bed wasn't fully set up.

Hilariously enough, we are now back to the bed on the floor (not pictured due to serious disaster area upstairs), with only the IKEA wood slats (an alternative box spring) keeping the mattress off the carpet.

I bought the headboard knowing I'd paint it to make it less builder-grade-awesome (awful).  It takes up no space, which is important since we'll be eventually moving our room downstairs to the girls' 120 sqft room, giving them the 500 sqft loft space on the second floor.  The IKEA platform was too large--perhaps it knew I was making these plans and disintegrated from heart break?  I guess even cheaply made furniture has feelings.


For now, we're living like college kids because I have to now purchase a box spring and a bed frame.  Funds are low 'round here, so that'll have to wait.

Anyway, the point of this post was to encourage you to hang stuff from the ceiling in your garage, re-use other people's trash if you can, and be careful with IKEA furniture. No, wait, I mean, go to yard sales to buy things you need.  I bet your IQ has just gone up at least 1.5 points from visiting today.  If you say I've never given you anything, you'd be wrong.

And speaking of gifts, the deadline for entering my House Beautiful giveaway is tomorrow July 10, 2012 at 11:59pm.  Enter HERE!