the truth?
There’s a really good story behind every yard sale find.
you know
Where you find a piece of art that looks like it was drawn by a kindergartner and you plan to use the frame for something, you take the art out of the frame and discover a hidden masterpiece signed and dated by an artist everyone has heard of.
Or where you walk 2.5 miles back through the snow to an abandoned farmhouse barn full of vintage, where the owner inherited the barn from his great uncle and wants to get rid of everything and it’s all for a quarter.
Or where you find a shed that hasn’t been opened for 50 years, and the shed owners are selling everything for a song, and you happily run out of the shed with your hands full and take them home and dust them off and remove the cobwebs and repurpose them and reimagine them as treasures.
May be dusty.
Cobwebs can be banished.
But the story remains.
Those stories are not mine. I’ve never found a famous artist’s work or an unopened shed, but what have I discovered?
Makes the yard sale story of the century.
Especially when you’re a yard saler, and you find this.
This is a story of a dresser.
Isn’t that the cutest dresser you’ve ever seen?
Several years ago, a friend of mine called me and said that a friend of a friend had started work on a house in a small town about 45 minutes from here. He was completely remodeling it from top to bottom, and it was full of bric-a-brac and knick-knacks and vintage finds and the occasional piece of furniture, and he was selling everything. He wanted it all gone.
Did I want to go see it with him?
Was I interested?
Umm.
Please, girl.
You gave me a bric-a-brac.
We drove through winding country roads together.
up the hill.
over del.
At last we reached our destination.
The house was a little rough around the edges. As in-almost decreasing. The porch was almost finished. As such – I went for plywood pieces and loose gaps and a single beam to create an open porch in the front door.
And oh, the sight that awaited my eyes indoors.
Treasure.
everywhere.
It was home that time forgot.
There was the most amazing butcher block kitchen island with frames and boxes and old cabinets and mirrors and industrial fittings.
And then?
I turned the corner of the front hallway just in time to see this dresser.
i know, right?
Did you sigh a little at that carving on the edges?
Oh, good. me too
The dresser didn’t look like this when I got her. She was covered with precious moments. and old vases. and dried flowers. And boxes of ribbons and scraps of long ago flyers and newspapers.
Can I take the dresser home?
Should I take the dresser home?
Tentatively, I reached on top of the dresser and brushed away the cobwebs with my elbow.
Then I reached out and grabbed the door handle.
Slowly, carefully, pulling a little, I opened the door.
And something jumped out at me.
I screamed.
And jumped.
And by retreating so far and so fast I almost brought down with me a whole collection of precious moments.
I don’t know what it was.
I really don’t mind.
All I know is that there was a nest of small scraps of paper and napkins and paper towels in the drawer.
hey
There was some rented space in the dresser drawer.
When he told me the price? Even that nest could not stop me. We swiped the remains of the nest and took the dresser and loaded it in the truck and took it home, and cleaned every nook and cranny, and sanded it down a bit and restored the finish with stain and wiped it all down and buffed it.
Just in case you were wondering? I bleached the drawers, sanded them down, and removed any traces of their previous furry owners.
And now?
The dresser is closed for business.
And…
….It’s not about renting drawers anymore. 🙂
PS Here is one My favorite yard sale finds of all time.
And look what I found Yard sale drawer here
PSS Do you have a yard sale story you’d like to share? Come sit with me.
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