BARGAIN DECORATING

WHAT TO DO when you've got new digs to furnish but you don't have a new digs budget? You go bargain hunting, of course! And for me the best bargains are found at garage and estate sales and in thrift stores. I love the thrill of the hunt and if someone needs to lighten her load and downsize or find a new home for Grandma's favorite chair, well, I'm here to help. Let me tell you, I've been helping a lot of people since we hit sunny California and started refurbishing our spring bird digs.
What have I found so far? The bedroom furnishings you see above, for one. Still on the hunt for nightstands, but meanwhile, this sweet, little oak dresser ($30 at a garage sale) will do. The bed (including mattresses) was $150 and we also sprang for the bedspread and pillow shams. We got this beauty at an estate sale. No, nobody died in it. The bed was in a guest room. I can't remember for sure, but I think we paid $7 for the lamp. The  Mikasa dishes I found in a thrift store in Ocean Shores (the inspiration for my fictional town of Moonlight Harbor) and we drove them down along with a ton of other bargain hunt treasures I'd purchased for the new place. The fun original water color came from the same estate sale where we got the bed, along with a wing back leather chair for Gerhardt. And that gorgeous writing desk? Garage sale. Are we having fun or what?
Summer is garage sale season, and if you're on a budget it's the ideal way to pick up kitchen items, play clothes for the kids, sports equipment, dishes, kitchen gadgets - everything but the kitchen sink. Oh, wait. You can probably find one of those somewhere, too. So check on line and see what's happening in your neighborhood. Right now, we're coming up on Memorial Day weekend, the traditional kick-off for the season. I'm hoping to find nightstands. How about you?