She salvages whole houses!

I had the good fortune to run across the fabulous blog Casa Cara, where writer and old home collector, Cara Greenberg charts her adventures buying and renovating old houses. That’s right – she salvages whole houses! I figured after 20-something years of collecting homes, Cara might have a few gems of wisdom (or many!) to share…  Each day this week, I’ll post one of Cara’s awesome tips for flea marketing, renovating older homes and repurposing antiques. To start things off, Cara provides a little flea marketing 101:

Cara, tell me about your approach to flea marketing and yard sale-ing (sailing?) Do you look for specific items or just good deals? Do you have any best practices that you can share?

Specific items. I even have a list to keep me on track. Right now I’m looking for an umbrella stand and coat rack for my front hall and a dining table for my porch. I’m always on the lookout for garden tools, kitchenware, and lamps to fill in what I don’t have here at my Long Island cottage. Recently I found a fabulous rustic hutch, made in the 1970s out of 300-year-old barn wood.

image via Casa Cara

My yard sale tips are only two: go early and ye shall find. And do not saddle yourself with unnecessary items, unless you want to have your own yard sales.

I am pea green with envy over that hutch – she is a beauty. I love that it was made using 18th century barn wood!

Tomorrow Cara tells me about her experiences repurposing…