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42 Comments

  1. Rosemarie says:

    Sounds like a great idea!!!! A year ago I moved from NY to Florida and need to clean out my home. I listed all my furniture on Craigslist and had very good luck getting rid of everything. I also had a moving/garage sale and made a sign that furniture was available for sale in my home…..sold quite a few pieces that way too. Good luck!!!!

    1. Congrats on your move! Yes, Craig’s list could work if we lived in the same state. But having people come to look at each of the pieces and then potentially not buy makes that untenable in this case, since we’d have to drive there to meet each person.

  2. Judy Chaperon says:

    When my sister passed away we too had the task of disposing of furniture that friends and family could not take. We were successful in sending some items to a consignment shop, but they too were fussy about what they thought they could resell. In the end we donated some beautiful items to Value Village. The staff were quite surprised to see solid oak pieces coming through the door, but that was our last resort to empty out the house.

    1. First, I’m sorry about the loss of your sister. I agree that if we had more time and the furniture was in my own home, or even near it, we could try selling, or consigning, or that sort of thing. I’m just really surprised how difficult it is to donate perfectly good furniture. I already paid to have the “junk” removed, so this is all stuff that’s in really good shape. Habitat is taking most of it, but we have to wait weeks for them to come and that’s only because we pushed and told them we’re closing on the house a few days later. Otherwise it would have been months. And I still have no idea what to do with the piano. That they won’t take.

  3. Tracey Clark says:

    We decided to downsize after the kids had located to other states. Oriental rugs and an Ethan Allen couch were even difficult to sell. No more living rooms or dining rooms for us. So hard to just let it go. We still have a lot in the basement that will need to be donated before the basement remodel starts. I am mentally preparing myself for that. Thankful for your posts who have guided me along the way.

    1. It makes me smile to know you’ve gotten something out of my posts… 🙂 Yes, now that we decorated our basement, I don’t want to bring all this furniture here that we don’t have room for and turn the basement back into a storage unit. As it is, I will be moving things around and getting rid of a few of my things to make room. And we’re not even trying to sell the stuff. I’m just trying to give it away!

  4. I can relate to having to clean out your parents’ house. My husband’s mother passed away a year ago and we were faced with emptying her house. Unfortunately she had not only her own things collected over a lifetime, but her mother’s, her grandmother’s and her aunt’s. For months we unearthed treasures and junk, gave away loads of furniture, and made 37 trips to local charities. After all that, we held a 3-day estate sale. What remained was simply hauled away. It was both heart-wrenching and mind-numbing. I wish you the best!

    1. Thank you Sandra, and I’m sorry you had to deal with it too. I actually have plenty of my grandmother’s pieces in the mix too! In fact, those are my favorite items. I’m taking one secretary desk that my dad did his homework at when he was a child. That I could not part with! We also found boxes of things in the basement that my mom had taken from my grandmother’s house and never even unboxed. She just kept them in the basement (including my grandmother’s wedding gown!!) I swore to myself I would never do that to my kids and vowed to Konmari my house as soon as this is all done… 😉

  5. Lory, we have had the salvation army pick up furniture for donations. I think it was free and just had to be in good condition. Yes, I think it would be a great idea to list items for giveaways. It’s worth a try! Thanks for hosting and enjoy the rest of your week!
    Shelley

    1. Thanks, Shelley! The Salvation Army is a good choice if you have time to wait and the patience to let them cherry pick. But they also make you haul everything out to the curb yourself, which is simply a deal breaker for me (since hubby just had rotator cuff surgery and I can’t lift furniture by myself… ;-)). I would try them for things in my own home though, which I am insistent on cleaning out as soon as this is all done!

  6. Debbie Dixon says:

    Lory, have you considered the local women’s and children’s shelters? Most of these shelters house people who have to flee their homes with only the clothes on their backs. The shelters will often help them set up a new home and they are in need of all things.
    I love your idea of listing giving away some of your parents treasures.
    Peace and joy to you,
    Debbie Dixon

    1. I love the idea of giving to shelters! But they, too, have so many restrictions. For now, we’re set with Habitat, except for the piano, but I think I’m going to try out these various sources that everyone has suggested for things from my own house. Then I’ll be able to see which was the easiest to work with. We had the same issue when we did the clothing. It became so difficult and time consuming to photograph everything and have them cherry pick, that we wound up throwing out so much stuff.

  7. Cecilia from Georgia says:

    My heart goes out to you for having to make these decisions. Have you thought about contacting a church that has a thrift store? Wish I lived closer so I could take some furniture off your hands! God bless you and your family during this time. Thanks for hosting the link party! ? XOXO

    1. Aww thanks Cecilia! I wish you lived closer too… 🙂 We did call around as much as we could, but it’s hard to find out who takes what when it’s not in your own neighborhood. Plus we have to be concerned about how we’d get the stuff there. I now have a furniture pickup scheduled and I’m really happy with the idea of giving away the smaller decorative items on the blog.

  8. Hi Lory! For myself, I am just beginning to NOT be wiped out from the past two months of packing out of our trailer, moving out of the local storage unit, driving to California and moving out of the two monster 10’x25′ storage units, having Salvation Army do a monster furniture pick-up, taking the rest to Habitat for Humanity, and now for three weeks straight still unpacking…

    That’s what I’ve been up to so, no, I have hardly linked to any parties except Blogging Fifty and my own with Share Your Style (please do come link up tonight! 🙂 ). Maybe everyone is just busy…

    I feel for you having to clean out your parents’ home… It was really tough when my mother died and my youngest brother and his wife did the bulk of selling/donating things. I went back to help paint and we held a garage/barn sale. Some things sold but it was a rainy day there in Southbury, Connecticut that summer Saturday. With our recent move, yah, it was weird what each donation center could and couldn’t take. Salvation Army took only the cream of the donating furniture. Luckily our storage unit place, and the contractor who was doing some renovating, let me toss out the falling apart pieces and a bunch of light tubes and junk. Bless them forever for that!

    Well, now that I’ve typed you a long letter… I hope you and your siblings (if you have any) are able to get your parents’ home sold quickly and for a good price. <3 The toughest part is the memories… Linking up two posts today: one on Fixing a Warped Canvas (#41) and an Easter Tablescape for 10 on the 10th (#42).

    Spring hugs to you, my friend,
    Barb 🙂

    1. Good luck in your new home, Barb! (I actually wasn’t referring to the link party so much as my regular blog posts… :-)). I’ve been cleaning out my parents’ house for over a year now. I’m so glad I started while my dad was still alive, so most of the emotional stuff I was able to share with him and all the personal items are long cleaned out (clothing, cosmetics, photos, papers, memorabilia, etc.) I’ve also already paid twice to have the big “junk” cleaned out, so the only thing left is the better furniture and decor. the house is sold, so that’s why we have a time limit. But they also had an apartment near me, so I can work on that next! ???

  9. Hi, thanks for hosting—and I’m so glad Interior Frugalistas–fab chest of drawers was chosen for a feature. Looking forward to enjoying the party, Sandi.

  10. I’ve had good luck selling furniture on Nextdoor, because the buyers are named, you know where they live, and they come and pick it up. I got rid of a heavy granite-topped entry console in 1 hour for $100, so the buyer got a heck of a deal, and I got rid of the Olde Worlde look. I even helped him load it.

    Great idea about giving away items to readers…it’d be like Christmas, opening a mystery package.

    1. Ah, thanks for the idea, Beatrice! I’m not familiar with Next-door, so I will have to look that up. Maybe someone will take the piano? The problem is we live an hour away from the house, so I’d have to go driving there each time someone wanted to look at it. Sounds like a great option for my own house, though, which I’d like to clean out next… 😉 As for the giveaway items, I was planning to post photos, so people can try to get the things they like. I’d hate to send someone something they don’t really want and then they have to get rid of it!! LOL.

  11. Have you contacted churches in your area, about taking the furniture? My church operates an apartment for homeless people that are going through a rehab. program to change their lives and get back on their feet. We were looking for furnishings, etc. when we were renovating the apt. You might check that.
    Depending on what the item (s) is, I might be very interested in what you want to give away in contests or just give away. I will be watching your blog!!! Thanks, Nancee

    1. Yes, I love the idea of trying to help people in shelters and such, but that works better when it’s not an entire house full of things that you’re trying to get rid of and when the house you’re emptying is nearby. I will definitely use what I learned after this experience, though, to clean out my own house… 🙂 Be on the lookout for the giveaway stuff starting in a few weeks. A lot of it will be items I brought to my house because I didn’t want to throw them away and then realized I’m truly out of space.

  12. Try your local Hospices to see if they have thrift stores!

  13. So many good ideas. There is an outfit called Got Junk that will pick up anything. They advertise that they “will donate the donate-ables, recycle the recycle-ables”. I like the sound of that. The local LDS church operates a Mission Center and they ask for furniture to furnish apartments for the mission participants. I enjoy the local Value Village because the get tons of furniture and housewares in and it never lasts long. I have found many treasures there. But if I had a houseful, I would do an indoor garage sale/estate sale.

    1. Yes, I agree these are so many good ideas! I have a junk guy I’ve used twice already, but it costs a lot of money to have them haul away stuff. But it’s a great last ditch option. I never heard of Value Village so I just looked it up and put that one on my list for future reference (there’s an apartment we will be doing next). As for the estate sale, we did one once and found it was a lot of trouble for very little money and then you still need to clean out when it’s over. Habitat agreed to take most of the furniture. I will be giving away the remaining smaller decor on the blog and now I just need someone to take the piano. Hate to have it junked, but it looks like we will have to.

  14. I suspect that like me, there are other followers who have had the difficult task of emptying a home and finding new homes for items that are worth saving. I think a give away with some of the smaller items would be great fun. I wish you much luck in this time of transition. MM

    1. Thank you so much, Marie! I think I will enjoy finding a home for these items from readers who will appreciate them.

  15. I’m a relatively new fan. I apologize, I’ve been meaning to comment because I love your site. I blogged for years, so I should know better. Comments are not only appreciated, but they are the nourishment all bloggers need.
    Thanks for always inspiring me and for your furniture resource feature. I’ve found some pieces that are helpful
    Karen

    1. Aww thanks, Karen! I hope I didn’t come across as too pushy about the comments. I just thought it was my fault because I don’t always have time to answer, so I thought people may have stopped because of that… 😉 But it was really nice to get this response this week!

  16. Another vote for NextDoor. Much safer than Craigslist (real names, and people from your own neighborhood). I have gotten rid of lots of decor and furniture items by both selling or giving away, and the stuff usually goes very fast.

    1. I’m so glad to have learned about this resource here! I never heard of them before. If not for this house, I will be using them in the future anyway!!

  17. Made my day to see my DIY velvet Easter eggs as a feature, Lory! Thank you SO much! I think the giveaway is a wonderful idea… and it would be fun to see the items, too! I totally understand the whole getting rid of furniture. My mom had some wonderful antique farmhouse style pieces. We actually had to give them away. It’s so sad.

    1. It was our pleasure to feature them, Julie!! Thanks for linking… 🙂 I’ve decided to try the giveaways for sure. And yes, it is a shame when there’s no one to take the furniture. I’m taking as much as I can, but there’s just so much I can take.

  18. Last year had a garage sale; that I morphed into a FREE SALE. People were so excited to pick up some junk or decent stuff (dishes, jewelry, magazines, clothes, kitchen stuff, towels) for free. They THANKED ME … and I felt better than putting in Goodwill/Salvation Army. We had NOTHING left to haul off…and the customers loved it.

    Most stuff was cheap…but did give away some small tables/chairs/etc.

    I’m getting ready to do that again…felt good to know the stuff would probably be uses.

    1. I think that’s a great idea, Barbara, because it’s better than paying someone to take your stuff and then adding it to the landfill. I would actually consider doing this for my own home, because we live here and there’s no time constraint. Definitely going to keep this one in mind!

  19. Diane Corsaro says:

    I love your home and I would love to win some of your free stuff. Everything you have is beautiful! I live in a small town and there are hardly any stores The closest area to shop is 180 miles away, so it usually ends up being for stuff you need not things you would like to buy. I’m not much of an online shopper as that is all we have had for years and sometimes the quality is not what you expect. Altho your stuff looks really nice and I’ll give some of it a try. Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

  20. Reading all these posts are soothing to read, having gone through similar experiences. It’s funny nowadays how the younger generations have little interest in family hand me downs. When I got married my grandmother happened to move and many boxes of her things made it to my door. I had so little to start out with that I was overjoyed. Years later when her apartment was broken up I had just bought our second home which was quite a bit larger space for us. Once again I was tickled pink to have so many of her things. To this day my home is peppered with reminders of her as well as my mom and others. Though my attachment to these things is now frowned upon, I enjoy having them and remember how often I either used them or washed them as a little girl helping my grandmother clean each summer.

    1. How lucky of you to have so many nice reminders! That shouldn’t be frowned upon at all. When I first got married, my taste was very different and I wanted all modern things, but over the years that changed and by the time my grandmother passed, I was grateful to receive a lot of her things. I find that a lot of people don’t have an eye to picture how these things will look in an updated home, but once they see them there, they are pleasantly surprised… 😉