Lauren – Michael's Blog http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog Tue, 12 Jul 2016 19:07:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.1 Summer Tips for Successful Estate Sale Shopping http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/07/summer-tips-for-successful-estate-sale-shopping/ http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/07/summer-tips-for-successful-estate-sale-shopping/#respond Tue, 12 Jul 2016 19:07:48 +0000 http://michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/?p=146 Continue reading "Summer Tips for Successful Estate Sale Shopping"]]>  

 

Ah, the great outdoors! Are you wearing your bug spray and sunscreen?
Ah, an estate sale in the great outdoors! Are you wearing your bug spray and sunscreen?

Is it hot enough for you? Summer is here for sure in Tennessee, and that’s great news for estate sale fans. This time of year boasts the largest number of estate sales, barn sales, tent sales…you name it! There’s lots of shopping fun to be had, but it’s also a time of year when you need to plan ahead and take a few precautions so that you don’t run into trouble when you’re on the hunt for discounted treasures.

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Warmer temps mean that sales are held outdoors as well as inside. When you’re picking through items that have been stored in barns or sheds, you might want to bring along a pair of gloves to protect your hands from dirt, rust, splinters…and the occasional spider. A little good planning helps make the experience safer and more fun.

Park smart and avoid trouble! It's worth the effort.
Park smart and avoid trouble! It’s worth the effort.

Estate sale parking can be challenging, especially with larger summertime crowds. Neighborhoods are rarely designed for the influx of vehicles that a sale can attract, and often times people are in a rush to park and get inside to shop. However, it’s important to remember that there’s not ANY deal that’s worth a scraped bumper. Take special care in older neighborhoods with narrow streets (Inglewood) or inside condominium complexes not to park on both sides of the street–there must always be a clear path for emergency vehicles. Summer often brings heavy rains; if an area looks muddy, be extra careful about parking your vehicle!

Yeah, that's how you roll your ankle on the uneven terrain or rickety basement stairs at an estate sale. Wear closed-toed shoes!
Yeah, that’s how you roll an ankle on the uneven lawn or rickety basement stairs at an estate sale.

Can we talk about flip flops? We love our flip flops in the summertime…but they are a hazard at estate sales. Often, older houses have uneven flooring, or steep/slippery/narrow basement and attic stairs. Navigating narrow hallways in a crowd of estate sale shoppers while wearing flip-flops can be dangerous to your toes! Please consider saving the flip flops for the beach, and wear your closed-toed shoes to the sales.

Hydrate, hydrate! We'll have the lemonade waiting for you at our summer sales.
Hydrate, hydrate! We’ll have the lemonade waiting for you at our summer sales.

Summer estate sales are often hot…especially outdoor barn and tent sales! Be sure to stay hydrated in warm weather. We offer complimentary lemonade, coffee and ice water at all of our sales, so please be sure to take advantage of this.

Keep bugs and sunburn at bay!
Keep bugs and sunburn at bay!

If you’re out at estate sales, it’s good to keep a bottle of sunscreen and bug spray handy. With the warmer weather, often times we will have items for sale outdoors; and y’all know that mosquitos are out in force this time of year. A little spray will help keep ’em away!

Join the fun and line up early!
Join the fun and line up early!

If you really want to beat the heat, arrive early. Our sales open at 8:00 a.m., and folks generally start lining up on the first day at about 7:00 a.m. It’s generally as cool outside as it’s going to be at that time, and there are lots of friendly people to chat with in line.  We really do have the best customers and we love seeing them each week!

Check our estate sale listings (link on our home page) for where we’ll be, and come join us for great deals and a glass of lemonade. See you there!

My best,

Michael Taylor and Company

 

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Summer Tablescapes: Using Vintage Finds http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/07/summer-tablescapes-using-vintage-finds/ http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/07/summer-tablescapes-using-vintage-finds/#respond Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:02:49 +0000 http://michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/?p=137 Continue reading "Summer Tablescapes: Using Vintage Finds"]]> Don’t you just love summer? We do! It’s our busiest time of the year, and we’ve got a full schedule of really great estate sales and new treasures arriving at Michael Taylor At Home weekly. Today we thought we’d share with you some fun ideas for setting a summer table using items that are easy to find at our sales or in our retail location. tablesettings3

Vintage mason jars are a staple at our sales–and some older Ball jars are quite collectible! Group several together and fill with water, glass ovals and floating candles for a pretty outdoor accent. Or add lemon slices, rosemary sprigs and a few drops of citronella oil–this looks pretty and is a natural mosquito deterrent.

Vintage books, an old tin, and mason jar vases accent a rustic dining room table...chic and easy!
Vintage books, an old tin, and mason jar vases accent a rustic dining room table…chic and easy!

Old books and vintage tins are inexpensive and easy to find at our sales, and add height and interest to a tablescape. Pick up a small, decorative plant and voila! Here mason jars are used as drinking glasses–one more use for them.

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Vintage china is beautiful and a tremendous buy at estate sales–our sales are literally full of china place settings at very affordable prices.  Don’t be intimidated by the fragile look of these pieces! China is meant to be used and enjoyed, and is easy to incorporate into casual dining.  Here we have a basket full of mix-and-match small plates on a dessert buffet. What an easy, fun presentation…not fussy at all!

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Here’s a wedding table centerpiece using silver plate (Michael Taylor At Home has a great selection of silver plate serving pieces!), old books, a china coffee pot, etc. Groupings of dissimilar objects can look great together. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

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This beautiful table is set with mix-and-match china. It looks like a million bucks, right? Lots of colorful, creative vintage style. Fun fact: we’ve had brides shop with us to find enough mix-and-match china to set tables for weddings of 200+ guests. We just love helping customers bring their events to life…and isn’t it fun to imagine someone’s old china set being used for a fabulous celebration like a wedding? Mixing and matching takes away that “too fancy!” factor…and brings in a lot of old-world charm.

Need help locating pieces like these? Please feel free to ask any of our staff at our sales to help you find items like any you’ve seen here–we’d love to help you with your treasure hunt! Photos of our sales are updated weekly in the estate sale listings tab, found on the home page of this website. Or you can find similar items at Michael Taylor At Home, open 10-5, Thurs. thru Sat., at 478 Allied Dr.

Happy shopping, and we hope to see you soon!

Michael Taylor and Company

 

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Behind the Scenes: Setting the Sale! http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/06/behind-the-scenes-setting-the-sale/ http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/06/behind-the-scenes-setting-the-sale/#respond Tue, 28 Jun 2016 20:41:31 +0000 http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/?p=111 Continue reading "Behind the Scenes: Setting the Sale!"]]> Believe it or not, this closet will be clean, organized and ready to shop in a few short days!
Where’s Waldo?? Believe it or not, this closet will be clean, organized and ready to shop in a few short days!

It’s no secret that we host some of Nashville’s largest estate and moving sales. While many local firms also handle single family homes, our area of specialization–and we really shine here!–is in liquidating the contents of larger properties. We have the experience, staff volume and knowledge to set even the largest of sales in 3-4 days. One of the most frequently asked questions we get from estate sale clients is, “Will you be ready to go on time?” because they can’t believe that we can clean, organize and set up large and complicated sales in such a short time frame. But, we get it done!

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Supplies are key, and we bring them to each sale. Cleaning supplies, trash bags, light bulbs, extra lighting, air fresheners…we bring it all in and get right to work!

Sometimes treasure, sometimes trash. We sort it out!
Sometimes treasure, sometimes trash. We sort it out!

Every sale has some items that need to be thrown out to ensure that the property is clean and the areas in the home are shopable. Some homes will have larger items in need of disposal; in these cases, we call in a dumpster to make clean-up easier.

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And then once the cleaning is done, we start setting the sale. All furniture, accessories, etc. are arranged and priced for easy shopping.

This guy! (Hey, we've got to have a little fun...)
This guy! (Hey, we’ve got to have a little fun…)

And once the sale is all set, we try out the bathtubs! Ha ha…no, we totally do NOT do that; our fearless leader, Michael Taylor, is just joking around in there.

Tool guy/gal alert!
Tool guy/gal alert!

This particular sale (located in Brentwood, TN, starting Friday, 7/1 and running through Monday 7/4) has something for everyone–from antiques to Craftsmen tools and cabinets.

Need glassware, crystal or barware? We've gotcha covered!
Need glassware, crystal or barware? We’ve gotcha covered!

We’ll have tons of glassware, crystal and bar accessories. The homeowner was a former antique dealer, as well, so we have some really great antiques.

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Lighting, candlesticks and crystal pieces are a special feature of this sale.

You are definitely going to need a ladder to reach the top shelf!
You are definitely going to need a ladder to reach the top shelf, Michael!

Not to mention, these 12-foot tall cabinets (set of 2). Michael is in the photo to provide scale; he’s well over 6 ft tall. These are huge cabinets!

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More china, glassware and lighting! This really is a huge sale. Antique dealers, take note!

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Plus, we’re selling a boat. Boats, cars, jet skis…if the seller has a clear title, we’re always happy to add it to the sale! These items usually move VERY fast, so be there early if you’re looking for a vehicle or watercraft.

Ready...set...go!
Ready…set…go!

Our last step before opening a sale is to get out our signage…after that, we’re open for business and ready to go!

Information and more photos about this Brentwood-area sale are available under the “Estate Sale Listings” tab on the home page of our website. It’s truly a don’t-miss sale and we look forward to seeing you there!

My best,

Michael Taylor and Company

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Roll Out the Red Carpet! http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/06/roll-out-the-red-carpet/ http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/2016/06/roll-out-the-red-carpet/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:09:20 +0000 http://www.michaeltaylorestatesales.com/blog/?p=87 Continue reading "Roll Out the Red Carpet!"]]> Tullahoma Red Carpet Event: June 2016
Tullahoma Red Carpet Event: June 2016

It’s no secret that we love to spoil our customers. It’s why we are happy to pour you a cup of hot Starbucks coffee when you’ve been waiting for an hour for an estate sale to open, or why we always have lemonade and ice water to take the edge off that summer heat. It’s why we have cookies and animal crackers (for the kids, but we see adults indulging from time to time!). It’s why we provide bathrooms at each of our sales, and give a special discount code each week to email subscribers. We really like you guys, and we feel that it’s important to go the extra mile to show you that we value your business.

So, we’ve come up with a special way to reward customers in our 100 and 500 clubs. A few times a year, when we have a sale that we think is really over-the-top, we have a Red Carpet Preview Event. At this event, we invite our top customers to come and shop early, with a special discount.

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The park-like setting of this pretty Tullahoma home made it an ideal location to host our best customers. Don’t you just want to sit a spell in one of those chairs?

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While the outside is beautiful, the collection of antiques, Gone-with-the-Wind lamps, fine furnishings, wicker, china, country music-themed collectables and more made the inside much more interesting to our shoppers. For this special event, held on the evening prior to sale opening, we offer a discount of 25%…no special code needed!

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Michael greets guests personally at the door. We were so glad that some of our Nashville friends made the short, scenic drive to Tullahoma.

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Of course, we figured that folks might be a little bit thirsty after their drive…we served Lynchberg Lemonade, in honor of the nearby Jack Daniels distillery.

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And a delicious BBQ dinner with all the trimmings. A great time was had by all!

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Many thanks to everyone who came! And if you’re wondering just how to wrangle an invitation to future Red Carpet Events, becoming a member of our 100 or 500 club is easy. Just make a purchase totaling $100 at one of our sales, and our cashier will sign you up. Same for our 500 club–make a purchase totaling $500 and our cashier will sign you up. You will receive email notifications/invitations to future Red Carpet Events; we hold several a year, so if you miss one, no worries! We’ll hold another soon.

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Here’s another photo of some of the furniture included in the sale. The sale is now open daily to the public from 8am-3pm through Saturday, 6/24.

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Lots of great small items, too! It’s really worth the trip.

My best,

Michael Taylor and Company

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