My answer is: nothing. I love designing spaces, and I would want very much to start with a blank slate wherever I go. Oh, I may take a few seeds from plants that are good all-around fillers, but I would really want to design from the bare ground up. An arresting conversation. I've been thinking along these lines for a year or so now, without really realizing I was doing so. My DH has been muttering for years upon years that we should finish up the house (it's been in a continuous state of remodel for.e.ver) and sell it. I've been constantly expanding the garden, not really concentrating on the idea of leaving until about a year ago when, all of a sudden, he started actually doing the things that needed to be done to get us out of here. I figure we have about 1 1/2 years of work left to do on the interior, then it's on to other pastures. I continue to plant, transplant, sow, etc., but I didn't realize until today, while reading this thread, that a lot of my recent planting decisions have been centered around ease of maintenance and creating more of an "outdoor room." I've never really cared about ease of maintenance before, and I know for a fact that the "outdoor room" concept comes directly from home improvement television shows, and is almost entirely to do with increasing perceived value. There are a lot of reasons why a person would have to be a gardener to really want our home (no grass anywhere, for one), and an avid gardener with an appreciation for the offbeat, at that. I guess I've been thinking that if we can sell the garden as an extension of the living space, rather than something for the neighbors to look at, we might have a better shot at non-avid-gardeners without ripping out half of what I've done and sowing grass seed. Of course, I'm an avid gardener and I wouldn't want to move into a home with an already-established garden. Lots to think about.

Just last week I finally took a 3 ring wedding band set in to sell. The wedding bands were 18Karat, the engagement ring's band was 14K. I decided ahead of time to keep the 1/4 karat diamond that was on it because it was a good one that I can use on another ring in the future. I also took in an old watch that had a small gold case (although it's band was not gold), 4 silver SW button covers, a 10K ring I got when I was 16 y/o and a drop-dead gorgeous, very intricate inlaid turquoise and silver Zuni belt buckle & bolo set I won locally almost 30 years ago from a very reputable organization. I had them appraised by a jeweler then and knew they were the real thing and worth a lot. They've been in our safe deposit box ever since because, although valuable, they were not the more subdued style my DH wears. I did as much research as I could on the many gold buyers in the area. I was very disappointed in the lack of much worthwhile customer feedback on any of them, though. I did manage to narrow the field down to what I felt were the 3 top places. I felt that it was really important to tell each of them at the start that I was comparison shopping for the best offers, but hadn't made up my mind whether to sell or not (which was true). I also asked for them to price the items separately so that I would know how much they were offering for each. At the first place I took them to, the woman was friendly and very knowledgeable and explained everything to me as she was weighing and inspecting my jewelry. I felt her offer was very reasonable on everything but the Zuni buckle & bolo. She told me that she didn't believe they were real silver. Wrong! I liked that the location and shop itself felt safe (more on "safety" in a minute). The second place I went to runs lots of ads on tv. They tout that they have the highest rate of customer satisfaction, the most knowledgeable buyers and an armed guard for your added safety. I was extremely glad for the armed guard as the clientele in there worried me a lot! The guy just ahead of me was accused by the owner of perhaps trying to sell stolen goods. The place wouldn't buy whatever he was trying to sell. It frightened me that he was still out in his car (next to mine) when I started to leave. I honestly think he was going to rob me or follow me to rob me and apparently, so did the armed guard. He walked me to my car and then stood in front of the other guy's car with his hand on his holstered gun, staring him down, until the guy drove away. The guard told me to not go straight home and to watch to make sure that I wasn't being followed. I did as he told me, but that was scary! But, in the shop itself, the woman who looked at my jewelry came across as friendly, but told me that my button covers were not silver. When I insisted they were, she then offered me $1 for the four of them. She also initially told me that the buckle and bolo were not silver and offered me $75 for both. Since they were made and signed by (historically) one of the premier Zuni artists in the past 100 years, I was floored. She obviously was trying to con me. She also offered me, what she said was the highest offer I'd get in town for the rings, which was about $200 less than the other offer I'd just received. The third place I went to, after driving around for quite a while to make sure I wasn't being followed, is a fairly new place. Their ad also stated that they also bought old Native American jewelry, NOT to melt down but that they sold to collectors around the world. That their buyers were knowledgeable and experienced in gold, silver and old NA jewelry. And they were. They offered me $250 more than the last place for the rings, button covers and small gold watch case. Happily gave me prices and reasoning behind them for each piece. Never once questioned that any of them weren't "real". BTW, all 3 places did the testing on the silver before offering me their price. This third place also had an armed guard inside the shop, but the clientele were mainly retiree-type people, which weren't alarming to me. The buyer at this third place also spent about 15 minutes telling me everything he knew (which was a lot!) about the famous Zuni artist who'd made my buckle and bolo. His offer was very good on everything, almost $300 over Shop #2's offer for just the rings, watch case and button covers! I took it for those, but am holding onto the buckle and bolo. He offered me $500 for them both. Ones like it are listed on Ebay for up to twice as much and I'm trying to decide it I want to go that route instead. A dealer needs to make a good profit, but I'm not sure how much is "good" versus "a steal of a deal" (LOL). There are pluses and minuses to going each way. So, that's what I've learned. 1. Do as much research as possible ahead of time on the places available AND the pieces you want to sell. 2. Don't come across as desperate to sell or uninformed. 3. Ask for individual pricing for each piece, and write it down for comparison. 4. THINK SAFETY FIRST!!. Take another adult with you, if possible, that stays in the car while you go in and will make sure that you get back in your car safely. Keep watch that you're not being followed. Don't forget that crooks sometimes watch these places. They know that customers going in are coming out with one of two things: either a valuable piece they wanted to sell but didn't or the cash they got for it. Both are very attractive to a crook. So be aware of your surroundings as you leave and drive around for a bit to make sure that you're not being followed before you head home. Lynn

jennifereckle75, we sell a lot on Craigslist (furniture, large machinery, cars, you name it!) Might I suggest you visit your local area CL, look at the prices for cabinets such as the one you have (and keep an eye on what sells, what doesn't), consider the condition and age, and then you can make a more informed decision on what you might be able to sell it for. We are re-purposing our old laminate cabinets to use mostly in the garage (base cabinets, some uppers) and using a few uppers in the utility room as well - I intend to add wood trim around those, chalk paint (smooth with satin poly), and update the fixtures. After the reno, our neighbor wants our fridge, and we hope to pretty much give away our range and DW on CL here.

Back in the 80's in FL, some businesses set up shop in motel rooms and advertised that they bought jewelry. So break ins became more common and my house got hit. My custom-made white gold engagement ring with 2 diamonds (antique) and my antique onyx and diamond platinum ring were stolen. And melted down. *sob* So I do not look kindly on things like this, if it weren't for them making it so easy to get rid of hot items, maybe I'd still have my rings. Oh, and the 2 GIRLS who broke into my house were eventually caught and mildly slapped on the wrist. Grrrrr.