3 sibella and the garage sale trail

The Garage Sale Trail is about sustainability, community & creativity. It’s an organisational framework that enables the peer-to-peer exchange of assets, resources and money on a hyper local level but with national scale. Garage Sale Trail is a platform for anyone who wants to make some money or raise money for a cause and for anyone who wants to connect with their community. That’s makers & creators, local business, households, cultural institutions, charities and community groups. In brief, Garage Sale Trail is about making sustainability both fun & social and using the Internet to get people off the Internet.

okay, so now that you know a bit about what TGST is, let me introduce you to someone that needs no introduction...sibella court, one of the ambassadors and a 'sustainable supporter' of TGST. lucky me got to ask her a few TGST related questions:

how do you tell if you've got a bargain or just a piece of junk?

I am always hunting & gathering beautiful things that I've found in someone's trunk or garage sale, at auction or in markets. It's just a matter of seeing things in a new light & bringing them to life again. A fresh lick of paint, a sand or just an appreciation of the rusty, pre-loved and worn allows a constant flow of upcycling: to reclaim, reuse & recycle.

do you prefer 'finding things' (garage sales, junk shops, nature etc) or going to stores to buy things?
I have an open mind when it comes to this as you will always find what you're not looking for! Maybe it's a small painted picture of a moustached man that you must add to your moustached men collection (that you started when you happened upon the small picture just now).

what are the best things to look out for?

I love garage sales because you’re sorting through a 3d lifeline of the sale host. All of the objects have a story & a past & when you take them home, that story continues.

when you're at a garage sale, what do you get most excited about finding?

I went to these amazing garage sales in Bermuda & because it’s colonial there was all this amazing old serving cutlery. Because I’ve always been a stylist, I pick up all these beautiful random things, and also because that’s the sort of person I am in life. I’ve still got heaps of it, so nice.

if you had a garage sale, what would we see on the tables?

My two-storey Paddington corner store is a much like lovelier version of a shed. My tools hang on a grandfather-style pegboard and vintage hardware make up my door handles, drawer pulls & the like. If walls could talk my teeny tiny backyard would have some amusing tales to tell of what has passed through. At any time, it is home to cast iron fireplaces, trestle tables, one to four toolboxes, porcelain sinks and other items I have salvaged.

why is being sustainable important to you?

As a stylist, I am not about expensive renovations or construction changes, but about adding and subtracting and rearranging of your existing things & found objects. It's about lo-fi and being clever and upcycling. The term originates in the sound/music world but in my world it means low expense, and achieving, with ease and casual abandon, a relaxed liveable space that reflects your personality and lifestyle. 

TGST is happening on the 5th of May so make sure to check out www.garagesaletrail.com.au for a list of all sale sites or to register your own sale, you can use your mobile on the day to find Garage Sales near you: www.truelocal.com.au. Please go buy up a storm and feel good about yourself because you are being sustainable!

xxx c