UsedEverywhere.com

The box stack (aka The Box Swap)

Update Aug 25, 2011: You didn’t like the change, so we’ve moved the boxes, but they are now on top of each other in one quick and easy view.

Do you see the difference?

Technically speaking, our facebook & twitter share links where on the, um, how do I put this… clunky side ( like my photoshop skills ). Both giants of social media have build very sleek on-click wonders that show counts or add your likes to your wall. While they were speeding ahead, we have these links.

No More!

The new shinny way

There’s a few things to point out.

We moved Report Ad. It’s now right beside the title. Why? Having it under “share” didn’t make sense. Beside the title seemed a great place for it.

Drawing circles on laptops are hard

We swapped the Contact Seller & Share placed the share box underneath the contact box. Why did we do this? We tried various variations of where it should all go – and at the same time not push the picture you love so much too far down. And this was the one we said… “well that works!” Because you spoke, and we listened.

Added the Contact Count. We’re opening the doors to give you ore information on how an ad is doing. How many people have contacted them, or shared their ad. Could be a good indicator of the competition, or amusement.

Ouch - I think I'm getting worse.

Hello Google +1. You could say we’re jumping onto the band wagon of all the google+ and +1 chatter. Or you could say more sharing = more exposure. More exposure = selling your items quicker. It’s up to you in how you look at it.

I think this circle is much better than the last one. What do you think?

So, again… New & Shiny vs Old & Clunky Shiny-er & New

Not your everyday kind of baking

Remember our Giant List O’Summer Fun? Well, we’re halfway though August and we’re starting to run out of ideas.  I’m starting to feel THE PANIC. And when I start to feel THE PANIC, desperation mode kicks in. And when desperation mode kicks in, well, watch out, because mummy’s got an eye spasm and has a tendency to burst into tears at any given moment.

All kidding aside, my tween daughters had two friends over the other day and my eye was starting to twitch. I had deadlines to meet and they were all underfoot. So I did the only thing I could do … send them outside to make mud pies.

This is what they came up with:

Yes, those are Christmas lights. A few years ago some squirrels chewed up a string of Christmas lights and we are STILL finding plastic bulbs all over the yard. They turn up everywhere! And in case you’re wondering about those red berries… just so you know, the girls are under strict orders never to eat anything they don’t recognize.

The second pie has a hidden secret:

Ta da!

It might seem odd that we have a coconut shell in our backyard. They must have grabbed it from the compost heap. But aren’t the pies pretty? The four girls worked on their pies for about an hour … that’s sixty (60!) minutes of near silence in which I was able to work without interruption. Bliss.

I think those mud pies are worth their weight in gold. What’s more, my eye twitch is gone! For now.

Sharing our guidelines & approach

Since starting down our social media road, I’ve always had a sense of how things should go. And because it’s been managed by a small rag-tag team, I think we’ve done pretty well at being consistent and unified. With a little trial by fire we’ve all learned and created unwritten guidelines for ourselves. But unwritten is only good for us. It’s not good for newcomers to the team and it’s not good for friends and guests. It’s also not good for you to understand why it is we sometimes do what we do.

This is why I’ve added two new pages on our corporate site that, hopefully, will let you see the cogs working.

• Our Approach to Social Media
• Guidelines for Employees

Along with these, I’ve added one more: Guidelines for Participants

Participants? What!? Why would we want to do this? Because we moderate.

However, here’s something important I’d like you to see:

It’s the same. I’m asking we all follow the same principles.

Only through debate and discussion can we make it better – please feel free to comment.

The Search for an Island

Islands are an often-coveted kitchen feature. I’m not in favour of having an island just for the sake of having an island (sometimes a peninsula works better in the space, and I’m a big fan of a well-planned galley kitchen). However, if the space is right an island is a major asset. They offer open prep space, extra storage, a gathering place for entertaining friends, a central station for all sorts of family occasions – from homework to baking adventures – and besides all that, they just look good.

Lately the trend for islands has moved away from the large built-in islands that match the rest of the kitchen cabinetry. Instead, the trend is an open, separate piece for an island like a chunky farmhouse table or a workbench style counter. This look creates interest in design, may work better for an eat-in kitchen (so that the island is also the eating area), has potential to be more affordable, could be more flexible (i.e. a table island could be easy to move around), and fits with the more “undone” eclectic look of interior design today.

This trend is also wonderful for us UsedEverywhere faithful! There’s no better place to find something old, interesting and unique than this online treasure trove! Here are a few of the possibilities I found around the country:

If you have a large kitchen how about this ? Imagine it loaded up with large woven baskets below and perhaps with a metal bar or two beneath the tabletop to hang pots, utensils or dishtowels from?

It has a similar look to this rustic island from Restoration Hardware (which, by the way, sells for $2500+!)

Or how about this gem found on UsedCowichan for $125 (with chairs)?

Its rustic farmhouse look reminds me of a few of my favourite kitchen designs:

(Design by Thomas Smythe, photograph by Michael Graydon)

(Design by Sharon Mimran, photograph by Ted Yarwood)

Another gorgeous table with a similar aesthetic can be found on UsedOttawa in Napean, Ontario:

And if you’re willing to paint it (it’s antique) and add casters, you could easily achieve this look;

(Design by Margot Austin)

The next two tables, an antique from UsedRegina, and a spindle-legged beauty found on UsedCalgary could both be fabulous islands if you added a new solid top – perhaps a stone (like the marble in the picture below), or stainless steel.

(Example of a farmhouse table with a marble countertop. Design by Darryl Carter, photograph by Simon Upton)

And though I like the look of the “X” shapes on the bottom of both tables, they also offer an opportunity to add a lower shelf for more storage.

(from UsedRegina)

(from UsedCalgary)

One of my favourite finds comes from UsedGatineau – this keen seller even mentions that the table would work well as an island – and what a fabulous island it would be! I’d maybe repaint the base in a colour of my liking, and the frame would also work to add a lower shelf on the bottom.

File this next one under “How to NOT post a picture when selling your stuff”:

But random junk and clutter aside, I think this workbench table on UsedCalgary has awesome potential to be an industrial style island like one of these:

(Design by Claire Stubbs, photograph by Ashley Tonner)

(Photograph by Deborah Whitelaw Llewellyn)

And if you’re into the industrial vibe then look no further than Steeltown! I found this plethora of metal workbench tables on UsedHamilton – they’re just begging to become the statement piece in a kitchen!

So if you’re thinking about some kitchen updates, or you’re on the market for an island, why not consider recycling something used? Maybe all a table or workbench needs is a bit of refinishing or a lick of paint, a new countertop or some casters (to make it taller or portable), or perhaps the addition of a shelf or some hooks to increase the storage capacity.

(This island from Martha Stewart’s Bedford kitchen shows what a simple frame can look like with some paint, casters, and a marble countertop)

With a little scouring of your local UsedEverywhere site and some creativity you may not only save some money, but you’ll have a completely unique (and oh-so-trendy) kitchen island!

Lament of the Lazy

I don’t have fantastic luck with computers. It could be a lot worse really, but my first laptop outside the family computer was stolen after two years. The second laptop just gradually disintegrated until it was virtually un-usable,  and the third… well, touch wood.

You know what sucks the fun right out of getting a new computer (besides paying for it)? Having to transfer everything over. Sure, it’s not that hard, but it can’t be that easy if I’ve had my newest computer for nearly three months and I haven’t done it yet. And yes, I may be well-versed in the art of procrastination but I always feel like something’s going to go terribly wrong and all of a sudden three hours of my life will be wasted. I understand that this probably makes it glaringly obvious that technology isn’t my thing… nor is reading manuals my thing.

Is it really as bad as I’m making it out to be?

creative commons image courtesy of Sean MacEntee

Recipe collection and a spaghetti sauce recipe

One of my university roommates had a folder full of her family’s recipes. Her mom sent her off into the big wide world with copies of all of her favourites, written out so her daughter could prepare them herself. This was before computers and printers were in common use, so it must have taken some effort to create. I remember flipping through it once, and thinking it was really sweet. There were pages and pages of roast chicken and soup and tuna casseroles (something that was totally foreign to me), along with personal notations and reminders (“don’t forget to grease the pan!”) … many of which were downright hilarious.

What a neat idea. I must remember to do the same when our girls are older.

We have a few keeper recipe cards kicking around that I really love too. One of them is for spaghetti sauce that my husband’s mother gave to him when he left the house.

(I love the handwritten p.s. at the end, don’t you?)

Not only is it like holding a piece of family history in our hand, but it’s also a very good spaghetti sauce.

Do you have any “keeper” recipes that you love? I’d love to hear about them if you do!

Back to School Expenses Don’t Have to be So Expensive

Creative Commons Image | tncountryfan

My favourite part about school is back-to-school shopping. It is literally one of my favourite things to do. I happily go out and peruse the aisles of the office supply store, admiring all the different things I could use to organize all the different school supplies filling up my basket. Supplies for my supplies! The only part I don’t like about back-to-school shopping is the part where I get to the cash register and start to question whether I actually need everything I’ve picked up. Sacrifices must be made for school supplies are expensive. Add to the back-to-school clothes and all the other stuff you need, and the couple of weeks before school starts get to be pretty tough on the old wallet.

Luckily, there is UsedEverywhere.com. It may not be the first place one would think to look for school supplies, but it is a treasure trove of useful back-to-school necessities: musical instruments, sporting equipment, computers, backpacks, clothes… I could go on. We checked out some of the prices on UsedOttawa.com for typical back-to-school items and even we were surprised at just how dramatic the savings are.

Hypothetically, let us say you have one child going back to school, involved in band and sports; this is what you could save shopping used:

That is some serious dough! And that list is not at all exhaustive. It is really worth it to check out your local used site before heading out to the mall for some back-to-school spending!

Epic Battle

My roommates and I try to be good to the environment. We recycle, use green cleaning products, turn the heat all the way off, all that stuff. We even compost.

And that’s where the problem starts. Somehow it escapes us to take out the compost every day or every other day as we should… and things can get a bit gross. Particularly as it has started to heat up in lovely Victoria (finally!), things start to go bad… and I know I don’t have to tell you how gross that is.

All of those factors combined have brought in some new house guests: fruit flies. So small, yet so aggravating. Something about having flies floating around makes your house seem so dirty, even after you’ve power-cleaned the entire place. Trust me, I’ve attempted.

How To Get Rid of Fruit Flies

This is not the most exciting video you’ll ever watch, but it will help you as it helped me! Sorry, little guys. You just weren’t invited.

Go Online with Your Garage Sale

Summer is almost over, but there is still plenty of time to host a garage sale, especially for those of us who tend to procrastinate and have just started their spring cleaning. But have you ever thought of going online with your garage sale?

Your local Used<City>.com is a great place to advertise your sale to more people than the folks who drive by your signs taped to the neighbourhood lampposts. It’s also pretty great for amping up excitement for your yard sale inventory. We sat down with April and Krystal again, who you may remember from this strategies post, to talk about going online with your garage sale.

April says to advertise your garage sale online, everywhere. Just like we do, get the word out on you personal Facebook and Twitter. Most importantly, advertise your garage sale on your local Used Site in the Community Notices section – there is a special category just for garage sales. “People I know who are avid garage sale-ers will print out all the garage sale listings from UsedXYZ.com for a weekend and cut out the list from the local papers and bring all that with them for the hunt”.

Putting some of the big items you have for sale online isn’t a bad idea either. Like Krystal noticed, it’s typically the same people who shop on our sites who love a good garage sale as well. With your garage sale ad, why not post some pictures of the items you are going to be selling? Generate some excitement for what you are trying to send to a new home! And as Krystal advises, “Sometimes my garage sale ads lead to emails about certain items so people can save time and only come if they know I have something they need.” A great idea!

So get your garage sale online and have the best garage sale in your neighbourhood!

Creative Commons Image | besighyawn

Mind Your Manners

I tweeted this article yesterday from my beloved Fast Company, and I was a little alarmed by how accurate it was. Not only do I experience phantom cell phone vibrations when I notice other people checking their phones, but also spontaneously from my purse, pocket, wherever. Even if I don’t have my phone on me (which prompts feelings of exposure and nakedness once I realize I am legitimately a phone-free zone).

So then my mind wandered to general cell phone etiquette… and how no one seems to know exactly what that does and does not entail. I did a little research and it wasn’t anything ground-breaking – so why can’t people seem to do it? For many people a lot of this is intuitive, particularly if you’ve grown up in a manner that emphasized general etiquette. I feel like etiquette isn’t really taught that much anymore; I didn’t grow up with it and I know a lot of people in my generation didn’t either. Maybe society is just generally accepting of rudeness? We all have those friends/dates that text during movies, BBM at dinner, check into foursquare at your parents’ house and talk loudly about personal issues on the bus. If you think you may be a cell-phone scumbucket (or other choice words not appropriate for family-oriented blogs), read this delightful article… and tune back into the real world, wouldja?

creative commons image courtesy of donut_p