Neighborhood Garage Sale
“The best thing you can find at a garage sale isn’t a bargain—it’s community.”
Practice Coordinating a Neighborhood Garage Sale
Create an easy way to sign up.
Use an online form for neighbors to confirm they are participating.
Share the date.
Spread the word through email, Facebook, Nextdoor, yard signs, and HOA newsletter.
Advertise!
Find neighborhood businesses to be sponsors to pay for newspaper and online promotion.
Enjoy the day.
Pray for good weather. Walk the neighborhood. Find new (to you) treasures.
Each spring neighbors open their garages and cover their front lawns with tables full of treasures. Garage sales are commonplace events. But for The Knolls, Cherry Knolls, and Tiffany neighborhoods, located in Centennial, an annual Neighborhood Garage Sale has become a cornerstone of community life.
Jennifer Steller first coordinated a Neighborhood Garage Sale in 2008 by gathering a few households on her street to sell their unused items together to increase visibility. The next year her and her husband’s real estate company sponsored a sale for the entire neighborhood by providing maps, signage, and advertising. What began with 37 homes has grown into a beloved annual event with over 100 participating homes across multiple neighborhoods.
“Our communities share an elementary school, special events, and outdoor concerts at The Streets at SouthGlenn,” shared Jennifer. “Two compete in the same summer swim league. Sharing a garage sale is just one more way we come together as neighbors.” Jennifer shares how the garage sale has helped cultivate community. “There are so many connections: sellers who partner up to keep each other company, generous participants who practically (and literally) give their items away because they’re happy to see them find a new home, and the kids who get into the action with their own bake sales and lemonade stands.”
The Neighborhood Garage Sale has patiently turned the often-avoided spring-cleaning ritual into a valued community rhythm. “It’s one of the social events of the spring, as people emerge from their winter ‘hibernation,’ so excited to walk the neighborhood and reconnect with old friends and meet new neighbors.” Jennifer never expected how neighbors would arrange their calendar around this tradition. She starts receiving inquiries in February, with neighbors planning their spring cleaning and travel around the date. “People come back year after year because they enjoy the great deals and the community.”
In a cultural moment marked by over-consumption and isolation a Neighborhood Garage Sale can provide an important practice of repurposing and reconnecting. Your part may be as simple as opening your garage and putting out a table full of treasures. A Neighborhood Garage Sale is a creative and collaborative way to connect to your neighbors and neighborhood.
Thank you to Jennifer Steller for sharing her story and contribution to this article.
