Estate Sales & Auction Blog

Picture a dollhouse – a colorful exterior, several stories high, gabled roof, highly decorative details, maybe even a tower – and you’ve just envisioned a Victorian style home. From their iconic exteriors, to their opulent interiors fit for a queen, Victorian houses are a unique home style that stands out from the rest. Whether you’re looking to buy your first home in Chicago, IL or are fascinated by the popular house styles across the US, a Victorian home should be on your list of must-sees.

Designer and lifestyle blogger, Michelle Whitener, guest blogs for BRG as she shares her easy-to-follow styling tips to create a sophisticated and collected historic holiday mantle with a mix of modern touches.

From family heirlooms to fabulous secondhand finds, nothing evokes fun yet elegant entertaining like antique and vintage sterling silver and silver-plate. What's not to love about the sparkle of silver when entertaining family and friends during the holidays? Polishing ... that's what. Check out this de-tarnishing hack that'll make you yearn to start your own silver collection.

Every August, National Wear Your Mother's Jewelry Day occurs without much fanfare and without much notice. But this year, we got to thinking, what might be so special about your mother's (or grandmother's) jewelry that there's a day dedicated to it? That question led us to consider all jewelry passed down from our forbears ... heirloom jewelry and to inquire for industry experts their tips for sourcing and passing down heirloom jewelry.

From the BRG family to you, have a happy Independence Day. In addition to family picnics and BBQs we take some time to reflect on what this holiday embodies -- American freedom -- with 13 notable quotes from historical figures.

Whether the day is spent enjoying the outdoors or video chatting from afar, the entire BRG family wishes fathers everywhere a very happy, safe, and relaxing Father's Day.

Last week, we focused on all the fabulous shades of colored diamonds (brown, yellow, green, blue, red, pink, and purple). This week, our gemologist, Susan Leeper, brings us the glamour, allure, and extraordinary timelessness of the black diamond....

Since the dawn of the Bronze Age, metals (precious, semi-precious, and non-precious) have become ubiquitous with jewelry. From tin to gold, popularity and values of metals ebb and flow. In our sixth installment of our jewelry series, learn some key terms and metals used in jewelry today.

What transforms a lovely farmhouse kitchen into an ideal farmhouse kitchen? It’s the warmth and uniqueness of decorative arts and accessories. The best way to add your own personal touch to a farmhouse kitchen, in a word, is curation. Check out these curation tips to create your own ideal farmhouse kitchen style....

When it comes to jewelry, knowledge is definitely power! How can you tell the difference between something that is pure versus plated? How can you determine the difference between a real diamond versus some of the really beautiful modern-day high-end cubic zirconias on the market? It just so happens, that BRG has its own jewelry lab and now we're giving you an inside peek inside.