The thrill of the search – the hunt for decorating treasures that cost little to nothing. Searching flea markets, garage sales, & thrift stores for items to transform to your own style gets me excited!
I am often asked how I find good stuff all the time. They say, “I go into a thrift store and everything is junk, I can’t find anything worth buying.” I have found a lot of goodies lately, and wanted to share my strategy in finding “good” items at a thrift store to decorate with.
Tips/Tricks – Thrifting:
*Keep your mind open to anything & everything – I rarely go into a thrift store looking for something specific, because more than likely you are not going to find it.
*The good stuff goes fast – Knowing when the particular store puts their new stuff out is beneficial to you. When they get new deliveries/items, you will have a better chance of being able to bring that treasure home with you.
*Look for items you can clean up easily – one of my favorite things to go for is a wood item. They are easy to quickly spray paint and look 100 times better. A little spray paint goes a long way. If you can easily paint/clean with soap and water – you are set to go!
*Don’t overlook an item – Just because you don’t like the color it is – that is an easy fix that you can quickly change. As long as it has a good backbone and structure to the piece, that is all that really matters when thrifting.
*Keep at it – Just because you can’t find an item one day, more than likely another store or the same store a month later will have what you are looking for. Patience is a virtue.
I want to do a thrift store find every Thursday. This is week #1! To start this off, I will post some recent finds and how I decorated with them. Would love to hear what you do with your finds!
– $1.50 wood frame spray painted grey. Added some chicken wire ($6 for a roll – could make 8-10 frames with all that material) to the back and voila! The small clothespins were easy for me to hang pictures/postcards/notes, etc. Made great Christmas presents this year!
– $2 mug holder. Could also be used as a bracelet/necklace stand as well. Options are endless. Side note – really lovin this coffee mug, on my TO BUY list!
-$4 The lady at the thrift store told me it was a vase – but I decided it would make a great utensil holder! Even matches my candle warmer. I love how these treasures can be anything. One person might view it one way, but another see a completely different use for the same item!
– $1 wooden rack. We like our wine and hate getting rid of our used bottles. This was a nice place to store them (along with some full ones). Looks nice right on top of our hutch.
Stay tuned for next weeks treasures! Happy thrifting!