Top 5 Tips for Thrifting Your Home
One of the top questions I get when it comes to thrifting for home décor and furniture: “how did you find any of that at a thrift store?” followed by: “I can never find anything good!"
So, let’s start with my top tips to guide your thrifting journey. You can use this as a guide to turn your home design dreams into reality.
Warning: once you unlock your thrifting superpowers, you may become addicted.
Seeing the potential of vintage Airpot to flower power planters
1. Go often
Embrace the long game. Thrifting is not for the impateint. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had friends express interest in thrifting for home decor or furniture and abandoned the venture after the first few thrift store trips when they don’t strike gold.
But I challenge you to follow this guide for a few weeks at least and see if you are able to make magic out of what may seem like a bunch of crap at first.
I like to make quick trips - at lunch, after work, en-route and in an ideal world, mix in a few long-form thrifting days when I can be more thorough and get into a thrifting flow. Once you know what types of things you are looking for, it will get easier and easier to spot the diamonds in the rough. Thrift stores are high turnover, a good bonus tip is to start paying attention to any patterns in restocking days or quieter shopping days.
Big disclaimer: If you don’t love thrifting - that’s okay! There are lots of other ways to shop secondhand for your home - on Ebay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, buying from Instagram resellers, curated shops, antique stores and even Goodwill online - all of which don’t require stepping foot into a thrift store.
2. create a bolo list
Call it manifesting or call it good planning - once I write down my “be on the look out” or BOLO list, these items start to appear from the hoard. Sometimes quickly, other more rare finds may take years. But that’s part of the fun.
Check out my blog on how-to create a thrift list to get into the nitty gritty of how I construct a thrift list to cover a multitude of interior design needs.
I still haven’t found authentic Staffordshire dogs, but I did find this pair of essential kitsch reproduction spaniel dogs made in Japan at Goodwill for $6 shortly after putting them on my thrift list.
3. use guidelines, not a blueprint
You’ll want to create a flexible sourcing list and have all the details you need on hand to make a decision.
When you are creatively sourcing items, it helps to have a few different options for a specific space, with flexibility based on what you are able to find.
Then, it helps to know what features could work within your design plan. This could include:
-Measurement ranges
-Color palettes
-Wood tones
-Hardware finishes
-Patterns
-Textures
-Functional need
-Shapes
Once you’ve created some general guidelines for your thrifting, it will make it much easier to see potential items to make your space come to life.
Vintage swag lamps are always on my list. I don’t have a precise blueprint for swag lamps, but general shapes, colors and styles that I use throughout my space to define areas and add mood lighting.
4. consider upcycling
If you only look at the item as-is when thrifting, you will miss a lot. Especially when it comes to furniture, I have rarely found pieces that are exactly what I want for my space that are ready for prime time.
But if you can start to recognize and find the types of pieces you like, shapes, colors or functional needs you can find DIY fixes to make a one-of-a-kind addition to your home and a whole world of secondhand goods will open up.
I do caution to be somewhat conservative when committing to upcycling. If the upcycle will take more time, money, or skill than you can afford for the project - try to be realistic and hold out for another piece. You can always do a quick search in the thrift store to determine the difficulty of a DIY and the projected cost of additional supplies to make sure you’re able to tackle the project.
Swapping hardware, covering upholstery or simple reupholstery projects, painting and light refinishing can be easily learned and applied to give a whole new life to thrifted home items.
I loved the waterfall shape of this bench when I saw it at a local church thrift store. I also loved the price tag - $15. But the upholstery was not my style, so I found some vintage striped velour fabric and recovered the bench to match my ultimate vision.
5. cart freely, cull carefully
Thrifting can trigger my scarcity complex. Every item is one-of-a-kind and you are surrounded by people who may or may not want that one-of-a-kind item you’re after.
I’ve tried to shift this mentality the more I secondhand source, realizing the volume of stuff in this world far outnumbers those looking for that exact stuff. Especially once you tap into your unique style, it will become clear that we’re not all after the same thing.
One strategy to combat the impulse buys that may not be the right fit for your home, is using a cart to collect items that deserve a second look.
At the end of your thrift trip, find a quiet corner, review your thrift list, mood boards, guidelines, reference photos and do a little quick research to determine if the price is right.
Cull your cart down to your must-haves and put the rest back (in the right spot, don’t be a monster). There will always be more stuff.
Thrifting isn’t just having a moment. It’s not a trend, it’s the best solution for sustainable home décor and furniture, access to affordable home design and access to a world of unique items to build a home as unique as you are. So go forth and thrift score!