10 Items to Always Buy at Thrift Stores
10 home decor items easily found in thrift stores along with ideas and project tutorials to decorate with them for a designer look.
A month ago, I had a moment when I said to myself, “I’m going to get a gym membership and finally get into amazing shape, and it’s going to be the best decision I ever made.”
Well… I did get that gym membership. And the getting into shape thing is sort of happening. But there was one little flaw in my best-decision-ever plan. My gym is right across the street from my favorite thrift store.
So each morning, after hopping off of the elliptical machine, that little voice in my head, the one that normally talks me into eating “only one more doughnut”, says to me, “I wonder what goodies are in the thrift store today. Hmm…”
And then our garage ends up packed with projects.
Some of my favorite decor items in our house are from thrift stores, and they’re items you could find in pretty much any of them. If you’ve never ever thrifted before, it can be tricky finding the treasures in the trash heap, but I promise there is hope! These 10 items are the best ones to put on your hit list.
10 Items to Always Buy at Thrift Stores:
- Frames and Wall Decor-
I hardly ever buy picture frames in a retail store because there are so many beautiful ones already in thrift shops for a couple of bucks each. Spray paint them or distress them with chalk paint and they’re instantly customized for the look you want.
2. Mirrors-
I’ve seen so many gorgeous mirrors on my thrifting adventures and they’re so easy to transform with paint. If you see a mirror with a frame you really love but would rather have a picture on your wall instead, pop the mirror out (carefully of course) and frame a piece of art with it instead.
3. Vases, Bottles, and Candle Holders
There are soooo many pretty vases, jars, and bottles every time I visit the thrift store, and if you like the eclectic look, they’re easy to scatter on mantels, shelves, or tables to fill with flowers. (Just don’t go too overboard or it could look cluttery.)
Keep an eye out for a set of candle holders too, and if you hate the finish of them, just add paint. Place some dollar store candlesticks in them and enjoy.
4. Dome Clocks-
Dome clocks, or anniversary clocks, are my favorite for ripping the innards out and placing seasonal decor inside for a French cloche look. I made a pumpkin terrarium out of an old clock last fall, and it’s so easy to change every couple of months to fill with a little bit of nature. Thrift stores have them laying around all the time in my town.
5. Dishes, Pitchers, and Servingware
I’ve scored so many great pitchers and dishes over the years to use for entertaining. Some have even been name brand designer pieces. I always like to stick to the classic pieces- you can never go wrong with plain white and simple glass.
6. Wood Furniture
Thrift stores get in dressers and tables all the time that only need a little sanding, a quick paint job, or a change in hardware. (Here’s a short and simple beginner’s guide if you’ve never painted furniture.) Just make sure to test it first- if a drawer is broken or a table is warped or wobbly, and you know it won’t be an easy fix, walk away.
7. Lamps and Light Fixtures (if you can test them)
A couple of the thrift stores I frequent have outlets available next to their lighting section so shoppers can plug in lamps and fixtures to test them out before taking them home. Our scroll lamp in our foyer was only $2.00!
8. Toys
The vast majority of Olivia’s toys that she receives at Christmas or on her birthday come from thrift stores or consignment sales. Most of the time, all they need is a cleaning and they’re ready to be loved. She likes thrifting with me because she usually gets to test out the goodies in the toy section. Telling her she can’t take all of them home is the hard part. 😉
You can read more about some of her toy makeovers in this post.
9. Books
The book sections of thrift stores are FULL of great reads along with antique hardbacks. The bookworm and decorator in me rejoices every time. Most books sell for just 50 cents in my area.
If you get lucky though, sometimes you can stumble upon a book with beautiful illustrations that are worthy of framing. I still love our book page art in our foyer and our window botanicals in our master bathroom.
10. Baskets, Buckets, and Trays-
I’ve had to ground myself from buying anymore baskets, buckets, and trays because I find so many cute ones all the time! Use baskets for extra small storage around the house, buckets for planters, and trays for coffee table decor.
But a couple of things I absolutely refuse to buy at the thrift store…
- Upholstery- Unless I’m completely in love with an upholstered piece of furniture and it passes the “sniff test”, it stays. But I’ve never found a winner to this day. Not to mention, there’s potential for bed bugs.
- Pillows- I keep several down pillow inserts and just replace the covers to help with the cost and storage space (you can see my favorite summer pillow covers here), but thrift store pillows? I’m always terrified what germs/bugs might be lurking on/in them.
Do you have any items you always pick up at thrift stores? Or anything on your do-not-buy list? Or a favorite thrift store that always calls your name every time you drive by? I think I need a new gym… these post cardio shopping trips are going to get me into trouble. 😉
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I’ve tried to read all the comments but there are so many! I’m an addict too. My daughter and I go thrifting a couple times a week. She likes to search the books (4 for a dollar) and I like to search for craft items. I have found bags of drawer pulls for about $2 each. I search the linens for old doilies and fancy dresses for the buttons. Quite often the buttons would be much more if bought at retail. But I have to say that the best prices are on newborn babies’ clothes. You can get onesies for 99 cents and today they had newborn brand new diapers for $2 per package. (My daughter is 46.) Another item I watch for is lamp shades. I’ve purchased many crystal lamps and tiffany-style lamps for next to nothing. I go often but won’t pay more then $5 for any item. (I’ve already gone through your suggestions and had to find even more items to focus on.)
Actually I DO buy pillows at thrift stores. Why? Well, because I sew my own pillow covers and want to keep costs down, buying a pillow to use as an insert really saves money. But I don’t use “as is” 😉
All you have to do is wash them and dry them, either in the dryer or on a clothes line, and they’ll be good as new….usually. 😉 If the pillow still has a contents tag, check to see if it is launder-able, what’s inside as the filler, etc. And hey, if sometimes you do end up with an ooops due to laundering, usually you’re not out much from the cost of the pillow. (In our area pillows sell for about $2- $4.)
And a little tip for all you make your own pillow covers peeps out there: Don’t buy a new pillow form. Purchase an inexpensive standard bed pillow with fiber fill in it. (A good source is the cheapest pillows Walmart sells.) Cut it open, remove the stuffing/filler and insert into your own pillow cover. You can also make simple ‘liners’ by using inexpensive muslin then covering it with your pretty fabric. Works like a charm! A bed pillow will make more than one pillow…often at least two 18″ x 18″ throw pillows. You can make them as dense as you like too.
My favorite thrift store conversion was an old-fashioned glass punch bowl set with one dozen cups.
I went to the dollar store and bought some white gravel. I then went to our local home-improvement store. There I bought potting soil, Then I went to the clearance section where I bought three succulent plants. I used an aloe plant that was given to me as a gift for a centerpiece. The entire project ended up costing about $10.
I’m late to the party, as usual… I’m an avid thrift store shopper, and the best piece of advice I would give is to know your thrift store! We have one good store in the neighborhood (ARC) that is my general, overall go-to for just about anything I need, I can’t tell you how many pieces of unworn, or maybe worn once, high end designer clothing Ive picked up over the years. Also, I havent bought a new set of sheets in thr past 5 or 6 years, seems people save back the high thread count sheets for company and end up washing them once or twice, if that (they often still have the packaging fold wrinkles and unwashed tags) before redecorating and letting them go. I recently scored a set of new 1800 thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets for $12, while they are still selling them across the street for ovet $300. Same for my last few comforter sets. I always look around to see if the fancy pillow cases and dust ruffle, that have never been used either, hung seperately on the next rack, and have found the whole set almost everytime. But if I’m looking for furniture, appliances or bigger housholD pieces I head for our local Habitat for Humanity. They are crazy picky about every piece of furniture they accept, and will not accept anything that has been around pets or smoke unless it is professionally cleaned first, and turns away anything with visible defects or is obviously dirty/smelly. Most of their donations come from corporate offices, and hotels that are closing, or directly from furniture stores that are redoing their showroom floors. The last neighborhood thrift store I pop into occasionally is an actual “GoodWill”, sadly, they are the highest priced in the area, but many of our local chain stores (especially Target) donate directly to them, so they are great if I need to pick up a cute, still in the box gift or am looking for a match to something that just went out of season.
Which brings up another quick note, the area that the thrift store is in does make a huge difference. Higher rent parts of town, areas with multimillion dollar homes, or older, established but still highly desirable areas have the best thrift stores because they often get the best donations, or more expensive items are transfered to the stores that they can sell the pieces in. (A bargain for $10 on one side of town can be out of reach on the other.) Hope this helps!
I always look for long white linen napkins. I soak them in Oxyclean for about a day and they make nice bright easily drying drying cloths, or hand towels. Sometimes I wrap a bouquet of dried lavender in one and stick it in a white vase and display it with white soap… Looks so great in the bathroom.
That’s a great idea, Laura! I’ll have to look out for those. 🙂