As fun as it is to shop thrift stores for clothes (nice, name brands for under $5, woohoo!), my favorite things to buy at second-hand stores are actually items for my home!

Many things in my house are purchased from various thrift stores over the years.  Here are a few tips for scoring awesome items for your home as well!

–Make a list of things you want to try and find.  Keep an open mind as you thrift, knowing that it will often take many trips to the thrift shop to collect everything you want!  I’ve had topiaries on my list for ages, and I finally found one last week ($1.99)!  My list is long and every-growing, but having a list helps me feel like my purchases aren’t impulse buys.

–When considering hardback books, take off the dust jackets and you’ll often find a hidden, beautiful spine!  I was going to get this book on homemaking anyway, so I was delighted to see its beautiful sage green spine with gold letters ($1.50).

–Shop frequently and at different stores.  Last week I visited a Goodwill, a Salvation Army, and two antique stores.  I only found things worth purchasing at Goodwill.  If you just pop in every time you’re near a thrift store, you’re more likely to find fun and interesting things!  These large decorative grapevine balls were $.99.

–Baskets are a great investment.  I use baskets in every room of my house, and they can be pricey when new ($15+), so when I see a nice one at a thrift store, I buy it.  They are great for gifts too (filling with smaller items).  This one was $1.99.

–Old luggage is a great find.  You can use it for storage, plus it looks awesome.  I got this old steamer trunk for $10 before we were married.  It houses our extra bed linens at the foot of our bed.

 This vintage blue suitcase was $4 I believe.  The globe was also thrifted ($5?).

–Remember you can paint things, but also remember that not everything needs to be painted.  This scrollwork mirror (huge) in our living room is solid metal and has a great “rusty” look to it.  I could have painted it white, but keeping its original color just worked in our home.  I paid $4 for it.

This little table was $10 at a flea market.  I like the character it has, so I’ve left it unpainted.  The brass animals were also thrifted (between $2 and $4 each), as was the cloth ($1).

–Display what you buy!  I had these silver iced tea spoons store in a drawer just waiting for a project.  I read a blog post somewhere about displaying pretty treasures like that, so I plopped them in a glass apothecary jar and called it a day!

–Vintage quilts and linens are great to buy too.  This small quilt ($10?) isn’t actually very old, but it looks like it, so I got it.  Quilts make a room feel more layered and homey.

–I like to buy throw pillows at second-hand stores too, since they can be so expensive new.  I think I paid less than $7 for all of these, with the exception of the green damask one (Pottery Barn feather pillow), which was $10.

The green bedspread seen above (full size, with pillow shams) was $15 at a kids consignment fair.

–Repurpose!  Old frames can easily be used for lots of fun projects.  We used this white frame ($2?) in our engagement photos and now I attached a string to the back so I can display a photo or two.  You can turn old frames into chalkboards for menu boards, Scripture memory, etc.

This was intended as a wine rack, but I use it to store hand towels in my pink bathroom.  I think it was around $5.

A few other tips:

–As mentioned before, shop often!  I’ve collected all of the above items and many more over lots and lots of trips to Goodwills, antique stores, flea markets, consignment stores, and more.  Some trips are successful, and some aren’t.  Be patient!

–Look past the junk.  There will be a LOT of junk to sift through in order to find amazing things.  The topiary at the top of this post was surrounded by lots of junky “decorative” items.

–Be quick to grab what you like!  Great stuff will go quickly, so hold it in your arms until you decide if you’re buying it or not.  It may not be there on the shelf when you come back if you don’t act fast!

–Be faithful to your style and the style of your home.  I know some super talented people who pull off mid-century modern things in their home and it looks fabulous, but that’s just not me.  I like classic, pretty things that look like they could have come from Pottery Barn or Ballard Designs (and just maybe, they did!).  The point is, shop for items that look great in your home, no matter how “in” something is or how awesome it would look at your friend’s house (though she’ll be your BFF if you pick it up for her!).

Do you enjoy shopping thrift stores?  Tell me about some of your favorite scores!