The Best Thrift Store Finds: a house log

As many of you folks know if you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, Katie B and I did some thrift store trolling while we were in Destin last week. Which is fairly much a tradition at this point (check out our past adventures here and here). We did not have our video camera on hand, but we snapped a junkload of photos for you folks. So without further ado, here are my finds – and you can see Katie’s over on her journal if you’d like.

I will lead with my go-tos: these remarkable woven twin-sized headboards. They were $29 each and I am FULLY regretful that I left without them. Picture them painted white – or even soft blue or bold red. They are nearly quatrefoil-ish in shape (picture the bed going on the bottom to complete the four-things-jutting-out shape), and I lurv-lurv-lurv them. Not only was there no room in the car for them, we have daybeds (two of ’em) so I simply could not convince myself they were meant for our house. In my mind, they are the ones that got away though. Single tear. I hope someone takes them home and pets them every night.

I thought this wicker based table was kind of cool, and although I was not crazy about the rounded-square glass shape, could not you see it with a large round wood top instead? Perhaps all painted charcoal like a pedestal table with extra texture in the base?

These two frames were $2.99 and although they are looking fairly gilded, I thought with some paint on those frames (white, black, yellow, emerald… anything truly) and some new fabric inside of them, they could be truly lively for a frame collage (it is pleasant to break up a lot of squares and rectangles with a few curvier shapes). The little dudes inside of them could even be lively if they were painted and brought in back into the mix, but they also could be took out fully so the new fabric could be the star.

This leggy wooden side table was $29, which is not low-cost but it is also solid wood so I think it could be sanded down and oiled/stained or even painted (cottage red? crisp white? soft gray?) and used as a bedside table or an end table in a living room. You could even slip a woven basket underneath it for brought in storage.

There were four of these folks for $19 each I think – and although they look a little bland right now (they remind me of oatmeal) I think some glossy white or black paint on the chair part with a new seat cushion (perhaps an ikat or a chic little polka dot?) would fully change them. Here is another color/fabric idea. And of course there are these. The pleasant thing about chairs like this is that the seats are so straightforward to remove, both for easier chair-spray-painting and for a plain staple-gun-upholstery-session.

How cool would this sold wood three-drawer dresser look with a treatment like this or this or this? Simply picture it stenciled, stained, hand-painted, or even nail-head studded with new hardware. Me-ow right? Or perhaps you are more of a wood purist who’d rather forgo those detailed designs? I could also see this stained a rich brown color (or even scrubbed with vinegar and water to weather it a la Restoration Hardware items). Add some cool knobs (I keep picturing bright white faceted ones for some reason) and you are golden. It was $59, so it was not dirt low-cost, but it was solid wood and around the same price of a not-solid-wood dresser from Ikea.

These chairs were $15 each (there were four of them) and I did not mind them as-is (the medium wood was pleasant, and the bold cushions were in good shape) but they’d also be straightforward to paint/stain and recover for a fully new look. I could see them painted in a soft platinum color with a navy velvet seat. I know. I am fancy.

This little green light was another find that reminded me of something from Pottery Barn kids, and at $6 it was a lot cheaper. I prefer to buy newer-looking lights secondhand unless I am going to rewire them (or pay to get them rewired by a pro) since older lamps can have weathered/faulty wiring which can result in scary things like shortages or fires.

There were tons of textile finds as well, which can scare some people, but running them through the wash on high heat or the sanitary setting (even with some bleach if you are extra nervous) can clean secondhand clothes, sheets, tablecloths, etc. Gotta make Macklemore proud. So I never shy away from the idea of giving them a new home if you see something you enjoy. This high contrast chevron-ish comforter was queen sized and $19. I could even see someone buying it simply for the fabric… you could cut it up and make pillows, curtains, roman shades, etc. And it would break down to being around three bucks a yard.

This twin sized Ikea duvet was going for $5.99. Once again it would be excellent to use for the fabric (a little red-heart table runner with matching napkins would be cute for V-day) or you could simply toss it on a twin sized bed and call it good.

There were also a lot of lace tablecloths, which I pictured dying for a more modern look. How cool would a blue ombre pattern be? Or even simply a solid emerald or plum. You can also use lace as a “stencil” (lay it over an old table and spray paint over it, then remove it to see that cool lace pattern translated onto the table).

This polka dot twin sheet set had me at hello. It reminded me of the sets that places like Pottery Barn and Serena & Lilly sell, and it was 100% cotton (which is consistently something I look for in sheets). At $7 for the set, I was sold. These babies came home with me and are already on Clara’s daybed. There is not much the girl loves more than polka dots these days, so she’s simply as smitten as I am.

This is simply a crazy picture of me displaying my sheet set like Vanna White.

Duck!

That was $1.99 and quite enticing, but somehow I held it together and left him behind. I think my ceramic animal count might be in the double digits, so I thought it best to leave Mister Mallard for someone else.

Oh and do not forget to check out books at thrift stores! This one was $3.99 and giant (the picture does not do it justice – it was easily 18″ tall).

It had vivid color photos that could be cut out/blown up/framed and also would simply be fairly on a coffee table or console (either closed with some other books stacked on top, or open to a fairly page. I’d switch the page every week or so, simply to keep it spicy. I know you folks, I am a wild woman.

So there you have it, my thrifty finds. In the end I only popped one tag (those cute polka dot sheets) but the thrill of the hunt is the best part. Plus John would have had my head if I came back with ten bags of stuff to cram into the car for the drive home. #carpackingtyrant

What are you folks hunting for these days? Any thrift store scores going on in your neck of the woods? Do you ever go second-hand hunting on vacation? I am a fan.