How to Use Cheap Damaged Thrift Store Finds

by Rachel The Ponds Farmhouse

Have you ever found the cutest bowl only to discover the lid is missing, or a great old basket but then you discover the bottom is broken? Or maybe, it’s just one plate but with a great pattern! What do you do? Should you still buy it?

Don’t worry, I’m going to share how to use cheap damaged thrift store finds and you’ll never leave those great deals behind again.

I’ve found my fair share of items that are damaged or have missing pieces. The good news is they are usually cheap. This means you get a deal and guess what???? They can still be used and look great in your decor.

Thrifting With The Gals

Join us every Wednesday for Thrifting with the Gals over on Instagram Stories. Each of us are from different areas of the country and we take you along on all our adventures. Today the thrifting gals are joining me on the blog to share more tips for using your thrifted items and where to find them.

If you are joining me from Stacy Ling at Bricks N Blooms, thanks for stopping by. Stacy loves finding great thrifted items for her garden and she thrifts in New Jersey and Vermont. Be sure to link to all the other tips & finds at the end of this post.

Thrift Store Finds Don’t have to be perfect

You will occasionally run across a full set of dishes in a great pattern, however most of my thrift store and flea market finds come a piece at a time.

If that happens to you as well, don’t despair!! These great finds are still useable and make beautiful decor items for your home.

Some less than perfect Thrift Store Finds

These are just a few items I’ve picked up at thrift stores that were less than perfect. The two soup tureens were missing lids and ladles. There was no sugar bowl in site when I found these cute creamers and both bowls were missing their lids. Oh, but what a deal they were.

how to use cheap damaged thrift store finds

In addition to these special pieces, I’ve purchased ironstone with hairline cracks, dishes with chipped edges and baskets with bottoms missing.

Each of these items can easily be displayed without anyone realizing they are damaged. Just turn the hairline crack to the back side of your cabinet or shelf and sit your bottomless basket on top of a high cupboard. No one will ever know. Oops, now you know my secret. LOL

Soup Tureens

Don’t you just love a soup tureen? I especially love ironstone and when I find a great deal, home with me it comes. Here are a few ways to use one that’s damaged or missing a lid.

With the holiday’s right around the corner, you can use them to hold greenery, Christmas ornaments, and more.

Even the mismatched coffee cup holds a tiny Christmas tree.

In addition to Christmas ornaments, the soup tureen is perfect for hold bath soaps, or bath towels.

Adirondack Girl at Heart filled a topless tureen with bottle brush trees for a great holiday display. For a garden themed summer display, I add several moss balls to the thrifted tureen.

Thrifted Bowls Without Lids

I have recently been obsessed with decorative bowls for holding my plants. I fill them with both live and faux greenery.

This cute bowl was only $2.00 and looks great beside our bed.

In addition, bowls are great for planting and forcing bulbs, adding a decorative touch to a candle ring or just filling them with seasonal items like these pinecones.

To see how to force blooms, check out How to Force Blooms for Winter Flowers.

Other Damaged Finds

Both of the creamers look great alone. The delicate pink and gold creamer helps to brighten a dark corner in my cabinet and the Homer Laughlin creamer works great with fresh sage for a sweet smell on the windowsill.

With the green and black detail on the creamer, I can see cute bottle brush tree in it for the holiday’s.

See how cute this topless silver teapot looks for the holidays. Photo credit: Rhonda at Hallstrom Home

Can you believe this basket isn’t perfect. It’s bottom is damaged and it leans to one side. I paid $5.00 for it and wouldn’t sell it $100. It’s one of my favorite thrift store finds.

Mismatched plates look great displayed on the wall or on a shelf. I also like to use mismatched dishes on my tablescapes. It makes the table so much more interesting.

If there is a chip in the edge of a plate it can easily be disguised with the plate hanger or stand.

Final thoughts on purchasing damaged thrift store finds.

I don’t look for perfection in my home decor. If it’s broken, that means it was well used.

I believe that regardless of it’s appearance, everything has potential to be something great.

Follow Along On The Thrifting Blog Hop

Next up is Ann at Dabbling and Decorating. She recently scored a great apothecary cabinet with two missing drawers. You’ll have to check out how she made it work on this post.

Ann spends her time between Vermont and Maine where she finds so many great deals.