Thrift Store Finds | Why Thrifting Is the Best
I can’t wait to share my most recent thrift store finds with you! It’s been a while since I’ve gone vintage shopping, and I’ve missed it so much. It’s so fun hunting for treasures. Sometimes you come home with some of the best vintage finds, which is exactly what happened with my latest thrift haul.
Remember last week when I shared the new location of the vintage pie safe? Well my latest thrift haul contained a replacement for the pie safe in the dining room!
It’s been a few weeks that the pie safe has been in the girls’ room. So we’ve had a chance to decide if we need something in that spot for storage or not.
Originally, I thought we’d be fine without it. But I’ve discovered that I was wrong. (Don’t tell my husband, this is our little secret haha!)
Even though that pie safe wasn’t crammed full, it held enough to keep the pantry and lazy susan organized.
What is a Thrift Haul?
For this post, I did a little research on terms and the actual meaning of words associated with vintage shopping.
I learned a lot!
But, to keep it short and simple, a thrift haul is basically when you go vintage/thrift shopping and you bring home a bunch of stuff.
So in my situation, I brought home 3 pictures and 1 cabinet. That would be my thrift haul. I read that sometimes this term is used when someone brings home more than necessary.
Obviously, that’s not something that I’ve ever done and my husband can attest to that haha!
Why You Should Buy Vintage?
- You can often get things at a good price
- You can come home with unique one-of-a-kind finds
- Hunting for pieces, and coming up with new purposes for items fuels creative juices
- It’s better for the environment/Cuts down on waste
Good Prices
Vintage Picture
These particular thrift store finds were such a good deal! The owner was having a Spring Cleaning 50% off sale on some of her items. This picture that I purchased was one of them.
It had water damage on a couple corners.
So I only spent $5 on it!
For me, I prefer some of the items I use in my decor to be worn and tattered. In that respect this picture was perfect!
It added character to an items that already had old-world charm.
She had another picture very similar to this one but in much better condition. It was $35.
So $5 was a smoking deal!
Vintage Cabinet
The cabinet was not part of the 50% off deal.
BUT…it did need a little bit of TLC.
I’m not sure how it happened, but the bottom of the cabinet had fallen out of the groove on one side. When this happened it made the door not stay shut, and it also created a long gaping crack all the way down the back of the cabinet.
After I examined the cabinet I decided I would be able to get the bottom piece back into its proper place and hopefully this would solve all of the other problems.
I brought this simple cabinet home for $25!
AND
After I had the cabinet home I did a little tinkering and voila! It’s a good ol’ cabinet with a crack that is no longer gaping, and a door that stays closed!
One-of-a-Kind Vintage Finds
One of my favorite aspects of my thrift store finds is that they are unique. Vintage pieces have so much more to offer than items you find brand new on a store shelf.
I’m not saying I never go to regular stores and buy new pieces.
I absolutely do.
But those items never have the charm and character of the vintage items I find. They don’t have the stories of vintage pieces.
A home full of nothing but perfect new pieces comes at a price, and I’m not talking about the financial price.
That being said, I do believe the most gorgeously curated home is a balance and mixture of the two.
Repurposing Vintage Items
After I started asking questions about the cabinet to the owner, a fellow shopper told me that the piece looked like an old sheet music cabinet from when she was young.
I looked up sheet music cabinets because I hadn’t ever heard of it before. From what I saw they had a bunch of drawers or shelves, and this old cabinet seems to fit the bill.
It has enough holes down the inside for 10 thin shelves, perfect for something lightweight like sheet music.
But as I mentioned, we will be using this cabinet for kitchen/dining room supplies. The plan is to add some shelves strong enough to hold things that weigh more than sheet music.
This wasn’t a very big stretch for repurposing an item, but by doing it a little bit here and there I’ve learned that it helps my natural mindset be more creative.
Over the past year or so I’ve learned that creativity is like a muscle.
The more you do it the better you’ll get.
Like my boho style pallet table, chicken feeder mail organizer, chicken feeder bookshelf in the girls’ room, and the faux fireplace from a dresser top.
I actually heard recently that the most successful creations came from people who created many many things that weren’t a success.
Anyone else thinking about Thomas Edison and his numerous inventions that you never hear about because they were flops!
BUT
He has one invention that went down inn history and we all know about it.
Fail. Fail again. Fail better!
Environmentally Friendly
I wrote a post last year for mother’s day, about how I have been shaped by the mothers in my life. In that post, I shared that I love the environment, and it’s at least partially because of my grammy.
Instead of throwing things out and replacing them with something new, that was mass-produced, you’re supporting a local entrepreneur, and decreasing the demand for the mass-produced product.
By shopping vintage you are recycling an item that otherwise could be turned into just another thing at the landfill.
This point is a rather big one and the truth is we could talk about it for days.
But for the sack of the post I’ll share a simple & familiar story instead.
The Starfish Story
By: Loren Eisley
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.
Then, smiling at the man, he said…..“I made a difference for that one.”
This story is a perfect example of the difference one person can make when they decide to support a local business and shop vintage/antique.
One of my favorite parts of thrifting is you never know what you’re going to find and sometimes you end up with perfect pieces! That’s exactly what happened last week when I went to the vintage shop down the road and brought home my thrift store finds.
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Open Your Doors,
Aliya
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Just recently, I wandered into a thrift store. I always check out the jewelry and was attracted to a ring with a pink stone. I turned the ring over and the setting of the 'rhinestones' around the center stone was open in the back. Diamonds always have an open back for light to pass around and through. The setting was fancy and harkened back to some of the vintage jewelry I already own. I bought the ring for $5. It is a pink sapphire with diamond surround set in white gold. Worth WAY MORE than $5.
I bought a sheet music cabinet for my dog supplies and it works great (has 4 adjustable shelves).