My Thrift Haul #2

Every week I go thrifting at least once because I LOVE it! And also, I’m really enjoying the look of a layered home. I’ve noticed now, when browsing Pinterest that I’m not so into a “perfect” house where everything is new and shiny. I like a touch of modern, but really love a layered home with lots of personality. And so I thought I’d share my thrift haul of the week.  

Thrifting really is the best way to add character. You find a unique item that’s been loved before and when it’s added to a home, it grounds the space. It adds age and interest and every room needs at least one thing that’s old.

Just this week my husband and I decided that we’ll be leaving in about a month to head from Utah to Florida for the winter. Which means that we have a little over a month to finish our bathroom that is 100% torn up, get the first floor of the playhouse complete, reseed our grass, and a million other projects. 

Everywhere I look, there’s something that needs to be done. I need to paint our porch (the grey paint is peeling up and showing red so it needs to be power washed first), the trim in the office needs caulked where the thermostat was installed after putting in air conditioning, and the screen on the front door needs repaired. 

I don’t want to complain, but there’s definitely a down side to being a snow bird. Which right now, is having a lot to do to prep for a move and making sure the house is perfectly ready to rent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful that we can make it work. But like anything, there is a downside.

So, to start chipping away at the to do list, I thought I’d put away the thrift finds I got this week and from previous shopping trips. Hey! It’s something!

my thrift haul

Here’s my thrifted finds and where I ended up putting them.

bow frame

I grabbed this bow frame for $1. I really liked the design- the bow is beautiful and so is the flowers and beaded trim. To be honest, I almost put this back a few times- was it too girly and not refined enough? But I wanted to see how it’d look painted white!

So I gave it a few coats of chalk paint. I’ll show you how it turned out in a second because I styled it next to the next find. 

pink and blue vase

I found this pink and green vase for $3. Whenever I see this color combination, usually in antique stores, I’m really drawn to it. I love blue and white vases, but the color isn’t quite right for my home. This one is! But it had glue along the top rim, so I brought it home to see if I could clean it up. 

Spoiler alert, I couldn’t find a way to get it off. Any suggestions? Since the glue still looked a little rough, I filled it with branches from my pear tree. We have at least 3 pear trees and will never eat all the fruit so I sacrificed a few branches. I LOVE the mini pears in the arrangement! 

Here’s how these thrifted items turned out! Isn’t the white frame looking nice?! I framed an old calendar page instead of doing a personal picture since we’ll renting out the home starting in October while we’re in Florida. This little grouping is sure making me happy!

souvenir state plates

Last week, my thrift store was FULL of amazing, beautiful travel plates! I scoped up 5 from places I’ve been looking for. It was such a score as each one was $1. It took me months to find enough to make a small wall hanging. To me, a collection makes thrifting so fun! The thrill of the hunt to add the perfect addition- it’s pretty exciting!

I brought my new finds home and used my budget friendly method for hanging them. It’s been pretty great seeing this wall slowly grow. Especially since each place represents a place we’ve visited or lived at.

I still need a few mini ones on the bottom, but soon this wall will be done. Which might be a little sad to see this project done.

laundry sign

When we drove from Florida to Utah in June, we took the scenic route through Alabama. In Hammond, Alabama the homes were so beautiful and there were antique shops everywhere. I begged my husband to stop and he played with my son and dogs outside while I went second hand shopping. There weren’t very many people in the store and it was just bliss!

My find was this $14 laundry sign. It’s an old enamel sign and I thought it’d be perfect for my fancy laundry room! And then it sat, not being hung since. Well, I finally crossed it off my list! And it took me less than 5 minutes. Why did I wait so long?!

what’s your budget when thrifting?

After sharing my weekly thrifted finds on Instagram, a reader asked about my budget when thrifting. Or if I have a maximum amount I’ll spend. I thought that was a great question that I could answer here!

I don’t usually have a budget. Instead, I have a shopping list. I rarely spend over $10 though so it’s not a big deal to stroll the aisles and grab what I like.

More than a budget, I’m focused on finding special items that’ll add to my house. If what I find matches what’s on my list- that’s ideal. I also leave myself open to discovering things I didn’t know I was looking for. Those are fun to find!

Since I thrift so much, I know when something is overpriced and I usually won’t grab it. For example, there’s a $4 book at my thrift store right now that looks good, but over $2 I usually won’t buy a hard cover book unless I’m obsessed with it. 

If you love something and you can afford it, get it. But, like most things, the more you thrift, the better you know if you’re getting a good deal.

Do you like seeing where these thrift finds end up? Any questions from this post? Let me know in the comments! And I’d love to hear which item you liked best.