March First, what?? How could that possibly be? After a few days of uncharacteristically warm weather I have some serious spring fever so I’m ecstatic this month has arrived! February flew by and here we are back at My Five Favorites, the monthly series I host along with friends Kris of Driven By Decor, Pam of Simple Details and Jennifer of Dimples & Tangles. I’m so happy you’re here.
This month we’re talking about thrift store scores and are thrilled to have Gwen, The Makerista, guest hosting with us! Gwen’s blog is full of really beautiful design inspiration and I love how she incorporates interesting thrifty finds into her drop dead gorgeous home. Check out Gwen’s custom built library, filled to the brim with tons of books scored at thrift stores! Stunning, isn’t it?
While you’re visiting The Makerista, don’t miss Gwen’s kitchen renovation and dining room! Or pretty much any other room!
Thanks for joining us Gwen!!
Do you frequent thrift stores? I started popping into a Habitat Restore a few years ago only because it was close to my son’s school and occasionally I’d have a few minutes to kill before I’d pick him up in the afternoons. Soon I realized some of the furniture and items in thrift stores were better quality than a lot of new products on the market!
Here are a few of my favorite thrift store scores. Affiliate links included for your convenience.
VANITY TABLE AND STOOL
This vanity and stool are beyond perfect for my 16 year old baby girl that has a lot of STUFF and extremely messy tendencies! All it needed was a paint touch up, new knobs and new fabric for the stool. The style isn’t something I normally gravitate towards but it’s such a fun piece for a teenage girl, I just COULD NOT leave it behind!
Also, the stool. It’s the cutest!! Fabric: Secret Gate in Blossom
BEDSIDE TABLE
This sturdy, heavy old $10 end table first got a coat of black paint and lived in our family room for a while, until it made it’s way up to Hannah’s room.
Paint: General Finishes Snow White • Benjamin Moore Springtime Bloom
I love that original hardware!
DINING CHAIRS
I looked for new or secondhand chairs for our dining table FORever until I found these cane back chairs. The thrift store wouldn’t break them up with the table they came with, so I bought the whole set and then donated the table back to the store right then and there. With paint and fabric they amounted to $36 a chair even with having to buy the table with them.
Our dining table is a Craigslist find by the way!! Check out it’s dark makeover, and then because I’m insane, how I stripped it again and limed it.
One of the chairs needed to be re-caned and I did it myself. Check out this post about whether I think this is a good DIY to tackle or not.
Paint: Benjamin Moore Black • Fabric: Premier Prints Zippy Denton
TRAYS
Thrift stores are great for accessories if you keep an open mind!!
This wicker tray was a little beat up but I cleaned it up at home.
I donated it to the Bloggers Heart Habitat living room to bring a little warmth and texture to the coffee table (also a thrift store score!).
My mom saw me admiring this cute little mirrored tray in a thrift store on the Cape (Cod) and went back to get it and surprise me. It’s perfect for a cup of coffee on the couch.
It gets moved all over the house!
LAMPS
Thrift stores are a great place to find unique or nice quality lamps for a fraction of what you might pay for them new. A good cleaning and new lamp shades, and they are good to go.
Moody Masculine Mighty Teen Room
I can still hardly believe I scored these two ginger jar beauties for $11 apiece.
How To Adapt Ikea Lamp Shades & Fix Crooked Shades
I can’t wait to see the other thrift store score posts! You can find them here:
The My Five Favorites Series – a new topic every month!
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Cassie Bustamante says
you know i love this post- love me a good thrifted find!
Lisa says
You are the queen of thrift store scores Cassie!! 🙂
Shelley @ Calypso in the Country says
Great finds, Lisa! I can’t believe you caned that chair yourself! Those end tables sure have been versatile!
Shelley
Lisa says
The caning isn’t perfect on the chair I did, but I’m really glad I tried it – I would definitely tackle that myself in the future!
Jennifer Griffin says
This is SO much fun to see everyone’s treasures! Those ginger jar lamps…gah! What a steal! And your whole dining room set, just such a beauty!
Lisa says
Thank you! Great topic Jennifer! This was such a fun round. Loved all your finds!
Gwen, The Makerista says
Love all of your lamps and those cane chairs! Thank you for having me this month!
Lisa says
We’re so glad you joined us Gwen. You’ve given me some new thrifting goals!!
Pam @ Simple Details says
Those ginger jar lamps were a crazy good score!! The dining room is gorgeous and worth every second of insanity to lighten your table! ~ it looks so amazing! And, I LOVE your tip to donate the table back to the thrift store brilliant friend!
Lisa says
The Salvation Army manager gave me the idea! So glad I didn’t take the table!
Kris {Driven by Decor} says
You’ve scored some seriously good stuff! I never knew those lamps were thrift store scores – totally love them! And I’m thinking of stripping and liming my console – we need to talk! 🙂
Lisa says
I’m here to help! I’ve tried a few different liming methods so I can definitely tell you what I wouldn’t do again!!
cindy hattersley says
Love this post! Thrift store finds are right up my alley! I agree lamps are one of the best junk store finds. Lamps are so expensive and the new ones are awful to boot! I don’t have a lamp in my house that had it’s first life as a lamp!!
Lisa says
Cindy, thrift stores have become my favorite place to shop for lamps! You’ll have to do a post one of these days on your lamps and what they originated as!