How to Thrift for Home Décor

I’ll be covering how to thrift for home decor with my top tips and best home décor items to shop for. Along with some DIY tips and other ways to snag great home décor at a great price.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosure by clicking here.

Why Thrift

The obvious reason why I thrift is because it’s affordable. It’s also a great way to discover your home décor style for cheap. If you end up buying items you don’t like, you don’t have to beat yourself up since you only spent a few bucks anyways! But honesty, I think for me, I thrift because I absolutely love the thrill of the hunt. Finding treasures, learning about the past and treasuring items that someone else once treasured as well. That’s why I started going to antique stores, flea markets, estate sales and yard sales before I even started thrifting. Lastly, vintage pieces typically are more sturdy, better made and timeless.

How to Thrift for Home Décor

So when you’re out and about you want to think about you what you like. And by that I mean, think about your life. Think about the things you’ve done, places you’ve been and what’s inspired you. I’ve lived so many places, so having that exposure to different parts of America influenced my décor style. It’s translated into an eclectic, vintage home décor vibe. Even though it sounds a little hippie – think about your life and where you want to go and reflect that in your décor.

You could however, just pick up anything you want and figure out where to stick it once you get home. Which I totally do half of the time. But you still want to keep in mind the overall vibe of your house. Go on Pinterest, head to Instagram and see what appeals to you.

Whatever you like, you’ll be able to find it at a thrift store or transform it into your vibe – eclectic, shabby chic, modern, whatever. And if you still don’t have a firm grasp on how you want your house to look, it’s OK. You can figure it out as you go and for cheap! Plus we thrifters and hunters-of-cool-stuff believe that sometimes things just find you. So go with the flow man. If you want to see some home décor items I’ve thrifted so far, head here.

Tips for Thrifting Home Decor

• Go multiple times
  • Don’t judge a thrift store by one visit – you need to go back at least three times to get a better feel for the items they receive
• Pick it up
  • If you remotely like an item, pick it up
  • If you leave it there and then decide you like it, even if it’s just five minutes, it may be gone
• Look for labels
  • Finding a well-known furniture maker or home décor company can give you an idea of how well-made the item is
  • That doesn’t mean just an actual sticky label but a stamp, an impression, etc…
  • Look on the bottom, inside drawers, everywhere. The label for our vintage thrifted couch ended up being in between the wood slates in the back, it was hard to find
• Google it
  • Have no idea what labels/brands are good? Google it
  • This can give you an idea of the item, the age and if it’s priced well
• Pay attention to the neighborhood
  • The thrift store will typically be reflective of the neighborhood
  • Older, established neighborhoods typically equal nicer quality, vintage and antiques
• Dig
  • People will hid things, stuff gets moved around. So get your hands dirty
  • That means you might want to bring gloves or hand sanitizer
• If you love it, buy it
  • Trust your gut
  • If you’re on the fence, walk away from it and if you can’t stop thinking about it, go back and get it
  • Whether or not the item is worth beans doesn’t matter if you really like it
  • Buyers remorse is a thing

Top Five Items to Thrift For Home Decor

• Candlesticks
  • These are timeless and always at thrift stores
  • They look great on mantels, shelves, anywhere
  • You can start a collection and build slowly
• Books
  • Old books can bring so much character and color to your décor
  • Plus I’m obsessed with looking inside to see if the original owner’s name is in a book. I have some pretty awesome stories of owners from books I have
• Bowls & Baskets
  • Versatile and so useful
  • These can be used in so many different ways: wall hangs, for plants, for fruit, as décor, light covers, storage, etc…
• Artwork & Wall Décor
  • You can eventually make gallery wall – see below
  • DIY it – paint over the piece
  • Sometime you might only be buying a framed piece for the frame, that’s OK
  • Use different different textures – metal, wood, wicker, etc…
  • Think outside the box for wall décor: Old tennis rackets, colorful placements, wicker baskets, etc…
• Chairs
  • I might be suggesting chairs because I’m obsessed with them
  • Typically most thrift store chairs need some DIY from painting to upholstery
  • Even if you don’t DIY the chair yourself, sometimes it’s still cheaper to buy it and pay someone to refinish it for you
  • Can customize to your vibe

More Item I Like to Thrift

Just remember almost anything can be home décor. I know it’s cliché but think outside of the box. Like an old window can become a cool picture frame.

• Collections
  • If you keep finding the same items, start a collection
  • Collect items of the same color, size or theme
  • Clocks, baskets, candlesticks, sconces, giraffe figurines, you name it
• Lamp bases
  • These are up for debate – some people say don’t because it’s hard to find a lampshade that matches since most come without a lampshade
  • But I’ve purchased two lamp bases and found, or painted a lampshade, for each – you just have to be patient
• Lamp shades
  • Those thrifted lamps had lamp shades at one time, they just got separated so you might be able to find one at a thrift store
  • Paint the lamp shade to match the lamp base, it’s easy
• Textiles
  • Rugs, cool blankets – you can hang them on the wall too
  • Scarfs that can double as table runners
  • These are harder to find, but as long as you can wash & clean them they’re good to go
• Vases
  • They don’t have to stay a vase – Paint it and stick a plant in it
  • Start a collection of them
  • Paint them all the same color
• Kitchen items
  • Items like: vintage pitchers, trays, cups, bowls are always found in thrift stores
  • This is where you’ll really have to move items around and dig – they are always pilled up
• Tchotchkes
  • I mean, it’s full of tiny items just waiting to add a little flair to your coffee table or night stand

DIY It!

Think about how you can change or upgrade your thrifted finds. Remember, timeless always works over trendy. But then again. It was thrifted so you could go trendy and paint it in a few years since it didn’t cost much! One last thing. If you’re new to the DIY world, start small and work your way up.

• Clean it
  • Sometimes, all you need to do is take a magic eraser with some water to a piece and it’ll look as good as new
• Paint
  • Cheap & easy
  • Chalk paint is very forgiving
  • Make the collection cohesive be painting it the same color or in different shades of that color
  • Check out my DIY starter kit for painting
• Spray paint
  • Good for metal objects
  • Check out my thrifted, DIY spray-painted firewood stand
• Stain it
  • Good for wood objects
  • If it’s not dark enough or light enough – stain it and keep the wood finish
• Polish it
  • If you’re not a fan of the patina on an object, you can probably just polish it off and reveal a shiny, new piece
  • Sometimes the hardware on a furniture piece or lamp looks rusty – try polishing it with Bar Keepers Friend

Furniture

A quick note on furniture. Think about how much time and effort you really want to put into it. These projects are typically a bit more time consuming. If the furniture is detailed it’ll take even more time.

However, you could pay someone else to do it and still probably be ahead on cost! If a piece, like our thrifted couch, has removable cushions. Then the cost to get those removal cushions reupholstered isn’t that bad. Reupholstering a piece that’s large or entirely covered in fabric will be more costly. But again, it’s more-than-likely cheaper than buying a new piece of furniture.

Clean it. If you’re not getting the piece reupholstered right away you need to clean it. Call someone to come steam clean it or do it yourself by renting a steam cleaner. I personally spent hours steam cleaning our thrifted couch.

Where to Shop

Go to all the thrift stores. Goodwill, salvation army, mom & pop thrift stores and other charitable thrift stores.

• SoCal Thrift Stores
  • OC Goodwill’s have newer items & Target décor
    • They sell brand new Target décor at a fraction of the price
  • Inland Empire Goodwills
    • Upland and Pomona are my favorites
  • Pasadena
    • Salvation Army antique store on Waverly Dr.
    • Goodwill off Fair Oaks
  • All my favorite Riverside thrift stores
  • I’m still exploring my new area so I’m sure I’ll have more later
• Estate sales/ tag sale
  • Estate sales are a way of getting rid of everything in someone’s house. That means everything is for sale from the garage to the backyard
  • I signed up for a newsletter from EstateSales.net and every week I get a round up of what estate sales are in my area
• Flea markets
  • For a few of my favorite SoCal ones head here – it’s at the bottom of the page
• Antique stores
  • You will be paying more for the curated items but it can still be a good deal
  • Ken’s Olden Oddities in La Verne is one of my favorites
• Yard sales
  • Drive around on the weekend – it’s one of my favorite past times
• Instagram & Etsy
  • There are wonderful stores on Instagram and Etsy that bring the curated, thrifted décor items to you at great prices
  • I’ll be working on listing my favorites soon

Remember thrifting is a cheaper way for you to find your home decor likes and dislikes. You might not know your vibe yet, but you’ll discover it once you start shopping. It’s so fun to talk about where you found pieces in your house, months and years later. It’s especially gratifying once you DIY a piece and remember the hard work you did to improve an item.

Lastly, keep going back to the thrift stores. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your home décor. Happy thrifting!