A recap of the after’s from thrift store finds

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick is having a

She wants us to spill the beans on what items we’ve decorated with from garage sales, thrifts, free, whatever. Yikes. How many days do you have?


Ladder – used goods store. Pedistal sink – free from a friend’s barn.

Step ladder from a thrift. Now is a light holder for my island until the real deal light is installed. Then I get to invent a new use for it again!

An old sign scooped up from a local gas station boneyard which is now my headboard. Oh. Free.

$10 worth of matching pillows and / or cases from the thrift.

Lamp is a scoop from a local thrift. It had two strange finial things that stuck out like ears so a friend helped me grind them off. I’ve yet to paint the lamp. The lamp is too busy to be painted it seems.


Lattice piece from someone’s front curb waiting for garbage pickup. I refabbed it to cover a phone cord. The SADY sign is an old original cow sign from my dad’s farm.


A couple screens morphed into temporary curtains. But now I like them! So I have visions of painting them white and perhaps burlap in behind. I love how the light penetrates through them now so I don’t want to diminish that aspect. But I’d like my boy to stop calling them the Japanese things, so they need a new look. Soon!

The black box is actually a trunk that I got from a closing out sale at a flower place. The woodsy box is from someone’s curb. But they actually have a purpose other than adding funk to the room.


The black trunk turned over on it’s end holds my stereo and woofer thing. The woodsy box holds two speakers stacked one on top of the other.

This is a little greenhouse I have out back. The wood I’m using to create a character building out of is from someone’s fence on the way to a burn pile. I asked him to drop it off in my driveway instead so he did! This is how far I’ve gotten so far. The gate is from the dump that will hold up trailing flowers one day. (I asked if I could take it from a guy hucking it onto the pile. I have no shame) The small old window is from a friend that he took off an old barn himself, and the bigger window is from a thrift.

The door is made out of the same wood but turned on the other side so you see more greys. Also because on the right side there were vines STUCK to the wood I couldn’t remove. It’s freaky lookin’ inside. Whatever. The door turned out cool…

Canning jar lid wreath for $1 from a garage sale. Yeah, it was already made up like that. All I did was pay the $1 and hang it up.

Metal stuff is cool in a garden. The square one is from a thrift. The can is what I found buried way back in a shed when I bought my place.


This adorable little birdhouse came with a post and was going to be burned. It was buried under all that fence wood that was delivered. I squealed when I saw it!

Oh my gosh. I feel like I should join a Junkaholics Anonymous group or something.

All the progress of these projects are on this blog so feel free to snoop around to spot more info on them.

I’m rather pleased at how I’m supporting the local thrifts which is always a good thing. Decorating on a budget has forced me to be ultra creative with used finds. And honestly, I go into Homesense now and walk right out thinking I can make that. Regular retail is such a thing of the past.

Simply buying isn’t fun anymore. But buying to create most certainly is!

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37 thoughts on “A recap of the after’s from thrift store finds

  1. Great post! Ha – I love it! Especially the part about retail being a thing of the past! I’d say you have definitely proven that! And by the way, your bathroom is absolutely adorable!! And the lattice to cover the phone cord is, well….genius! 🙂

    ~Karla @ It’s The Little Things…

  2. Love it all! Man sometimes I feel creative until I run into blogs like yours adn I realize I need some work on being more creative from the strat. I just try to steal other peoples ideas…sad!

  3. You are a genius!!! I love everything that you’ve featured in this post.

    Isn’t it great to just walk out of a retail store, knowing that you can either make it or thrift it? It’s an adrenaline rush.

    Great job!

  4. So many great projects! I love the photo of the bed. The headboard is just amazing, and I love the idea of putting a tiny wreath in front of the pillows. A perfect touch!

  5. I just want to take a tour of your place! You are an inspiration! I love the wreath, the birdhouse, and soon to be flower trellis! You did great!

    Blessings to you!

  6. Really great showing of fabulous deals. I can’t believe you got that Garage sign FREE. It is a dream find.Where ,oh where can I find something like that?!?!

  7. I love the comment about buying to create. I am so down with that. It is so much more fun to create. I love all the wonderful ways you have used your “finds” to decorate. I especially love the ladder as a light holder. Super cool idea! Thanks for sharing all of your finds.
    Blessings.
    Traci

  8. I do much better at the Flea Markets locally than I do at the thrifts, or garage sales, BUT you my dear have found the best loot ever! I think you could start a business and make loads of cash form those like me who are unlucky in their hunts.

    Love all your great finds, you sure know what to do with them!

  9. oh my gosh you guys are sooooo lucky, i live in cairns australia and our “op shops” dont have half as good junk as you can get oh how i wish we could find great items like you do, i have found a few goodies over the yearsb but nothing compared to this post.

  10. I have got to say you need your own show! You are inspiring me to go repurpose. Love all your funky ideas!

  11. What a great post! You are super creative! It’s all great but my favorite is the headboard. For free? How cool. And I bet you are the only one that has a headboard like that. Even cooler. Love it.

  12. Stopped by after visiting Sarah and LOVE your blog. This post made me smile- each picture more than the last!

    Your gift to create is amazing-

    Carolyn

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