Pinterest to Goodwill: How To Thrift Your Dream Home Decor
As humans, we spend the majority of our time in our homes. Thrift shopping for things in our college dorm rooms to cozy apartments, to homes we share with our families, everyone wants a space to call their own. People choose to decorate their spaces as a way to express who they are in a physical outward form. Curating our environment to reflect our interests and personality can make us feel comfortable and safe in our spaces.
How we choose to decorate our spaces also can help us define the purpose of the space. Choosing to decorate an office with cool tones, minimalist décor pieces, and comfortable furniture can make it an effective space to do work. Filling your living room with big furniture, open space for guests, and intentional conversation pieces can make it a perfect place to host your friends for a game night or a party. No matter how you choose to decorate it should feel like you.
Thrifting
While curating a space can be fun, it is expensive. Thrifting has become a very popular method of shopping, especially among younger generations. Purchasing second-hand goods has become so popular because it allows people to find quality pieces for cheaper prices, offers a chance to find one-of-a-kind pieces, and encourages people to give these items a new life keeping them out of landfills.
Overwhelmed by the sea of items when walking into a thrift store, some people struggle to find pieces they like. Seeing the vision for dusty lamps, wobbly tables, or old posters can be challenging. But I think there are many good methods for this madness and here is mine.
1. Find Your Dream
Whether you get your inspiration from magazines, Pinterest, or people in your life’s spaces it is vital to understand what you want your space to look and feel like. If you love the industrial look of a studio apartment in New York because your favorite movie character lives there, find photos and analyze what items make it feel that way. If you are obsessed with the way your grandma’s house feels and you want to surround yourself with quilts and knickknacks, take photos of her house and pick out the pieces that feel like you. If you dream of the timeless elegance of a mid century modern home, go on Pinterest, search mid century modern, and save all the photos that give you the feeling you hope to have when relaxing in your space.
2. Go Thrifting
When you know what you want your space to look like it is much easier to identify the pieces that will help you accomplish it. Going to Goodwill, Salvation Army, and antique shops to thrift will allow you to see what is out there.
Don’t get discouraged if you go thrifting one day and don’t find any items that fit your vision. The inventory at these stores changes constantly and the perfect piece might be waiting for you the next time you come in to browse. Finding out when your local stores put out their new donations can help you make the most out of your trips and know when you might find the best items.
3. Finding And Styling
When you are shopping knowing where different types of items are located can help ease the stress of finding what you are looking for in the chaos of the thrift store. If you are looking for decorations for your walls, starting where the picture frames are might be the best place to start. Here you can find different shapes and sizes of frames. You can fill them with photos to bring in personal touches and remind you of people and places that bring you joy. You might also find art in frames or posters that you can hang up to add a creative touch to your space.
If you are struggling to see the vision you can refer back to the photos of your dream space and compare the pieces in the pictures to the items in front of you. This can allow you to see exactly what you could use these items for and how you can style them.
If your kitchen is constantly cluttered with snacks and food because you don’t have enough storage, you might want to find furniture to add storage to your space. Refer to your photos and compare your space to find the best location to add furniture. Measure that space and decide what the ideal piece could be for your needs. Then go shopping and see what is out there and what fits what you are looking for. What you find might need a little cleaning or a repair for a wobbly leg, but since you know what you want, you can bring it home and make it into the perfect item for you.
Summary
No matter what your budget, vision, or space looks like thrifting allows people to find exactly what they are looking for. Creating a home that feels comfortable and lets you express your personality is so important. It allows you to de-stress and feel more confident in yourself and your space. When you go thrift shopping, you seem to find rarest things that everyone questions where you got it from. Thrift shopping is the best thing.