Decorating on a Thrift Store Budget

My goal this year is to decorate our new (older) home with thrift store finds. We spent a lot of money on remodeling some of our home and appliances already so we can't really afford to spend tons of money on new furniture and home decor. So I've been visiting my local goodwill these past couple of weeks and I've been able to find home decor items for dirt cheap. I want to share some of these finds with you and also offer some tips that have worked for me when it comes to thrifting.
I am very into mid century furniture right now. In fact I would sometimes rather browse through my local craigslist page looking at beautiful credenzas and dressers on my free time than be on netflix and I love netflix! So when I spotted the piece of furniture you see up there, I knew I had to have it. At just $14.99 it was a no brainer. I was debating whether to paint it or not and as much as it would look beautiful painted, I'm scared to mess it up so I am thinking of just changing the hardware for now. 

This vintage trunk is my most recent find. It was dusty and dirty and I didn't really want it at first because I couldn't think of an excuse to buy it a place to put it but I just imagined it all cleaned up and storing all of Joshua's legos and toys and the decision was made. Of course the price made it easy as well at $6.99. 
TIP #1: Make sure you have space and a purpose for what you buy. You don't want to end up with a bunch of thrifty finds in your garage. I should be the one to speak, I've got two items that I've been wanting to make over but haven't had the time. Also don't let a little dust and dirt scare you away from a great find but do make sure to check your piece really well for any chips, tears, or broken pieces. 

Here's another example of taking a chance on dirty items. These glass jars were dirty and the top of one of the jars was starting to accumulate some rust but thankfully my mother in law was with me at the time and told me how she could clean them up really well with some vinegar and I took them home and here they are now, nice and clean! The basket tray I found on another trip. I LOVE baskets but again if I don't think of a place or purpose I don't want to buy it. My mom was with me on this trip and actually gave me this idea to use it for the glass bottles I already had. 

TIP #2: Take a friend/family member with you when you shop! They can offer a different perspective and can help you make those not so tough decisions when it comes to a certain piece. I don't think I would have bought the jars or the tray if it wouldn't have been for my mother in law and my mom with me on those two trips. 

I love white ceramic pieces. These are both meant to be for the kitchen but I decided to use them for my jewelry instead.  They were each $1.99! 

TIP #3: You don't have to use a piece for what it's meant for. Think outside the box! The more uses you can think for a certain piece, the more reason to buy it! I like to move my things around and repurpose them once in a while. 

This frame was a Target clearance frame. It's obviously chipped but at $1 I couldn't leave it behind. I'm going to paint that chip white and it will look good as new. 

TIP #4: Check your local goodwill for those Target clearance items. Our local goodwill gets most of Target's clearance items. I actually went to Target one day and saw a bunch of iphone cases and was thinking of getting one but decided I would come back. Two days later I found them all at Goodwill. It's kind of hard to tell when they donate items to goodwill but chances are if you see something on clearance at Target and it's been sitting there for a while, it will end up at goodwill.

This globe and planter are some of my most favorite finds! I absolutely LOVE globes! I don't know why but it's kind of an obsession that began not too long ago. I see one and I buy it. It's one of those things that it doesn't matter if I have a place for it or not, I will make a place just for it. This globe was in one of those little blue bins, you know the ones that goodwill workers use to bring stuff out from the back to sort into shelves. It was fresh out of the back and I ran (ok I walked fast) to it and put it in my cart. I got a couple stares but I didn't care because I felt like I had found gold. lol 

TIP #5: My most favorite tip of all: Visit often and at the right times. I have visited my local goodwill every week and sometimes 2-3 times a week and every single time I go, I find new things. Summer + Spring are the BEST times to shop. It's when people clean out their homes and donate. It's also garage sale time and what doesn't get sold almost always ends up at goodwill. Out of all of the days of the week I've found Sundays to be the best day to shop, especially early in the morning. 

Do you love to thrift shop? What are some of your favorite finds? Any tips you'd like to share with me?You can follow me on my thrifty journey and check out my finds on instagram with #cinsarahthrifts