“I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living.” ~ John D. Rockefeller

A couple weeks ago, I posted here about some of our Thrift Store finds and plans.

We make it a weekly appointment to check out the thrift shops – not always the same day, but at least once a week. We have some lovely Thrift shops in a 30 mile radius as well as several antique shops. We also like to check out the Habitat ReStore’s wherever we can find them when looking for appliances and items such as doors. These shops take appliances and building materials such as wood, doors, paint, tiling, lighting, tubs, toilets, etc. from demolition homes and re-sell them with the proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.

The first time I visited a Habitat ReStore was in Lawrence, Kansas (still one of my favorites) and where I lucked into my fireplace mantel and surround with the accompanying gas insert for a whopping $35. The price tag remained on the gas insert from a brand name major hardware line and cost $357 brand new. A couple of my daughters and I would make a day of it – first stopping there, then a particular fabric shop followed by lunch at Chipotle’s before heading back home.

Since my last post, we have scored a few more items — some personal and some for the home.

While I shared previously about the trunk and the brown suitcase, we really wanted a second suitcase to stack onto the trunk. We had bought a blue one that was the right vintage, but was the same size as the brown. It worked without quite lending the staggered effect we were hoping to achieve. Today, we found the green suitcase that is a better complement to the trunk and is slightly larger than the brown suitcase and . . . voila!

When we set out awhile back, we were looking for a sofa for the living room – something of the right period (early 20’s) that wasn’t worn too hard. That has been difficult. While we don’t mind some modern aspects, the sofa is a hard limit. An overall eclectic feel with some period pieces thrown in – if that makes sense. We had found one that was perfect . . . PERFECT! My van was in the shop at the time, and thrift stores don’t deliver. By the time we got the van out of the shop, the sofa was still there, but it had been sold and was awaiting pick up. *sigh*

Still on the prowl for just the ‘right’ sofa, we instead found these wooden rocking chairs. Not at all wobbly, but a bit weather worn. I sat in one and invited Jo to sit in the other. We sat and rocked for a bit, right there in the store. The salesman offered to mark them down to $20 each and I jumped up and said, without further ado, “I’ll take them!”

This is actually the five-panel door found in a Missouri flea market that came to Alabama with me when I moved. I had plans for that baby as soon as I saw it and those plans are coming to fruition now, but that’s fodder for another blog post unto itself.

This lovely table is another recent buy. I really wanted a long sofa table to set in front of my entry way windows for my plants to catch the morning sun. Tables abound, but they were either to tall, or too short, coffee tables or dining room tables, bar tables, bedside tables, and then snuggled between two couches, I found this! Originally marked $59, I passed it by until the following week when the salesman marked it down to $40 for me. (Yes, I know it’s not centered on the windows, but the paint stripper is there for the time being and . . .yes, it bothers my OCD self.)

The entire outfit being worn by my beautiful daughter is thrift store couture. She found the shoes for $3.50 and the dress for $5. Which then gives her more $$ to spend on make-up. She has found most of her jeans at thrift shops as well as using Kohl’s cash and percentage off coupons and shopping at Old Navy using their promotional offers.

Thrifting – part thrill of the hunt, part saving money, part repurposing and completely FUN!!!