Thrift Store Finds

kat unpacking recent thrift store purchases!

I have always loved shopping in thrift stores. It is fun to see what you can find. Fortunately the city I now live in has quite a few thrift stores. The only bummer is that they are too far from my apartment to get there by walking with my rolling walker. Yet my mobile chair is too big to go inside and go down the aisles. I have to go to them by car. Recently I went to the Salvation Army, which is about 40 miles away. In fact, we went twice in one week due to big sales they were having. I can't wait to go back there again. There are two thrift stores near me, but nothing like the Salvation Army. Like I said before, I have to go by car. One is Annie's Thrift Store and the other is Ms. Bea's Warehouse and Consignment Shop. I am lucky that my boyfriend, Sonny, will take me to these whenever I ask.

Unique shapes and colors bought for 99 cents each!

I was so excited to finally have a home where I could display my things. Things I had to keep packed away for so many years. I got rid of a lot of things. That is not a bad thing. Now I do not want to bring more clutter back in. And living in a studio apartment means I have to be careful due to space. I started seeing the various glass vases in pretty colors in the thrift stores. I checked them out on eBay where they sell for a sizable amount of money. I thought I'd just put some on my window sill. Soon I had another idea and put them on top of my kitchen cupboards. There they will stay!

All the different colors brighten up my home!

Most of these pieces sell for 99 cents to $2.99. I do not think I ever paid more than that for even one of them. What a bargain when you see the color of each one come alive in your home! I have to live with colorful items especially since I am usually here all day, by myself, except for Rabbit. Color makes me feel happy and maybe that is a bit of what color therapy is about. Whatever it is, it makes me smile when I look at my display of these beautiful pieces.

One of my favorites!

Some pieces are unique shapes. Maybe they are more familiar to you than to me. One of the members of my home decor group on Facebook, told me that some of these vases are for starting bulbs. I have not researched it or anything, but it makes sense. If any of them are valuable, I do not know. I just know they are pleasing to my eyes. When I am in the thrift store with Sonny, most times I go up to the counter to pay for my purchases and see his group of items will usually include a vase he has found for me too. We have fun shopping together! 

The bunny and big blue vase Sonny bought for me

These were just a few of my thrift store finds and I will be showing you more in future posts. You can decorate your home beautifully by shopping local thrift stores in your area. Brand new items are very expensive. Shopping this way you can do your whole room or house for a lot less. If you have an idea of what you are looking for, you will probably find it or something better. Happy shopping!

Copyright © 2019 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2019  Kathleen G. Lupole

Boho Chic Thrift Store Finds

A Local Thrift Store

One of my favorite activities is to go to my local thrift stores. Until recently, it was a very rare treat for me. When I had a vehicle to drive, it was something I did all the time. Since I moved to Norwich (NY), I am able to go more often. I love going there and finding exactly what I need for my new studio (apartment). I love vintage and I love things I grew up with. Since I am now in my 60's, that is going back a few. I joined two groups on Facebook that are about the Bohemian home decor, but I am not sure I am a perfect fit for those groups. My tastes vary from these groups. My studio is very small, about 335 square feet, but does not feel so small due to the very high ceiling.

I paid $17.00 for all of these!

When I shop at a thrift store, I seem to hone in on one category. So each time I go it is different. The first time I went I got things that I needed for the kitchen. These were all really good items and I have used all of them. I find it more fun to buy thrift store merchandise than brand new. But I buy new too, usually online at eBay or Amazon. Everything I bought was things I needed and had on my list. I use them almost daily. I especially love my little creamer! I think I paid less than two dollars for it.

Another thrift store haul!

I wanted to get some baskets for my plants. All my plants have some special meaning. So I wanted them to be pleasant to look at and live with. The thrift store had a large assortment and it was difficult to choose. I did not buy any that was over $2.99. Some people paint the plain ones and that would be fun. At this moment in my life, I have no time to do that, until I finish my moving process. Maybe I will in the future. I could see the plain colored ones having a new life as bright, colorful and eye catching. If you know me, you would know that I am a person who loves colors. I want to put sparkle into that whole window shelf.

My favorite color!

This particular thrift store has a room devoted to baskets and tins and I adore both! It was hard for me not to buy every single one that caught my eye. At my house, where I lived in the middle of the forest, I foraged for medicinal plants and harvested them every year. So once they were dried, I stored them in various tins. Now I really don't have anything in particular to store in them. This lavender one though, really caught my eye! For now it is just a decoration. I never know, as I still may store some herbal dried plants as they have always been a part of my herbal medicine chest.

I loved this basket and it is perfect for my African Violet!

In my studio, I have a long window ledge that is wide and brightly lit by the sun. I am now able to concentrate growing beautiful house plants again. I plan on working on my plants and hopefully get them healthy again soon. Four of my plants were started by my father, who passed away in 2012 at age 93. He truly had a green thumb, growing both indoor and outdoor plants. One plant came from my mother-in-law's hospital room the day she died, a peace plant sent by my church. The last one is from my last job, which I took a slip from a coworker's plant, and that was in 2001. I just can't believe my good fortune to get an apartment that has such awesome windows and a ledge large enough to hold many planters, large and small.

A beautiful white metal basket that I could not pass by!

My apartment ends up being a bit of this and that. Some old, some new. I decided the decor style of my taste is Boho Chic. A blog I went to said if you embraced boho, eclectic deco with vintage pieces and a modern twist means that your style is Boho Chic. I think that description fits me. I have many vintage pieces that came from my childhood. Pieces my mother made in ceramics or crocheted. Seashells collected from a beach I grew up on in the sixties. Some items crocheted by my aunt, needlepoint pictures made my first mother-in-law who passed away in 1985 from Cancer, gifts from various family members and friends over the years. My doll collection is from the fifties when I received a doll every year for Christmas. The vanity I use today was one I received as my birthday gift from my parents the year I turned 13, bought in a second hand store in Florida. Everything has meaning for me.

The sign above my plants!

Yes, all my home decor items are items I truly love and do not want to part with. I have a small space and budget to work with. As long as I can look around my home and smile and feel happy and contented with my life here, then I feel that I have done a good job designing it. It will never be finished though. Your home should be an ongoing project, same as your life.

Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole