My top thrift shop finds this year

A few of my "found" decor pieces...Photos by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

I love shopping at thrift and consignment stores. I always find such interesting pieces with which to decorate. Using pre-owned pieces brings an element of surprise and interest to a space. A space filled with all brand new stuff lacks a sense of character, of past stories waiting to be told. And buying pre-owned, antique, or vintage pieces saves a whole lot of money! Sometimes it takes a bit of elbow grease to bring things back to life (as I found out with my thrift store lamps), but when you resurrect an old piece you give it a new lease on life and a chance to tell a new story. And did I mention it saves money?!

So far this year I have collected soooo many decor items from my local consignment and thrift shops, and I am just dying to share them with you! I’ll break them down by room, to make it easier for me to keep them straight…

Repurposed/upcycled items in my dining room

First of all, shout out to Consign & Design in Broomall! My lovely dining room set—a two leaf table with six chairs, a small chest of drawers, and a china cabinet—came from there. The whole set cost be around $700! You can’t beat that! Last year I bought a small side table and two side chairs from there, and I love them!
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My dining room table with 2 leaves and six chairs. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

My new china cabinet, with Di's Studio Designs merchandise displayed. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Chest of drawers sourced from a consignment shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

And while we’re in the dining room, I have to share these two lamps I bought from a Goodwill. They needed to be rewired (check out that how-to blog here) but now they look beautiful in my space. I think I paid $7 a piece for them, plus $17 each for lamp kits to rewire them. And one lamp needed a lamp shade, which cost me $60 (Sheesh! Lamp shades are not cheap!), but I still made out well in terms of overall cost.
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Thrifted lamp, rewired and used in my dining room. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

A second thrifted lamp used in my dining room. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

A couple other pieces are a mirror (the frame will be painted to match the room in a future DIY project), a pair of brass candle sticks (that look lovely on my dining room table), and this intriguing goblet from Germany that someone used as a candleholder and now the bottom is cracked. It doesn’t bother me because it tells a story. At least I like it! All together I think these pieces cost me maybe $20.
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Mirror I found at a local thrift shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Aged gold candlesticks from a thrift shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

An interesting goblet found at a thrift shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

If you would like to see my finished dining room, migrate on over to my blog post My Dining Room Redesigned as a Multifunctional Space (after you finish reading THIS blog that is!). Everything came together in such a beautiful way…I’m over the moon!


Repurposed/upcycled items in my living room

Moving on to my living room, the vase seen below adds the perfect touch for the faux floral arrangement this vignette. I think I paid $3 or $4 for it, and it just fits in so well with the rest of my decor.

Vase found at a thrift shop, shown with my handcrafted Fairy Cottage designed by Di's Studio Designs. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

And look at the table and chairs I bought from Consign & Design last year…(This was a “last year” purchase, but I snuck in a couple bonus pieces for you! A living room redesign is coming soon, so you’ll be hearing more about these pieces in that blog post.)
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Side chairs and small round table found at a local consignment shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Repurposed/upcycled items in my kitchen

And here we are in my kitchen. My kitchen counter needed some real love (and a good clean), so I picked up several pieces from local thrift and consignment stores to help me declutter and add a bit of style to the space. 

On one counter I grouped a second hand decorative clock (see tutorial for changing the clock mechanism here), thrifted candleholders, and a bowl I had in my cabinet that I am using for fruit. I also repurposed an old sewing box for my hubby’s “work junk” (keys, paperwork, change) to keep my counter free from clutter.

​(Check out my Instagram video here to see the finished space!)

Thrift shop finds, including a clock and candlesticks, in my new countertop vignette. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Sewing box from a thrift shop. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

On the other counter I created a coffee bar with an old jewelry tray I had gotten years back from a place I worked. In the tray I displayed the wine box with some of my wine glasses, a decorative plaque, a vase I already had filled with faux florals, a ceramic leaf from a local store, and three copper canisters I had hidden away in the basement.
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Repurposed and refinished tray with thrift shop finds and decor items shopped from my own home to make a coffee bar. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

And…finally…on my kitchen island I placed a second hand wire basket ($1.99 at Goodwill) that I filled with filler (for now) until I find something better to put inside.
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Metal basket found at a thrift store. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

I honestly can’t remember exactly how much all of the “new” second hand pieces cost me, but most of them were part of one haul from a local Goodwill where I only spent about $24! 

So those are my thrift and consignment store finds so far this year. I just wish there were more stores near me that sell consignment items. Or maybe it’s a good thing there aren’t…The idea is to SAVE money, right? I’ll be doing more projects as I move through my house room by room, and I’m sure I’ll write a blog post about it, so stayed tuned for more material coming soon.

If you’d like to stay informed of my latest blog posts, social media events, merchandise sales, or other interesting activities I might get up to, you can sign up here for my monthly newsletters (coming soon). 

And please feel free to comment below if you love thrift shopping! (Just fro fun, tell us about your favorite thrift store find and how you used it in your space.)


This blog post is not sponsored by any company mentioned, and I am not receiving financial compensation for the mentions.
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Related blog posts you may want to read:
My dining room redesigned as a multi-function space
How to replace a clock mechanism
How to frame small canvas art
How to rewire thrift buy lamps
​Creating a kitchen coffee bar
Comparing DIY upholstery cleaning methods