Everybody loves a deal.
As a retired senior, I have recently earned a Black Belt in bargain shopping so this post is going to be photo heavy. Grab a glass of wine or a cup of tea/ coffee and enjoy!
*NOTE:
1- CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT
2- Any prices mentioned are in Canadian dollars and most were after senior discounts were applied.
OUR THRIFT SHOP HOME
My husband and I are recently retired and bought a smaller place to live. Downsizing entails deciding what you're going to sell, keep in storage, or use for daily life. In my case, being a bit of a hoarder brought challenges.
I wanted to mention briefly that back In the day, thrift shopping was considered the domain for those who were needy and for the poor. That is not the case anymore. Anybody from ANY economic background thrift shops. There are those that need the break, and there are those who shop for treasures and there are those that do both. Isn't it just common sense to get a bargain if you can find it? There is no shame or no stigma, in fact, it's just the opposite!
I will share some photos of a few rooms in our new digs. I would say 70% of the things you see are bought VERY inexpensively from Goodwill (GW), Value Village (VV), Habitat for Humanity (HH) or garage sales (GS). All but 2 of the pictures are thrifted etc... and are original oils and most are signed.
Oh! And if you take advantage of Senior's Day Discounts Days like I do, you can get an additional 15% to 30% off.
😊 Welcome...
OUR LIVING ROOM
I must have ADHD because I enjoy the constant distraction of beautiful or interesting things. So say my children. *grin* However everyone seems to love looking around.. or at least pretend to... so it's all good.
Thrift store finds in this photo are the cast iron, candelabra and round candles, some of the books and whole of the bookends and knick knacks. You will see an Alexa speaker and that is obviously new. The little mouse in the wall sticker is from Temu and just a couple of dollars.
The first two pictures are actually tapestries (embroidered cloth squares) meant for pillow covers that I found at a small vendor's stall on a street in Paris back in 1989 or so. There was a tall pile of them and I chose two Parisien landscapes for just a few dollars each and then had them properly matted and framed when I got home. I had never been overseas before so they represent and trigger great memories!
The other two pictures are GW and GS finds that cost me $5 and $10 respectively.
The $5 landscape on top has been valued at $600 by a retired antique road shows expert. (How I happened to be able to get that valuation AT MY HOUSE is another story to be told in another post...!)
In this picture, the thrift store finds are: the table, fake plant and vines, the landscape above the plant and the two vintage oils to the right of it; the candles and cranberry holders on the fireplace and the metal airplane music box; the fake tree and the pillows on the chair; the little wooden high chair for dolls (I use the little chair to gett my Wi-Fi box off the floor). The German stein on the ground beside the fireplace is a GS find for $10. The ceramic fish and holder are from a trip to Mexico many moons ago and the sweet little Hummel birds are a tree that got for myself decades ago from eBay for only 15$.
This heavy candy apple red, glass decanter made in Spain was a no-brainer buy for me at GW because the color just killed me! ❤️ It's impractical, of course because it's so darn heavy, but it makes a pretty centerpiece on the living room table... Especially when the sun comes in and hits it directly! I did pay $8 for it.
This beautiful German armoire was brought home to Canada by my German husband, and it's been with us a million years. The beautiful wooden root men were carved by an elderly gentleman from Germany who was a very close and dear friend. Again, all the pictures are original oils and were found at thrift stores as were the wooden chickens on top of it. The bookends, books and green plant were also GW, VV finds. I got the brass floor vase at a GS for a dollar!
*the couch was handed down to us by one of our daughters (We have 3 daughters and 2 sons, and 7 grandchildren... so far!)
The rolltop desk was a great find at HH for $75, and the beautiful wooden chair that happened to match was bought there is well, for $20, but at a different time! The quaint book lamp and Mother Statues as well as the little iron sparrow by the clock were also thrift store finds... but not the clock.
The beautiful winter landscape and original is the other painting we have valued by the Antique Road Show expert. We paid $16 for it at VV and he said to insure it for $450.
The black ottoman with the two black chairs in front of it were found at GW and HH and they are the little space set aside for two of our grandchildren who live just down the street and come visit often. They sit there and watch cartoons!
We don't have all the paintings we find valued professionally because it's just too expensive, but the two vintage oils desperately needed to be cleaned and appraised because they were just too cool...and dirty! We were told that they were fireplace paintings from around 1850, and they are not signed but still worth $250 apiece (we paid $20 each) as they still had their original frames, albeit chipped and damaged ones. Apparently in that era, middle class homes usually commissioned unknown artists to make two matching paintings to go on either side of their main fireplace. They were dark when we bought them because of the soot.
This special wee man is our wooden butler dubbed Willis, and I got him, oddly enough, at an appliance store while on holiday. I walked past the window and saw him and fell in love. He is one of my more extravagant pieces at $400...even on sale! I justified this indulgence by reminding my husband of all the money I saved over the years is my bargain hunting!
The front part opens up and has three compartments to place small books or DVDs etc. I've had him for almost 40 years!
The large painting by the fireplace was a terrific find at a local HH. I have no idea what it's worth, but I got it for $10! I have returned to look for other paintings and saw smaller ones priced far higher, so I assume it was mispriced. I just got lucky.
You can see the burgundy metal biplane on the mantel in this picture. If you wind up the propeller it plays the theme to Love Story! It cost me 4$.
(I collect music boxes and have so many interesting ones...but again, that's a whole other post!)
This is the bookcase and our living room that my husband built. When we downsized we got rid of about 500 books and these are the remaining 800+. I would say a good 80% of them are from thrift stores.
We've read approximately 65% of them, so far...
The matching blue chairs we got from HH for $100 each. That's pretty expensive in my eyes but considering how much they were worth, we bit the bullet and got them because they're so comfy to read in! They were our indulgent anniversary presents to each other 💞!
All of the bookends (and the 2 pillows) are thrifted.
Again, all of these vintage books are thrift store finds. So are the knick knacks, table runner and the sweet, collectible Wizard of Oz Musical Christmas ornament that had the original movie voices of Judy Garland and the singers! It cost only me $2, from GW! They thought it was broken but it just needed a battery...
My beautiful mother at age 16 in 1941, and the whimsical pewter frame from VV that holds her. The heavy wooden cannon bookends were a thrilling GW find as well! All the knick knacks and Hummel figures you see on the bookshelf are thrift store or GS purchases, but the tiny iron you see with a wooden handle was something I found in the back alley when I was 7 years old. I think it must have been a functional iron because it is well made and very heavy. It's a memory kickstarter!
These 'terracotta' like figures are wonderful but they make my fingers black, so I try not to pick them up very often. They seem the perfect fit for my Shogun series book collection!
This sweet ceramic mother orca and baby are quite heavy and I got them at GW on Vancouver Island many years ago. They are a lovely reminder of the good times we had by the ocean...
I wanted a nice little container to hold my dozens of bookmarks that I've collected over the years, and that little wooden box I got for $3 at VV did the trick quite nicely!
I was very excited to find the metal whale bookends because I knew I had a vintage copy of Moby Dick and other whaling stories. They cost $10 at Sears when they had a going out of business sale, but everything else is thrifted.
Peeta guards my Hunger Game books and I found him for $3 at VV!
The Game of Thrones bookends, GoT pocket watch, the Queen and her corgi, were not thrift store finds. But everything else was.
I tried to match up the knick knacks in figures with the books they touch. This heavy little wooden lion was a great find but it had no teeth. I got some toothpicks and white nail polish and created some pretty dangerous chompers!
It was decades ago but I was very thrilled to find these metal Camelot Knights bookends! I'm still missing a sword but am perpetually on the hunt for one. As an aside, Jack Whyte is my favorite author and this collection of books are the Dream of Eagles Cycle. Absolutely marvelous historical fiction!
Obviously I am a massive Harry Potter fan and this is just a part of my collection. Everything but the two figurines of Harry and Snape, the tiny Hogwarts statue (as well as the Snape and Harry Voiced Christmas Ornament) are treasures found thrifting.
I was embarrassingly excited to find a box set of the The Lord of the Rings statues called The Argonath. (They represent Isildur and Anarion, the first two Kings of Gondor). They hold fast my old copy of Tolkien's legendary tales! The precious 'golden' Ring That Rules Them All was bought on Temu for a few dollars!
The Tri-Wizard cup that lights up blue was an especially terrific find. I think I paid $12 for it. Apparently they're worth about $100? The little pewter pieces from HP lore are from an old Harry Potter SceneIt game I found at VV. The game was useless but the heavy little playing pieces were worth the few dollars I spent.
Everything in this photo are thrifted as well except for the photo picture book and the large Norman Rockwell book covered with a vintage table 'doily'. (*the little cedar tree was hand-made from a well known professional chainsaw carver named Ryan Cook when I met him when he stayed at a motel I managed. He made it special for me as thanks for a great stay!❤️)
You can't tell from the picture but the transparent vintage cloth is extremely shimmery and very delicate. Tons of little bead work. Very charming indeed, and I didn't know where to put it so it became a book protector of sorts! I believe that I got it in a box of old scarves that was a giveaway for 50 cents.
The ceramic type scribe with the googly eyes cost $9 but is NOT a hit in my house. I'm the only one that likes it! That's why it's under my desk...🫤
And finally, this is a little statue of my 19-year-old hand. Believe it or not, it has miraculously survived over 40 years worth of moves to various houses and cities! I was a dental assistant in my small hometown and one day we girls were bored and I made an alginate impression of my hand with dental material and then the powdered 'stone' we mixed to make impressions of your teeth for dental crowns and dentures etc...
I poured this into the impression and voila! My youth and my attitude preserved for eternity! My youngest daughter said she wants me to leave it to her in my Will...ha!!
OUR KITCHEN, ENTRANCE MUDROOM & HALLWAY
We named the whale Herman. Herman is heavy.
The steering wheel was a gift from my wonderful brother Bob who passed away 2 years ago this upcoming October. The story behind it will remain a family secret...😆
*My brother was a Charismatic Pirate who was absolutely gorgeous and a rising hockey star before he was hit with Multiple Sclerosis. To read his extraordinary story please click this link: BETTER HANDS ON A SNAKE: A Brother Broken By Disease and The Sister Who Picked Up the Pieces.
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An original gouache painting by my middle daughter Chaelan!
All of these frames are from thrift stores! The top row of pencil drawn portraits are originals drawn by our middle daughter Chaelan as gifts to my husband as he is a classical music nut! Such a talent!
I would get curious if anybody knows anything about this charming picture I bought for $15 at VV years ago. It is a very delicate shell picture but I don't know anything about these type of creations...
This particular Ukrainian Easter egg was a gift from my dearly departed mother and I cherish it and it's me. I am Canadian but my heritage is Ukrainian. They are very expensive but I have seen them at thrift stores being snatched up very quickly!
MUDROOM
This gorgeous vintage mirror was a wonderful find and cost only $17. It was too big for my newly downsized bathroom so it fit very well enough in our mudroom!
A reminder that everything, except that which is specifically mentioned otherwise, was bought at thrift stores or garage sales!
OUR OLD BATHROOM
While renovating a bathroom wall about 3 years ago, I decided to try my hand at mosaic tiling and made this large orca, but had to leave it behind when we moved, which was heartbreaking... but thankfully I documented the process and you can see it if you click on this link: MOSAIC I bought loads of B/W and multi-colored tiles from the HH for incredibly cheap prices.
*HH has leftovers from contractors that donate them for charity. That's why this particular charity can list things so inexpensively. Another mosaic project was the first for our fireplace, and was actually the first time I ever tried making one. My orca was the second attempt! Click here if you want to see it: HEARTH MOSAIC
FOR FUN: a few extra thrift store finds for that I wanted to share ... just because 😁
I am extremely lucky finding beautiful jewelery pieces like these 925 Sterling silver sky blue topaz earrings. They cost me $12!
I collect beautiful music boxes and this is my latest acquisition for $7 from Goodwill!
I grew up in a card playing family so when I found this old $2 crib board at GW, it was celebrated with a quick game in which my daughter not only beat me, but she skunked me as well. I'm starting to think this board is possessed...!🤨
My daughter has a teacup collection so I got these for her for Christmas from VV at $5 each! She loved them!
This crystal-cut glass Simon's Design paperweight cupcake is just too bloody cute... And only cost me a few dollars at GW!
I had never heard of the brand Silpada before but apparently these pretty earrings are from them. They were $12!
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Happy Hunting!
Cheers from an Old Canadian Miser! 👋🏻🇨🇦
