Flea market, second-hand stores, and antique shops…a few of my favorite places to get my shop on, whether that’s for styling our home, clients’ homes or even my fashion wardrobe. We did an IGTV video today, walking you through one of our favorite antique shops in Elk River and the goodies we’re always on the hunt for. Plus, in the video, my shirt and earrings were both vintage finds!
The best thing about these stores is that you can discover unique and one-of-a-kind finds. Every piece has a story to tell and I bet most of your guests will ask you where you got that certain thing from.
More and more we’re seeing this shift of homeowners wanting new, but also want to incorporate old pieces into their home. They are wanting pieces that have character and are different than what you’d find in any home goods store.
So today, I wanted to chat through 7 essentials that we’re always on the hunt for at antique shops and how we’ve incorporated these essentials into our home.
1. Glasses, Plates, Bowls
The number one thing we always run to…the glasses and dishes section. These stores have endless designs, colors and styles for your home. And they are perfect for styling your open or floating shelving in your kitchen. And best of all, they are super affordable and practical.
Most of these dishes displayed in our bar area in our lower level all came from second-hand and vintage stores. We scored that green set, which included 8 tall glasses and 8 short glasses, for under $5 total.
Depending on the season and colors, I like to switch up the colors on display. For Christmas, we swapped out the dishes with red and now moving into spring and summer; we’re bringing out all the color and greens.
2. Furniture
For you DIYers, you’ll love finding furniture at second-hand stores that you can refurbish and make new such as nightstands, end tables, doors, and headboards. We scored these end tables at a second-hand store and spray painted them gray and the hardware metallic all for a whopping $5 for the both of them.
These vintage lamps were also more goodies we scored for styling a client’s home.
Another piece of furniture we scored at a flea market, which you can also always find at antique shops, are old wooden ladders. We love using these as blanket ladders in your living room or for towel holders in your bathroom.
3. Books
Books, another thing we typically never leave without when entering a second-hand or antique store. It’s so fun to use these for styling and they always have so many fun options of colors. Another good trick we’ve learned throughout the years is if the book has a plastic cover over it, take it off and see what’s under the cover. Most of the time, the book is a solid color. This is how we get a lot of our black and white books. Take the cover off and toss it.
4. Mirrors
Vintage mirrors are my favorite. You can now find this style in high-end retailers selling for thousands of dollars, and meanwhile, you can also find them in antique or second hand stores for under $100. All of the mirrors that we have in our home have all come from vintage finds and they all give that uniqueness and have a story to tell. And best of all, we have gotten them for a fraction of the cost, like this gold mirror sitting in our dining room that we scored for $30.
5. Fillers
Always have your eye out for little knick-knacks and fillers for styling your home. Although there are so many goodies in these stores, there are also a lot of interesting finds. You have to be on the lookout for just the perfect little thing that will enhance the rest of the style that you have going on in your home and not hinder it. Unique items such as this scale, vintage clocks, globes, vases, and plants.
We love terra-cotta pots and plants for fillers when styling shelves and we scored these at the Junk Bonanza flea market for styling our client’s bathroom.
6. Hardware
Hardware is another fun and unique find that you can score at these stores! We did these fun seahorses in Greyson’s bathroom in our last home and loved them. A subtle touch of fun for a kid’s room.
Anthropologie is one of our favorite stores for finding hardware and if you have the chance to come across some goodies at a vintage store or flea market, you can get them for a fraction of the cost and have a fun find story to tell.
This was a unique faucet we found and had in our old home too. I loved the character it brought to this home.
7. Frames
And lastly, frames! We have three different collages in our home, filled with vintage frames. In our dining room slowly but surely, we scored and added these gold frames.
For Greyson’s room, we found these at a second-hand store and spray painted them. Left some empty and filled some with his artwork.
And in our piano room, we created our family tree with these white vintage frames and added in our grandparents’, parents’, and siblings’ wedding photos.
And there you have it, the seven go-to pieces that we’re always on the hunt for when shopping second-hand or vintage stores. And if you’re interested, you can hop on over to our IGTV and watch our video walking you through a store.
