ToT: To thrift or not to thrift?

TOPIC:
Thrifting-do you do it?  Why or why not?  Do you go to thrifting stores like Goodwill/Salvation Army or second-hand stores like Once Upon a Child/Kid's Kloset?  Do you use Craigslist to do your thrifting?  Are you a yard sale-er?

When I read this topic, 2 words come to mind:  INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!!!

It is no secret that I love a good project.  I am schooled in power tools.  I can paint with the best of them.  I can finish dry wall like no other girl I know.  And I LOVE to refinish and repurpose furniture.

My favorite thing to thrift is furniture.  At this point in my life, I see absolutely NO reason to pay good money for any new furniture that doesn't have fabric on it.  If it's a couch, just go buy a new couch.  You never know what sort of filth or funk has soaked into those cushions and that fabric.  If it's a mattress, DO NOT, I repeat...DO NOT BUY A USED MATTRESS.  New is the ONLY way to go in these days of dust mites and bed bugs and such.  But if it's a dresser, a shelf, a table, a chair...ANYTHING without cushions or fabric (and even sometimes fabric if it's able to be reupholstered)...don't buy it new.  You're wasting good money that could be spent on beer.  Or toys.  Or vacations.  Whatever makes your skirt fly up.

I also love a good bargain and a solid piece of furniture.  Once you find a piece of furniture made of ACTUAL wood or a good quality, heavy laminate piece, the possibilities are endless.  But the bones have to be there.  Once you start cutting or deconstructing or adding things like shelves, if you've started out with a piece of junk...you'll most likely end up with a...wait for it...piece of junk.

Lots of good bargains don't come from your normal thrift stores..they come from individual sellers on Craigslist or at yard sales.  I absolutely LOVE the idea behind Goodwill and Salvation Army, but I generally use those places for things that aren't furniture.  I find that they price their furniture too high or they sell things that are beyond repair.  I do still frequent both of those places.  I buy things like glass jars/vases, knick knacks to spray paint, and picture frames.  These are things that you can get for pennies on the dollar compared to a retail store and they'll be just as awesome and fancy after you get your hands on them and wash/clean/paint/etc. them.

When Jayna was small, I used Kid's Kloset a LOT for toys.  Look y'all...kids change their interests in the blink of an eye.  If you're buying everything brand new for a one-year-old, I'll say it again:  You COULD be saving money to go on a cruise.  Pennies on the dollar, folks.  Do the math. 

As far as Once Upon a Child goes...I HATE THAT STORE.  If they could find a way to make it NOT smell like pee in there, I'd probably go more often.  That being said, I do go there on occasion.  Most of Jayna's leos for tumbling have come from there.  A few toys have come from there.  I understand that they are in business to make money, but if I can go buy it brand new for only 5 dollars more...WHY would I buy it used?  I know, I know...to keep things out of landfills and such.  I understand and I do support that agenda.  And I buy many many things used.  But Once Upon a Child should probably come up with a better pricing system.

I've also resold many, many of Jayna's old toys, clothes and gear on Craigslist.  I do NOT use the resale stores for this as I can usually sell it to an individual for more money on my end and less money on the buyer's end.  I've probably made back (just on the things I've sold) a third of what was spent.  I sold her high chair, her pack and play, her stroller/car seat, hundreds of dollars of toys and many of her clothes.  And all at way more reasonable prices and better quality/cleanliness than Once Upon a Child.

Yard sales.  Oh...yard sales.  I sure wish I had the patience for yard sales.  There's something about getting up on a Saturday morning for the sole purpose of driving around looking for yards to buy things from.  It's just not my thing.  You know what else is not my thing?  HAVING a yard sale.  I just don't do it.  If a friend or family member has a yard sale and offers to let me put things in it, I'll do it.  But I haven't the time nor the patience to host a yard sale.  The end.

If I drive by a yard sale and see furniture, I'm apt to stop and take a look.  Bartering over prices with yard sale people is way easier than at the Goodwill.  I can usually get a better deal there than at the actual stores.

One of my main sources of thrifting is my family/friends.  Most of them know that if they are getting rid of something that is furniture or close to furniture, they should let me know first.  I've gotten and repurposed/refinished many things like this.  I still count it as thrifting because 1.  it is something someone else didn't want/had no use for. And 2. I am more than happy to pay a fair price for the things I receive from my family and friends.

Overall, my favorite thing to thrift is furniture.  Clothes?  Notsomuch.  Not because I think there is anything wrong with that.  Mostly because I don't have the patience for it.  I do try and buy things used as much as I can.  But sometimes it just isn't feasible.

Here are a few of the things I've thrifted:

Our bathroom at work used to be a closet.  This means we have limited space in there for storage.  This media shelf was 8 bucks at Goodwill.  Two coats of paint and an hour later, we have the perfect sized storage shelf. 

I bought this owl at goodwill for 50 cents.  I spray painted it high gloss white and VOILA!!  A cute decoration for work.

When Chris and I lived in Bloomington, someone we worked with was going to throw away this piano.  It used to be that glorious old schoolhouse yellow fake wood color.  A couple of coats of paint and a reupholstered bench later, we have a nice looking and perfectly suitable piano. (Since we are moving soon, our dining room has become the catch-all.  Sorry for the mess back there. :))

This used to be a dresser.  Goodwill for around 30 bucks.  This piece took a little more time and money because we converted it to a nice looking media/computer cabinet.  The drawer in the top middle pulls out and flips down for a keyboard shelf, the knobs in the middle (where 2 drawers used to be) open up to be a pull-out shelf with our printer on it.  There is also a shelf in there with the Bluray on it.  The side cabinets and additional drawers house our external computer equipment, printer paper, etc.  In all, about 60 bucks.  A little expensive, but it's EXACTLY what I wanted for this purpose.  We have a normal looking wood and metal corner computer desk that cost us over 100 bucks about 5 years ago.  We swapped that out for this and love it!

When this came to my house, it was covered in years of '60s and '70s colors of paint...like sea foam green.  Several hours of paint stripping later, we revealed this beautiful wood!!  We then watered down some left over cream colored paint and gave it a nice wash.  A couple of coats of poly later, we have a perfectly functional and very HEAVY and well built dresser and mirror.

This chair was destined for the trash.  A can of spray primer and a can of watermelon spray paint and now Jayna has a chair for her desk.  It cost me $5.50 for the spray paint and about an hour's worth of work.  It's a solid piece of furniture for hardly no money.

I work for a place that has TONS of pallets.  With a saw and some patience, we cut these pallets into thirds, sanded the HELL out of them, reinforced them with screws, painted them with leftover paint and hung 'em on Jayna's wall.  Tada!!  Book shelves/cases that don't take up floor space in her already crowded room.  And they were free!!  I love the shabby, used look of old wood, so this was perfect.  Even if she doesn't use them later in life, I'll repurpose them somewhere else in our house.

This is from a yard sale.  Only 5 bucks.  It used to have a slanted pull down door on the top section and a door to cover the bottom 2 shelves.  I don't know what most people call these...maybe a potato and onion bin?  Or something?  I took the doors off, primed and painted bright red, and now Jayna has storage for her electronics and a few other toys.

I haven't gotten to this yet.  It's been in my garage since probably July.  This was also something that was destined for the trash.  The furniture itself is beautiful...just with an ugly finish.  This piece has 4 drawers as you can see and a hutch type of shelf thingy on top.  It will be perfect for a master bathroom to house extra towels and things.  Or maybe for actual clothes.  I haven't decided yet.

The second piece that is still unfinished.  This one is a lingerie chest.  It's as tall as me and a wonderful piece of furniture.  I haven't decided how to refinish yet.  Paint, of course, but a classic white or a cool gray or a bright turquoise?  Hmm...

 

Do you thrift?  Why or why not?  And be sure to check out the other ToT ladies in the sidebar to the right!! You'll be glad you did!