Thrifting Advice: Tips and Tricks

So, everyone knows by now that Cason and I LOVE thrifting... and discovering new places that offer awesome products at SUPER cheap prices.

I'm gonna venture to say that I think Cason has become more into it than I have.

 lol...

It's the thrill of the hunt, and the amazing deals that keep you going back for more!

One of the MOST common questions I get asked is...

"I go thrifting and NEVER find anything!  How do you do it?  Where do you go?"

To be honest... I feel like this MOST of the time too!

I'm REALLY picky about what I actually will buy.

It has to be named brand, in almost PERFECT condition, or just SO cheap... that I feel GUILTY walking out the door with it. LOL.

Sometimes you hit the jackpot... and other times, you feel like driving from thrift store to thrift store was just a waste of gas!

Be patient... you WILL find something.  One of the cardinal rules with thrift stores, is checking back often!  The GOOD thrift finds will go fast!

I think that another big thing... is "seeing it".

What I mean by that is... if you can't imagine an ugly gold mirror, spray painted and hung up with all your other beautiful things... then you'll never buy it!

Most of the time you WILL have to re-purpose thrift store finds!  But look for quality, and the condition of items first.  THEN look at the details and potential of the product.

Can you paint it, add it to a display, just clean it up, take something away?

Those are the questions that I have to ask myself, when I'm eying something that I think has potential to come home with me. :)

Okay... enough of that.  Moving on.

Here's the BIG question of the day.

Who knows what the NPS store is?

anyone?  anyone?

OH-MY-GOSH!

Okay... well I didn't either!  Cason came home yesterday and said...

"Shelley!!  There was this lady who came into my work today, who had these damask pillows, and I knew you would love them, so I asked her where she got them, and she told me about his place called NPS!  It's like 5 minutes from our house!  Get the girls' shoes on and get in the car!  They close at 7!!!"

LOL...

First of all... can I just say that there are not a lot of husbands who would actually encourage their wives (with no money) to shop... let ALONE know what the HECK damask even MEANS! LOL.

honestly. just love him.

So anyway... we headed over to the NPS store and I was SO excited!  There are seconds/scratch and dent/surplus of pretty much EVERYTHING you can think of!

There is a warehouse for hardware type products, and then one across the street for home goods and grocery.

This place is a MUST see, if you are in the Salt Lake area (by the airport)

The NPS Store 1600 South Empire Road Salt Lake City, UT 84104 (801) 972-4133

Monday - Friday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Saturday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

This is what I scored.

Small light green Pottery Barn shade (in perfect condition)

Decorative number 5 (for a project I'm working on)

Martha Stewart butterfly punch (works great!)

Green Damask Sunset Bay Decorative Pillow

Green Toile and ticking pillow (that TOTALLY matches my bedding!!!)

can you believe it!  It's the exact match of the green ticking pillows I have already! eeek!

These were actually found at Joann's Fabric and Craft.

They have all their wood trim on clearance for a little over a $1.50 each!

I'm working on a project that these are PERFECT for!

I cleared them out of THIS kind of trim, at my store, but they had LOTS left in all different kinds of cool styles!

whoops, how'd this get in here? :)

I decided to get to work and put one of my thrift finds to use, right away!

I had this lamp that I bought about 2 years ago that sits on our dresser in the Master bedroom.

I bought it because I LOVED the base, but not the shade so much.

So I took some Heirloom White spray paint to it, rubbed it a bit with some sandpaper, to reveal some of the dark underneath... replaced the shade with the Pottery Barn one... and

Ta-da!

Brand new lamp!

See!  So easy!  Anyone can do that! :)

I think that sometimes it helps to have a list of things you are looking for, when going thrifting.

That way you can REALLY keep your eye out, and not get sidetracked by all the "treasures" to sift through.

Make sure that most of the stuff you buy, when thrifting, can serve a purpose, or be a project that you will start sooner than later... so it doesn't just wind up sitting in your garage for 8 months, taking up space, because it was "so cheap."

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(what?  Why are you looking at me like that?  I don't do that!... ever!) lol

Happy Thrifting, Ladies! :)