Having a good old route around a thrift store can be lots of fun, even if you don’t know what you are looking for.  The thrill of a super cool bargain, finding something you have been wanting for ages but couldn’t bring yourself to pay out for, or even spotting a precious antique for a dollar all add to the thrift store experience.

In our culture of consumerism, we are encouraged to buy more and more, replacing this and that with the latest version when the previous version was just fine. It’s easy to forget what goes into making all that stuff—factories, precious resources, transport mileage, etc.

Because many people have a tendency to throw things out long before they are used up, we can find things that are still in great shape at secondhand stores.

Whether thrifting for fiscal reasons or just trying to help the planet a little by using up what is already out there before consuming more, here are a few items that are worth heading to the thrift store for before buying brand new.

1. Baskets

You will often find a whole shelf at the thrift store dedicated to bargain baskets. Have a look around the shelves for baskets that can be used as waste paper bins, laundry baskets, or receptacles for fruits and veggies.

You can line baskets with plastic and use them as planters for a rustic garden look. As well they can often be painted in fun colors or lined with decorative fabric to pretty them up. They can then be used as gift baskets on birthdays and holidays.

2. Picture Frames

Again, whole shelves are dedicated to discarded frames. Some might have been unwanted gifts, others surround ugly or outdated mass-produced art. Either way, those frames can be rescued and used for your own family snaps or upcycled onto something fun.

Look out for solid wooden or vintage and antique frames to add rustic or period charm to your home.  Simply remove whatever art or print came on the frame and replace it with something else.

3. Books

If you have the time and inclination to thumb through the rows and rows of books that can be found at just about any thrift store, you can find some real gems. You can pick up some secondhand bestsellers, find missing additions to almost finished collections that you have at home, and even come across some wild cards. At fifty cents or a dollar a go, picking up a dud isn’t the end of the world.

Secondhand stores are also great for finding vintage and collectible books. Look out for hard-covered antique books that can be used simply as decoration. A pile of antique books and a candlestick on a mantle can look pretty classy. Don’t overlook shabby books that have seen better days, as the pages can be used for all kinds of craft projects.

4. Holiday Decorations

Halloween hasn’t even happened, and the shelves start to fill with Christmas decorations. There isn’t a month that goes by without the stores trying to get us to decorate for something or other. Now, not to be a Scrooge here, there is nothing wrong at all with trimming the house in celebration of whatever it is you want to enjoy, but there is certainly no reason to be out spending a fortune on stuff to adorn your doors and mantlepieces.

Aside from making decorations yourself out of natural or recycled materials, you can also head out to the thrift stores come the holidays. Shelves are often packed with people’s perfectly good decorations. You can even find cool vintage pieces to add to your 70’s or midcentury modern Christmas if you are lucky. The great thing is that once the festival is over, you can Donate your items for someone else to enjoy another year.

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