Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Thrift Store

About five miles from my house, in pretty much the middle of nowhere but at a crossroads, sits a store.  You really wouldn't know what it was if you were just driving by.  The sign says 'Trading Post' but not much else.  I think if you look closer is says something about the charity it works for.  We were here for several months before we knew what it was, even though I stop at the gas station next store every other week or so for coffee.

You walk in and it still doesn't look like much.  A counter sits to one side.  A diner-like booth sits on the other.  In the middle are display cases and shelves filled with china and porcelain and jewelry.  There are a few art pieces ringing the room near the ceiling.  And there's a opening into a hall where you can see some more art on the walls.

It's not until you walk down the hall that you begin to see this place is filled with friggin' everything.  Turn to the right and you're in a folksy room with craft and native American pieces.  Stay straight through there and you end up walking down into a huge space filled with clothing and holiday stuff.  Get to the back of that and walk up a ramp and you're in bargain shopper Nirvana.

Five rows of shelving stacked all the way to the high ceiling.  Furniture, sporting equipment, records, bathroom fixtures, lighting, handmade wood stuff, pianos... Every Thing.  If you wander back out to the craft room again and hang a right, you're in the homegoods area where everything that wasn't in the other areas is.  Including books, btw.

I've been in there many times.  I now own a lot of decor from within its walls.  My pink reading chair, the coffee table in our sun room, pictures and prints of every size.  (And books, of course.)  I usually wander through looking at this and that, waiting for the right pieces to catch my eye.  Yesterday, I took my time.  I tried to not miss anything.  I went in with a goal in mind - specifically to find something I could repurpose into a medicine cabinet for my bathroom*.  I left with several items I didn't even imagine buying. 

Like my early birthday present to myself... an old manual typewriter that weighs a ton, but looks so awesome in my office.  It's a Royal and near as I can figure it's from the '30s or 40s.

Or the foot square slab of marble**.  I've been looking for a stepping stone to place outside our crawlspace door in the pea gravel border I'm creating.  It's perfect.

And the pretty little print of some birds on a lilac bush.  The unframed print was 25 cents.  I found a great frame with no glass for 50 cents  and a crappy frame with great glass for 75 cents.

Lastly, I found this great little footstool to fit in front of my pink reading chair.  It's a low stool and upholstered in leather.  Not quite my style, but I'm planning on reupholstering the chair and when I do, the stool will get a makeover to match.

I walked out of the thrift store $21.50 lighter.  And the ranch for urban youths got $21.50 fatter.  Plus I got some awesome stuff.  Since they have an awesome turnover rate for their donations, I wonder what things I'll find the next time I go in.

What about you?  Do you do thrift stores?  Yard sales?  Do you enjoy pilfering through other people's items to find the perfect treasure for yourself, or do you think it's just other people's trash?

*Haven't found the medicine cabinet yet, but I'm not giving up.  ;o)

** Upon further reflection, we think the slab is actually granite.  Either way, it's pretty cool stuff for not much more than Walmart would charge me for concrete.

7 comments:

  1. Oooh, I love the typewriter - how perfect for you and your office! That was a find and a half! And a slab of marble? Not to mention all the other stuff for a little more than a 20 dollar bill? Wow - wish I were closer. I love thrift shops, antique stores and garage sales - totally believe the saying, "One man's trash..." Spring has finally sprung up here and with that comes garage sales - maybe I'll put that on my weekend agenda :)

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    1. Thanks, Janet! You know, I'm almost as jazzed about the deal I made as the stuff I bought. Oh, and Hubs and I were talking before, and the slab is probably granite, but still...

      I wish you were closer, too. This area is lousy with antique shops and thrift stores and treasure troves of junk to pilfer through. Ooo, garage saling! I haven't done that in years. Maybe once we get through with the projects, I'll ditch Hubs (he hates garage sales) and go see what the locals have to sell.

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  2. What great finds!

    Last week I bought an old Scrabble game -- from the trademark I know it was manufactured between 1953 and 1970.

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  3. I used to love thrift stores, auctions, garage sales, estate sales, and antique stores. Then my house got full. And the garage. The attic. And a storage building. That we pay for. So no more shopping for me. LG and I are slowly sorting stuff out and sending it off to the local charity thrift store so we can empty the storage locker and stop paying for it!

    That said, AWESOME finds and since y'all downsized for the move, you get to shop all you want. Lucky you! ;)

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  4. What cool finds! You really got a bargain!

    I love the little thrift shop next to the used book store. We check it out every week when we go into town, and usually come home with something. Plus books, of course. :-)

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  5. I'm a huge garage sale hound and I've decorated my house with some elegant finds--most a dollar or less. Antique sideboards, tables, and desks were all picked up for a song too. Half the fun is refinishing them to their old glory.

    Like Silver, my house is full now. I mostly stop at 'barn sales' to pick up stuff for my little farm. But occasionally I see a piece that's perfect for my house. The thrill of the hunt is the draw for me.

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