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If you are furnishing a home, decorating with second-hand furniture is a great way to save money. In my home, the majority of the furnishings were purchased second-hand and then given a makeover to help them match my style. Besides the cost savings, another benefit of buying used furniture is that it’s sustainable and good for the environment. You aren’t contributing to the production of something new and you are often saving something from ending up in the landfill.
In this blog post, I’ll explore the best places to buy second-hand furniture, some tips for making it suite your style, and how to style it. I hope you’ll follow along and get some inspiration for your own home!
If you are decorating with second-hand furniture, the first question you may ask is where to source it from. Here are a few of the best places to buy second-hand furniture for your home!
Thrift stores are a great place to buy second-hand furniture for a good price. Depending on the store, you may find that the selection of furniture can vary. Do a Google search to find thrift stores local to you and plan a day trip to cover each store if you are looking for some pieces for your home.
Furniture consignment stores usually have a big selection of high-quality, second-hand furniture, but they are often pricier than thrift stores. They are worth checking out if you are on the hunt for something specific! Just keep in mind that they are not the cheapest option.
The most common place that I have sourced vintage furniture from is Facebook Marketplace. Almost all of my furniture is from there! If you are looking for something specific, the trick is to check Marketplace a few times daily so that if something good pops up, you can jump on it. I’ve even scored some pieces for free, including the dresser in my bedroom.
Depending on the condition of your second-hand finds, you may need to give your pieces a makeover. If your piece is in good enough condition and made of solid wood, you have the option of sanding down the finish and staining it. For pieces with lots of damage, you may need to repair the damage and then cover it with a coat of paint. You can also paint if you prefer the look of a solid color to finished wood.
Examine the state of your furniture. If there is cracked veneer or water damage, you may need to repair with Bondo or wood putty. When I have to do this kind of repair, I usually opt to paint the furniture to cover the damage. When the furniture is in good repair, I’ll often choose to sand down the existing finish and stain it. You can also combine the two: leave the fronts of the drawers or the top surface of the piece with a wood finish and paint the rest.
When painting a piece of furniture, I use cabinet paint from Home Depot. Cabinet paint is built to withstand lots of rough use, and will usually resist chipping.
I used this vintage desk as a vanity for a while, and then I made it over for my mom as a Christmas gift. I used a combination of paint and wood stain to create a stunning finish.
This vintage vanity was something I inherited from my late grandmother. I would have loved to keep this in it’s original wood stain, but there was a lot of water damage and I needed to cover my repairs with paint. I love how this vintage vanity makeover turned out!
This gorgeous buffet is my favorite furniture makeover because I love French provincial style. I also love that this was paint in my favorite shade of blue, edged with some white paint for dimension and interest. I also painted the hardware white to complete the look.
This pink piece of furniture started as a simple brown buffet table. I painted it pink and had my dad built a custom hutch to put on top. This gave me some important storage and display space in my small kitchen. I love how it turned out! When you need extra storage or even a place to display pretty things, consider adding a hutch to an existing piece of furniture. The pink paint made everything appear more cohesive.
Once you’ve acquired the furnishings for your home and given them a makeover, you’ll want to do the part that I find most exciting: style them with your favorite smaller pieces of décor. Here are some simple tips and inspiration to help you get started!
When styling second-hand furniture, you can really mix styles and use vintage or newer décor. But something to keep in mind is the style and time period of the furniture. If you are styling a French provincial piece, keep this in mind and mix in a few vintage French style pieces (such as French figurine lamps) along with any newer items. This pays homage to the furniture’s origins and will help tie it into your space. If the piece is more of an antique, find some antique pieces from that time period to include in your décor.
To keep your home from looking too antique, you can definitely add some newer pieces to style your vintage furniture. Consider putting modern hardware on your vintage buffet table, or adding a vintage lamp with a brand-new modern shade (as I did with my French figurine lamps). The modern touch could also come from the colors you choose. In my home, I like to use mostly vintage and antique finds, but I let the color palette be very colorful and modern.
My favorite piece of furniture in my home is this turquoise French provincial buffet table. I styled this piece in a variety of ways to help get your inspired to style your own buffet table.
Another great piece of furniture in my home is this little secretary desk. Learn how to style a secretary desk with my recent blog post.
How do you decorate your home with second-hand furniture? What is your favorite second-hand piece that you own? Let me know in the comments!
Lauren Magazine is an online lifestyle magazine for Christian women.
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