loving my thrift stores

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I have mentioned that I'm loving being so close to thrift stores. I've been shopping through them regularly, and I've been shopping garage sales ocassionally, too.

Here are some things I've found:

Two coffee tables.  Both would need work to get them presentable and proper in a well decorated house, but since we've already established my house is NOT well decorated, I'm not going to care about that.

The first is a lovely oval table - hard wood, cherry finish, with drop leaf sides. Since the top is already banged up, we're using it as a kids' work table. It's perfect, because it gives them plenty of space to work, and it's the right height for them to sit at with kid chairs. (Some day, I want to reupholster those chairs, since the kids are already beating through the vinyl.  Something colorful, don't you think?)

The second is a hard wood craftsman/mission style table, probably from some mass market seller.  Our dining table is pretty similar.  The screws have been stripped out where the legs join the top, and the bottom shelf needs some cosmetic work, but it will become a nice table for our family room.

I found a bunch of paper lanterns. I've been wanting to get some, but when they cost a dollar or two each, and I'm not totally sure of the colors and sizes I want, I just kept putting it off.  Good thing! I found a box of a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors for just $5. Score! I've already hung some up in the kid's room.  Now I need to acquire the light fixtures to go in them, and I'll have some fun lighting for their room.

One of my favorite finds recently was a Bissel little green machine.  Typically, those retail for around $80.  I picked mine up for $10.  It works great!

When thrifting/garage saling, I keep a list on hand of the things I'm looking for.  Sometimes I note the top price I'd pay, or the expected retail price so I can judge if I think something is a good deal.  Having a list also helps to keep me from buying too much off-list stuff, or in the case of kids clothes, buying more of what I already have.