I love thrift stores. This is no big secret. But one thing you might not know is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking for old wooden furniture when I go to thrift stores. I’d take a quality piece of old furniture over something new any day! The furniture section is one of my favorites because you never know what gems you’ll find but you don’t have to spend hours digging to find them. They’re right there in all their large wooden glory. Here are a few reasons I think old wooden furniture is the bomb dot com.
- You’ll save some serious dough. If you walk into a traditional furniture store looking to buy a solid wood bed set, you will most likely have to cough up thousands if you want a quality set. When I went to furnish our home back East, I did so almost exclusively through thrift store purchases and spend a tiny fraction of that price for some awesome furniture.
- That saying “they don’t make ’em like they used too” is soo true when it comes to furniture! Some of the items I’ve found are so solidly built that even though they are 50 years old, they are much better quality than some of the newer stuff in my house. Sure sometimes it’ll take a little refinishing to breathe new life into them, but a little elbow grease later and they are not only good as new, they’re better than new and will last me for years to come.
- I love the stories old furniture tells. Sure if I’m buying it from a thrift store I don’t know the backstory but I sure like inventing my own. I imagine a sweet old lady rocking her grand babies in the rocking chair that I just bought. She loves to crochet and she sits by the fire for hours whipping up wool sweaters and socks to keep her little ones warm. That chair was her happy place so now that I’ve purchased it, I’ll refinish it so it can become my happy place, and perhaps I’ll pass it down to The Girl someday so it can become her happy place, too. Invented backstories are the best.
- I’m saving trees. When you purchase used furniture, you’re helping our environment. No resources expended to build that new table, no trees chopped down, no electricity or gas or fuel used to manufacture it. Plus, I don’t have to worry about the crazy chemicals they used these days to glue furniture together. Your old school furniture was sanded and screwed and assembled the old fashioned way. No chemicals necessary.
- Shopping local is where it’s at {and as a bonus, charities often benefit, too!}. I’d much rather spend my hard earned money at a local shop that will pump money back into my little town. Makes me happier to keep it local. Plus, so many thrift stores donate all of their proceeds or a portion to a charity, so when I buy furniture, my money stretches beyond that new table or chair and goes to a great cause.
- I love the hunt. It’s my favorite part. I get giddy when I find something awesome and I can snatch it up and take it home and give it new life. I’m a weirdo I guess, but that’s what makes my skirt fly up.
And those are just a few reasons I think buying used wooden furniture is the best thing since sliced bread. What do you think? Love it or would you rather buy new?
Shop on,
~Mavis
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Staci Wickard says
I love it, too. Price, quality, character all rolled in one. 🙂
E in Upstate NY says
Due to declining health, have purchased a larger house so we may have three generations living together. In moving two households together, my son’s GF has learned that every piece of furniture from our house “has a story.” We have two children’s chairs that my grandfather made [He was an upholsterer for a railroad]; a plant stand and a stepstool that my father made [his first woodshop project; for first grandchild]; and various other items from my mother-in-law’s house.
The dining room table and buffet was purchased by my parents when they bought their first house, before I was born. Can’t even find solid mahogany furniture around here to purchase new, let alone the quality issue.
So yes, I love old furniture.
Julie says
I hate thrift shopping…without a minivan.
I find that perfect piece I *need* to finish some idea for a room, and BAM! I’m traveling in my Geo Metro. Or a small rental. We don’t have decent shops in my small town, so we ‘swift-thrift’ when we go Metropolis-way. And I find awesome stuff when I’m not planning on it 🙁 When we borrow a minivan, I rarely find what I’m looking for.
Tammy says
I have some wood chairs I’m going to paint. What type of paint do you recommend?
Rozy says
Our house is furnished almost entirely with second hand furniture. I have better luck with Craigslist or yard sales than thrift stores. But part of the fun is the thrill of the hunt; and when you find the perfect piece, well it’s cause for celebration! Keep up the good work.
Nancy D says
Haha! “…that’s what makes my skirts fly up.” Mavis, you crack me up!! You’re a breath of fresh air…Thanks!
Practical Parsimony says
I have the wooden table and six chairs we bought in 1968, two years after we married. It was just cheap furniture back then. But it is all wood and better than anything new that I can afford. So, my original new furniture is now quality second hand furniture. But, I am not selling it.
Robyn says
I have beautiful pieces of wood furniture from my grandparents and my mom. They are so solid and they don’t make this kind of quality anymore unless you spend a fortune!
Sadly, my children don’t appreciate it (they’re into ” mid-century modern”)so I’m hoping my Grandkids will as these things usually go in cycles. I live in hope!
Ruth says
I Love Wood furniture!
My kids laugh at me….my house has all dark mahogany, cherry, and some dark oak – Unpainted!
Yes, I live in a dark, cozy, tomb!
Its so easy to care for:
1/2 cooking oil ( olive, canola, cheaper the better)
1/2 Apple cider vinegar
shake it up in a recycled water bottle and wipe it down! ( with a old Soft towel or t-shirt)
(oil moisturises wood, tannins in ACV blend nicks and scratches and Cleans!)
Best to do on a nice day, open windows or everyone will think your eating too much salad
Tracie @SomewhatAwry.com says
I love it!! I have furnished my entire house with “new to us” items. You can’t beat the prices – I bought a lovely mid century modern chair for $2.00! and recovered it and it’s awesome. You know it will last forever – because hello, it already has. And the best part is the hunt. It’s so much fun!