Thrift Shopping for Vintage Decor & Farmhouse Antiques
Antiques and vintage finds are littered throughout thrift stores such as Goodwill and Value Village. Knowing what to look for on the shelves of thrift stores will help you decorate your farmhouse cottage home with lots of affordable, beautiful treasures from Ironstone to Jadeite, pewter, silver, old books, cookie cutters, chippy planters, gold frames, and more! I frequent Goodwill weekly and my home is filled with treasures, you never know what you will find!
I’ll take you on a shopping trip with me in this post and show you how I spot a farmhouse vintage or antique (or just pretty) piece that I will decorate my home with. After shopping with me, check out how I style my hutches with my vintage and antique thrift store finds! And how I style farmhouse tiered trays!
Glassware
In the glassware aisle at the thrift store or Goodwill I will look for unique and fun pieces in the shape of cream, sugar, pedestal dishes or hobnail glass (bumpy glass). Here is what I found today to take home!
Glass Jars
In the glass jars aisle at the thrift store or Goodwill I look for old Ball canning jars with rusty lids or that are shades of blue (which are older/vintage Ball jars). I found this gem today!
Housewares (misc)
At Goodwill or the thrift store, in the miscellaneous housewares aisle, I will look for cream or white dishes including cake pedestals. There could be ironstone or other antiques hiding here. Today I found this pretty white scalloped cake stand!
Housewares (plates)
You can find lots of cream or white scalloped plates in the plate aisle at Goodwill or the thrift store. I find lots of vintage and antique plates here, including ironstone platters and plates. These caught my eye today!
Housewares (pitchers)
I love finding ironstone pitchers, sugars, and creamers in this aisle at Goodwill or another thrift store! Sometimes I will find ironstone teapots, or just pretty cream pitchers and pots. Today I picked up these beautiful pitchers, the first one is an antique ironstone pitcher and the others are just pretty! I also brought home the cute bee cup on the top shelf.
Housewares (baking)
In the baking aisle at the thrift store or Goodwill I look for these pretty silver and copper colored pans. I like to use them for parties, and also to decorate with. I also look for vintage cookie cutters, which have handles and scalloped edges. This is what I brought home today!
Silver & Pewter
In the silver and pewter aisle at Goodwill or another thrift store I look for special pieces that catch my eye. I don’t really look for antiques in particular, I just look for anything that looks vintage or special. Today I brought these home!
Candlesticks
In the candlesticks aisle at the thrift store or Goodwill I look for gold, brass, pewter, and silver vintage candlesticks that will look cute in my hutches and for setting a holiday tablescape. I found these beautiful antique silver candlesticks today!
Garden/Outdoors
In the garden and outdoors aisle at the thrift store or Goodwilll I look for two things – faux greens and cute planters. Usually faux greens will be much cheaper at Goodwill than anywhere else if you can find them. For planters, I look for chippy white or concrete/cement. I love ones that look aged and have a farmhouse touch to them. Today I found both faux greens and an aged concrete planter!
Art/Picture Frames
In the art and picture frames aisle of Goodwill or thrift store I look for two things – gold or white antique frames with elaborate designs and pretty farmhouse art work pieces. Anything vintage that catches my eye! Today I found this old gold antique picture frame and these sweet farmhouse spring art prints!
Books
In the book aisle of the thrift store or Goodwill I look for both old hardcover books and old softcover books. These will usually be the section labeled collectible or classics. The softcover books when turned around on your shelf look so pretty with a very vintage farmhouse appeal. The hardcover books look cute turned around and stacked on top of one another. Today I found some of both! I’ll show you how they look when turned around, for softcover you want very similar size books but for hardcover you want different sizes for stacking.
Linens
In the linens aisle of Goodwill or the thrift store I look for white and cream bedding and blankets, with ruffles and vintage details. But I also look for deals! Today there were lots of Hearth & Hand towels from Target, new with tags! Goodwill often gets Target’s excess inventory when they closeout items or have returns etc. So be sure to look for good deals on new or like new items from Target when you are at Goodwill. I bought some of these cute farmhouse towels today!
Every trip to Goodwill or the thrift store brings new finds of vintage and antique treasures! This was just one trip, every trip will show me something different. If you know what to look for (color, texture, etc) it is easy to fill your house with farmhouse cottage charm using vintage and antique decor from the thrift store! If you want to see how I decorate with these beautiful old things check out my other decor posts or my post on styling trays or styling hutches! And if you want to do some online shopping I have saved some pretty things you can snag online HERE. Happy thrifting!
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16 Comments
Rachael Eberhardt
Wow, these really are a great finds. Really love antique glassware, housewares and silver and try to find those when I am thrifting.
Sincerely Miss J
I love thrift shopping however, it’s too much of a hit or miss for me so I prefer regular stores if I really need something. I saw so many finds in your post. Thank you for sharing.
Megan Kerry
I LOVE thrift shopping! Especially in the mom and pop shops!!! It amazes me every single time what treasures you can find for such a great deal. I really enjoyed this post! Thanks for sharing!
Amy-Lynn Denham
YES! Great place to find those difficult items. I don’t find that they are much cheaper than a lot of new stores, but you’re doing your part to keep things out of the landfill, too, so just that can be worth it.
Adriana
WOW looks like some amazing finds you have there! I love thrifting 🙂
Maureen
This is the best-looking thrift store I have ever seen! I love unique pieces, so I often go to the thrift store for my food photography finds.
Sabina Green
I love to look at all the charity shops here. We have so many and I always find really quirky little trinkets.
Heather
They have quite a wide selection of products. The housewares and glasswares remind of the ones that my great grandmother used to own. 🙂
Sarah
This is a great guide! Totally taking it with me next time I thrift 🙂
Joline
Awesome shop to buy things that are needed at home. I may say almost all you’ve taken is really a great stuff to buy. Thank you for sharing this amazing place.
Rebecca Sanchez
I love to thrift but really had no idea what to look for except clothes. Thank you!
Alexandra Cook
Wow this place looks incredible. There’s so much to see and buy there! Looks like a brilliant place for a vintage decor lover like me.
Melissa
I love thrift shopping, and big into vintage stuff like this. Love that you shared your finds!
Christy
OOOOO All that stuff to choose from!!! Time to hit the thrift store!!
Marya
I never know what to look for in goodwill, hopefully next time I’ll see something you shared and scoop it up!
Jamie Kestle
I never would have known to look for any of this stuff!! thanks for the inspiration 🙂 time to shop 🙂