A Designer At Home

Designing Beautiful Spaces. Inspiring Authentic Living. Spreading Good Vibes.

What I Look For In Thrift Stores

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I’m taking a break from sharing what I’ve thrifted to share with you what I look for in the first place when I thrift. It’s Thrift Score Thursday though so I thought it would be fun to work in some fabulous finds from you all from the #thriftscorethursday feed on Instagram.

Textiles

I may be 0-0 for finding textiles at the thrift store but that doesn’t stop me from trying. Especially when thrifting prodigies like @thebohemianfleamarket are showing off their fabulous loots like this one.

Interesting Art

They just don’t make them like they used to! The time and effort that went into the intricate embroidered and hand woven pieces of the past are totally rad. It’s a fun way to bring in a blast from the past.

 

Peacock Chairs

I’ve been obsessed for years and I will continue to be obsessed for many more. I would add one to literally every room imaginable if I had my way. They’re a perfect piece to add instant texture and interest.

 

Design Books

I enjoy reading them, I enjoy learning from them and I enjoy dissecting all the pictures for inspiration. If we don’t keep things that excite and interest us around, things would get pretty boring wouldn’t it?

 

 

Baskets

Whether for storage or for wall decor, I never skip browsing the baskets. Sometimes I find some really cool ones, sometimes I find nothing. But that’s part of how thrifting goes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKkwZTdDm6P/

 

Shelfie Decor

The most interesting of shelfie games always includes a good mix of thrifted and gathered items. I like to keep a healthy rotation of pretty and unique items to play around with in various vignettes to keep things fresh.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKYrE26jiZJ/

 

Furniture

I always have an open mind when I look at furniture. The chances of exactly what I’m looking for showing up are slim to none so I browse and consider possibilities for everything. You really can’t know when you’ll stumble across something truly perfect for your space.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKb91tPgRD6/

 

Unique Plates/Trays/Dishes

I love using plates as wall decor, but they also make for really good layering pieces for a pretty shelfie. I also use salt and pepper shakers for holding incense and glass cups for candle votives. Trays are perfect for pulling together little vignettes, too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKZuNZTgeWW/

 

Wanna Play? Here’s The Rules!

  • We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
  • Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
  • Want to get featured? Add the #thriftscorethursdsay hashtag, Follow the hosts (@the_gathered_home, @primitiveandproper, @adesignerathome and @maggieoverbystudios) and tag a friend to play along, too!
  • Each week, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Maggie fromMaggie Overby Studios and Myself (A Designer At Home) will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.

The best part? There are 4 regular posts to check out every Thursday! Yup, you’ve got more thrift scores to look at. I know you’re not disappointed. Ha. Click on my beautiful cohost’s faces below to check out what they’ve scored and featured.

Thrift Score Thursday Brynne color

thrift-score-thursday-cassie

Thrift Score Thursday Maggie

I bought more thrift store design books

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Hello, hello! It’s another lovely Thursday which means we have an excellent excuse to thrift and chat thrifting. My recent purchase is more books. More design books.

I tried a different thrift store than I normally go to and found 4 fabulous new books for my collection.

My favorite is “decorating with plants and flowers.” Make sure you pop over to Instagram today so you can catch the gloriousness of this book! @adesignerathome

Oh, and I know I just shared the bar cart a few weeks ago but musical furniture is in full force over here and voila! Changes…

There’s always so much to oggle over in the TST feed! Here are 2 of my favorites:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKOJH6egrUz/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKHV-bTAWtd/

 

Wanna Play? Here’s The Rules!

  • We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
  • Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
  • Want to get featured? Add the #thriftscorethursdsay hashtag, Follow the hosts (@the_gathered_home, @primitiveandproper, @adesignerathome and @maggieoverbystudios) and tag a friend to play along, too!
  • Each week, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Maggie fromMaggie Overby Studios and Myself (A Designer At Home) will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.

The best part? There are 4 regular posts to check out every Thursday! Yup, you’ve got more thrift scores to look at. I know you’re not disappointed. Ha. Click on my beautiful cohost’s faces below to check out what they’ve scored and featured.

Thrift Score Thursday Brynne color

thrift-score-thursday-cassie

Thrift Score Thursday Maggie

Utility Closet Organization Ideas

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Creating pretty spaces through decorating is a lot of fun and rewarding. But its oftentimes the spaces we dont hang out in, or the spaces guests dont see that get neglected. But its so important to give these spaces attention because they affect how we live in our home. The utility closet is no different. If you use this space to store anything, using some simple organization will make the space less frustrating and easier to use.

I just recently took on giving my own utility closet a bit of a facelift. I had a few different priorities for the space.

  • Function better
  • Fit in vacuum and carpet cleaner
  • Purge Cleaners
  • Utilize Wall Space

Here are a few solutions I came up with:

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Take Advantage Of Vertical Space

I went through my leftover lumber pile and cut down enough pieces to fill in space for a good deep shelf. This way I could still sort and store all the smaller things this space holds while still having the ease of simply rolling the vacuum and carpet cleaner in and out of the small closet.

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Space Maximizing Shelf Organizers

I went a tad higher with the shelf than I really needed to because I didn’t want things to feel tight in here and because I wanted to be able to use various shelf organizers to maximize space. One of the main things we pop into this closet for are batteries, so now they can be front and center. This minimizes disruptions for the other storage bins and helps keep things orderly.

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Hooks On Walls For Slim Items

Now that I had better access to the walls, I used hooks and pushpins to hang various items along the walls. The dustpan, power drill battery charger, and screwdriver holders all went on the walls. Fewer things on the shelves = fewer things to pile up.

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Utilize Inexpensive Plastic Bins

My bins are from the dollar store. You can go as simple or as complex as what you know will make best sense for your space. For mine? I needed a bin or cords/powerstrips/cable line, light bulbs, tools, loose screws/nails/etc and packs of command hooks/screws/hanging hardware. I grab the bin I need from the stack and just place it back in the stack when I’m finished going through it.

Easy, Inexpensive and a system that’s totally working for me. I’m glad I took the time to give this space a bit of attention because the less stress I experience actually living in my home, the more I can enjoy it. Which is why I’d totally encourage you to take a bit of time to purge and organize a closet sooner than later!

Gypsy Maximalist $1000 Living Room E-Design

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The third sofa I’m tackling for my 6 favorite sofas under $500 is the Solstice Sofa. Originally on sale for $424, at the time I’m compiling this mood board and posting this post, the price is $383 so that’s what I’ve allocated within the $1000 budget for this room design. This space is maxed out with colors, patterns and textures. Yes, even under a grand, you can get a space that’s rich in gypsy bohemian style. I chose to pair the orange sofa with purples, pinks and greens. But luckily, if you aren’t that bold, the sofa also comes in other colors. I do quite like this one a lot though.

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SHOP THIS E-DESIGN:

tree starlantern

 

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The Creative Circle No.82

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Welcome to The Creative Circle link party

a place to share and find decor and DIY inspiration for your home

Each of us will be choosing a couple of features each week and sharing it with our party post. That way more of you will get the chance to be featured and our individual picks will reflect our personal favorites and reflect our favorite decorating styles. To see all of the features, simple pop on over to each blog.

CreativeCircleLogo

Bloggers, show us what you’ve got! We are eager to share your DIY, decor and design projects! Our favorites will be showcased at next week’s party, via our social media platforms and pinned to numerous Pinterest group boards and to a special board for maximum exposure.

And readers, you’ve come to the right place, because today the blog is going to filled with endless home inspiration from all over blogland. Please stick around and check out some of the links at the end of this post (and when you do, tell them we sent you).meet-your-hostesses-final

CreativeCircle-FollowYourHostesses

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DIY Rustic Modern Drawer Knobs via Mountain Modern Life

diy-rustic-modern-cabinet-knobs-in-rv-mountainmodernlife-com-featured

DIY Mandala Wall Hanging via Live From Julie’s House
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If you wish to pin any of the individual projects features, please click through any pin from the original source.

Remember to visit the other hostesses to see if you were featured there!
If you were featured this week, we have a nifty button to add to your blog!

Up to Date Interior

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We can’t wait to see what you’ve got for us this week!

Want to be featured? Please follow these rules:

Link up to 3 posts (not your homepage) of your favorite creative posts about DIY, Decor, and Design (no recipes/food related posts) from your blog.
To make ensure the integrity of the link party, we will delete posts that are not about these topics. All recipe, techy, beauty, fashion link ups will be deleted.
No repeats, giveaways, or Etsy shops please!

Pin any of the above features or posts from their original source.
(You must do this to be featured.)

Visit other links and tell them you stopped by!

Up to Date Interior

**Thanks SO much for linking up with us! By sharing your link at this party, you give your hostesses permission to use one or two of your images as features in future posts, roundups, and/or across social media (with proper credit and links directly back to your post, of course). By linking up you are also giving us permission to email you a weekly link party reminder.

Now let’s party!


How I Decorate My Cube Organizer

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This past week, I’ve completely turned my living room upside down. Literally…

main-thrift-score-thursday-image

Kidding! Of course ?

But I have completely rearranged and reworked the space. And I friggin’ love it! The whole two zone thing is perfect for our long living room.

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The sofa and my son’s cube organizer are what separates the spaces. Let’s see how I’ve decorated the dual purpose toy storage/sofa table piece!

On the right, I have the perfume tray that belonged to my great grandmother. Inside it my thrifted basket planter as well as a few decorative pieces rest.

And then beside that, I have the planter I thrifted at Goodwill and the plant that came free with a Craigslist purchase. Within the stacks of books, there are several thrifted ones! Do-It-Yourself, Victorian dream homes, how to hang loose in an uptight world, and macrame are the thrifted books here. And the glass withave green and gold detail is also thrifted.

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Features:

From @thebohemianfleamarket

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From @kara_evans

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Wanna Play? Here’s The Rules!

  • We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
  • Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
  • Want to get featured? Add the #thriftscorethursdsay hashtag, Follow the hosts (@the_gathered_home, @primitiveandproper, @adesignerathome and @maggieoverbystudios) and tag a friend to play along, too!
  • Each week, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Maggie fromMaggie Overby Studios and Myself (A Designer At Home) will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.

The best part? There are 4 regular posts to check out every Thursday! Yup, you’ve got more thrift scores to look at. I know you’re not disappointed. Ha. Click on my beautiful cohost’s faces below to check out what they’ve scored and featured.

Thrift Score Thursday Brynne color

thrift-score-thursday-cassie

Thrift Score Thursday Maggie