More Thrift Store Coziness

It is possible to make your home so cozy that you can hardly leave it. I have come very close to staying in all day, in comfortable chairs, with projects spread out on second-hand tables, drinking hot chocolate from odd mugs and covering up with intricate, hand-made afghans that you probably think I made myself.

I know myself very well. Sometimes that is fortunate and other times it is not. I love color and texture and odd things. I also know that I am a “changer”. I change things around. Furniture, lamps, plants, art on the walls, books on the piano, magnet boards and chalk boards, dishes, towels, plants, lamps, pillows, and on and on. The magnitude of the problems that might arise from having this hankering is mitigated by a healthy love of thrift stores.

Here are some recent examples of making a house a home with very little expense.

This wonderful accent lamp came from Deseret Industries. I had to reach behind other things to find it and I had to stand on my tip toes. That doesn’t always mean much since I am not a tall person but I was pleased to find it and even more pleased when I found that it takes a small- base bulb. After some experimentation, I settled on an itty bitty Christmas bulb, which actually sends out a lot of light. The lamp was $4. but still showed its’ $39 sticker on the bottom where someone had bought it at Home Goods. That is my kind of cozy.

The dark green dishes and the glass watering can are also from second-hand stores.

I am attracted to old planters. Here is my newest find. A funky pelican. I keep pens in them and love their old-fashioned feeling.

This pelican was $2.

I love art. I don’t have enough wall space for what I would like to do. I need one of those Olde English Manor Houses with walls that go up two or three stories on which I could hang everything I love at the same time. I don’t mean that I would throw the art just anywhere . . . but that I would carefully select those pieces that make me feel cozy and thoughtful and inspired and when I was tired of what I had done I would do it all over again with different pieces of art. 

Are you wondering how it is possible to have so many pieces of art? I will tell you. I find the images I love on the Internet and send them to Costco for enlargement and printing. 

The wall pictured above leads downstairs to my bookcase/table/craft/sewing space. All of the subjects I have chosen for this wall are about WORK. They are all old-fashioned paintings of people making their living from the soil and by the toil of their own hands. Most of the subjects show the workers at the end of the day, when the sun is going down. Since that is my favorite time of the day, I am drawn to these paintings and find them to be comforting.

This is a reasonably inexpensive way to create a cozy home with small expense if art is important to you and your family. Some people like bare walls. I understand our differences as we decorate but I am more of a clutter bug when it comes to decor. I like things to be eclectic and busy.

It is wonderful to be different and that is why there is something for everyone at a second-hand store.

It is impossible to trick Matthew when it comes to flowers and fish and birds and bugs. He is the oldest and has been smelling flowers for as long as I can remember. This wonderful second-hand find proved to be more than he was ready for. He wanted to know how I had been able to force these bulbs just in water to grow this tall ? 

How, indeed?

“Savers”, I said.

That day, the clerk walked out with two beautiful vases filled with perfect Paper Whites and lifted them to the top shelf. I lifted them right down. Each vase, filled with wonderful bulbs was $3.99. I use them twice a year . . . at Christmas and at Easter. The rest of the time I put them away and I do it with a smile.

Finally, a little vignette for the top of the sideboard.

I love plants . . .  real and imagined. I love aged-looking pots. I loved patina on bowls and buckets. But, because I am a thrifter, I can change things around as I like. Today it is one thing and tomorrow it will be something else. That is the joy of buying things that are inexpensive and interesting. 

You cannot regret much that you drag home when you thrift. Few expenses are prohibitive and when  you are tired of something you can thrift it back. It is like putting compost in your garden. 

I just said finally but I didn’t mean it. There is no such thing as a final anything when you thrift. Nothing is a fortune. Things that were once out of style can come back into style.  Being eclectic about decor means style is its own thing.

But, what is style? Today it can be anything. That is what I love about my home. It is wonderful to love your home and want to be there. 

It can be anything.

Grandma

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