You know,
by now that we're here to help you save money
however we can and thrifting can be a great alternative
to shopping retail.
I spoke to some experts take a look.
Are you tired of the current look of your home?
But your budget won't allow you to renovate.
Well,
you might be able to change the look without breaking
the bank or any walls to fix it up.
You might recognize my next guest from HGTV S Bargain Block.
He by them and Evan Thomas
guys. Thanks for joining. Hi,
how you doing
there?
He will start with you.
Is it really possible to redecorate your home using only thrifted items?
Well, I've done it many, many times. I will say it is definitely possible and
I still do it pretty frequently actually.
Um, especially, you know, with sourcing these days,
it's very difficult to get stuff.
But, uh, the thrift world offers just an abundance of amazing things. So
I've done it many, many times. I can continue,
probably can save you some money too. Evan, I want to bring you in.
Are there specific websites or even groups that people can
join if they are looking to catch some deals online.
So we do use Facebook marketplace a lot, um,
things like that and like things like Craigslist,
you'll find stuff that maybe is a little bit nicer for cheaper.
Whereas if you go to a thrift store,
it might be a little bit of a lower quality but even cheaper.
So it's kind of like you either have your thrift stores which I feel like are the,
are the least expensive.
And then you can go up to things like
different marketplaces which are a little bit
nicer but also still very affordable.
I see a lot of great things on my Facebook marketplace. I can tell you guys that
a Keith, if you are going in person,
what should viewers be looking out for when it comes to getting a great deal.
I mean, I'm always looking for brands, especially when thrifting.
Um It's amazing what people get rid of.
And so when you're looking for furniture, you know,
look for those big names that are already famous.
A lot of the stuff that is in the thrift store is high quality.
Um, it may be a little out of date,
but there's a lot of ways that you can update stuff with new hardware, a paint coat,
you know, there's just a lot you can do and vintage is in
vintage and antiques are making a huge resurgence.
So finding those little moments in your house to kind of like
pull the whole look together. Really is a fun thing.
I found this really cool bus the other day. I love it.
A bus, I'm guessing not a full size bus. Right?
Oh, I'm
sorry,
a
bus,
a bus,
a
bus, I'm like, well, that would take up a lot of real estate.
Uh,
I mean, I would be someone to buy a bus at a go
for.
Thank you for clarifying that.
Uh, Evan, of course, negotiation can be part really of any process.
Is there a good way to approach negotiating when it comes to thrifted items?
So the way that I like to negotiate at a thrift store is that
I like to get multiple items and group them
and group them together because I think if you're buying five items,
you have a lot better chance of getting them to
lower the price than if you're just buying one.
So
we go, we, we kind of make our thrift trips count for lots of ways.
So we like, we don't just go, if we just need one on one item,
we wait until we need like a bunch and then we'll try
and group it all all together and buy it in bulk.
That makes sense. Um, Keith.
What about any tips for cleaning products that you've thrifted?
So, cleaning your stuff when you bring it home is really important.
You don't know where it's been. And
I think my favorite product right now is this orange lemon pledge.
It's an orange scented lemon pledge, which sounds weird,
but it is remarkable at bringing back wood.
I will say upholstery is tricky.
You wanna make sure that it doesn't have anything crawling and l on it.
So a lot of times we do
um, like a pretty thorough clean,
but there's a lot of places too that
you can get furniture cleaned really inexpensively.
Rugs get cleaned really inexpensively. So,
you know, look around your local community,
you'll find someone who does that kind of stuff.
Ok. Good to know. What are the best items, Evan, that you'd say.
If you want to add a big statement
piece to your home, what might you go for?
Well, that's interesting.
I would say, I mean, for statement items in general,
I would say things like dining tables, sofas.
Um,
but what I found is that thrift stores usually have
better case case goods than they do upholstery items.
So things like console tables and if you can get a really good sideboard that
can really make a dining room pop and sideboards are actually kind of hard,
hard to come by.
So if you find a good one in a thrift store, you're really kind of like
you should get it because you might not come across that.
Ok. Good. Check that box. Thank you for the tip,
Keith.
Any last tips for viewers, Evan,
I'll add you to this one too so that they really can thrift like a pro,
I would say, keep an open mind when you see something at a thrift store,
don't think of it necessarily as the end product.
A lot of times I'll find something sculptural or vases.
Um, and it's really easy to create a look by spray painting a lot of the same color or,
you know, take a bunch of items, spray,
paint them from all the same color and suddenly you have a much more cohesive look.
Um, so, you know, that's something I always say.
Keep an open mind when you're out thrifting
Evan. Any last tips,
I
would say that if you don't want an entirely thrifted space,
one way to do it is to have one really new item mixed amongst
older thrifted items and somehow that one new
item kind of like elevates it and you're,
it doesn't look like it was a thrift store then.
Um, so like just throwing that one new thing.
Ok.
If you want more from Hgt V's Bargain Block,
there are episodes streaming on discovery, plus some great tips there.