Recent Non-Fashion Thrift Finds

Today, I thought I would write a little about my recent thrift finds and, in particular, those that fall outside the usual purview of this blog. Clothes and accessories will never not be at the top of my thrifting list, but I have been spending a lot more time lately looking for other treasures. Every 2-3 years, I go through a hard-core nesting phase – which is a relative thing, because I’m a homebody at heart in any event – when I divert most of my creative energy into my home. That time has come again, and I have been a busy thrifting bee. Let’s take a look at my more interesting, unusual or downright quirky finds, shall we?

Vintage Scarf Upcycled Project

I mentioned this in my previous post about our living room refresh, but it’s worth mentioning again because this was such an easy (and inexpensive) upcycling project with a big impact. This La Mendola (vintage, I think) scarf was a fabulous find for under $5 – pure silk, gorgeous pattern. Have I mentioned how much I love cacti?

I don’t wear silk scarves, but I knew I had to have this one because it was simply too beautiful to pass up. On the spot, I decided to treat it as a piece of art – which, in my eyes, it is – which meant getting it framed. After searching for an appropriate frame in thrift stores for a few weeks, with no success, I ended up getting a basic one from IKEA. We simply “sandwiched” the scarf between the Plexiglas front and the cardboard backing, because I didn’t want to risk damaging the fabric by pinning it down. We didn’t bother adding a mat; we used the (white) back of the stock photo that came with the frame as a makeshift mat, and it worked just fine. I think the slightly uneven borders add to its overall charm. From a distance, this looks like a poster; it’s kind of surreal, actually.

A quick tip for finding quality scarves: look for rolled edges. I used to think that meant edges that are doubled over and sewed nicely, but no. Rolled edges are very distinctive to the touch – sort of bubbly and quite bulky. You will know it as soon as you touch one. Every single expensive scarf I’ve thrifted – this one, Pucci, vintage DVF – has had a rolled edge.

Globe, With a Twist

I’m not sure if I mentioned it here before, but one of my more recent collections is globes. Sometime last year, I came across this photo when I was looking for bookcase inspo online. As one does. Ahem. I love anything map-related, and I was immediately smitten with the array of globes of varying shades of blue, and decided I needed this punch of colour in my own library. I have been slowly accumulating globes ever since, picking them up in thrift stores wherever I find them. This particular globe was $5 at VV, and was a very nice shade of blue:

It was only once I got home that I realized there was something different about it. Can you spot it?

Yup, my first Francophone globe.

Mantel Centerpiece

I tend not to thrift a ton of pictures, because my husband and I have generally divergent preferences when it comes to art unlike, say, interior design as a whole. He’s a die-hard for original art and I … just like looking at beautiful things. One of my favourite (thrifted) pictures is a reproduction of an old Picasso drawing:

I managed to “sneak” that one by him, and I also got this other repro accepted on the mantelpiece:

The larger painting behind it is an original piece from an artist friend, but there’s more to it than meets the eye: the original canvas was a mass-produced landscape I picked up at HomeSense years ago to hang in my then office. It was pretty bland and boring – the art version of elevator muzzak – and I was going to get rid of it when our friend asked if he could have some fun with it. My husband and I both loved the result, and during our recent living room refresh, we decided to make it the focal point of our fireplace.

Around the same time, I spotted the little “Rembrandt” and was drawn to its colour scheme, which echoed the colours on our mantelpiece. I thought it would provide a nice contrast/juxtaposition to the larger artwork, and I ended up buying it during a VV sale for something like $4 – a modest investment in case my husband balked at my idea. Which he did, initially. He hated it, in fact. But we argued talked it out, and eventually he sorta just … gave in. All I know is that the picture has been on the mantel for a good month, and hasn’t mysteriously disappeared yet.

Portrait of a Young Girl

Speaking of divisive items, this one was a doozy. This repro portrait of Bianca de Medici by Bronzino was love at first sight for me. Don’t ask me why; I know it’s maybe (more than) a little quirky, but I love it. (And I fell down a rabbit hole while researching it, which is one of my favourite ways to waste an evening or three, tbh). Love must have temporarily blinded me, because I bought it assuming that my husband would share my feelings. Not so much. He not only didn’t love it; he thought it was creepy.

Creepy?!

I like to think that I have a finely tuned creepiness meter – no dolls, puppets or clown paraphernalia for me, thanks – but this didn’t register at all, so his reaction took me by surprise. He was must have sensed my disappointment, and being the good husband that he is, he agreed to keep it around so that he might “acclimatize” to it. As of the writing of this post, we have not yet agreed on whether this can go up on a wall in the house, but I remain hopeful.

Update: it found a home!

Makeshift Side Table

I love this little reading nook in the living room, but there is an electrical outlet that sticks out (visually) like a sore thumb. I initially wanted to hide it with a plant, but this spot doesn’t get a lot of light, which ruled out that option. As an alternative, I thrifted this large vase ($8) in a colour complementary to our overall palette, but it still looked out of proportion just sitting there on the floor. What would help is a little table, but it has to be just the right dimensions and style – and that is proving hard to find. In the meantime, I came up with an improvised solution: the stack-of-books-as-makeshift-table idea.

A half dozen or so large “coffee table” books later, and we had the right height. These are multi-functional; my husband and I love flipping through interior design books, so they are both furniture and entertainment in one. Most of them cost under $5 a piece, so it was an inexpensive solution to boot. Once we figure out what we’re doing with this nook on a permanent basis, the books will get re-homed in our new living room bookshelves or upstairs in the main library; no doubt, they will continue to inspire future DYI projects for many years to come.

Butterfly Terrarium

I love butterflies, but I had not come across butterfly terrariums until recently; first, in an interior design book, then on the Thrift Store Hauls sub-Reddit. Naturally, I became determined to thrift my very own. Thrifting for niche items is a long game, so I put it to the back of my mind. And then, out of the blue, I found one a few weeks later! It’s a small one, but it’s lovely:

I wanted to find it a good spot in the house right away, but none of the established “corners” of the house (like the mantel) suited it. So I made it its own spot on a previously-ignored ledge/shelf of the library.

This is all stuff I already had, except for the potted hoya which is a new addition to our growing plant family. I love moving things around every so often; it makes the house feel fresh without any major overhauls.

Have you found good stuff at the thrift store lately? Working on a cool upcycled project? Tell us all about it!