My Recent Secondhand Scores Styled

Medical bills have seriously cramped my home décor budget these past seven months, so I haven’t been able to add as many vintage décor finds to our home as I typically would. That said, I’ve scraped just enough funds together to purchase the treasures featured in today’s post. As disheartening as it has been to curb my secondhand shopping as of late, I will say that it has pushed me to appreciate the vintage things that we already have so much more. Instead of doing lots of shopping, I’ve instead learned to play around with the pieces that we have, moving them throughout the house occasionally to make them feel brand new. That strategy has worked every single time, and some of the pieces that you’ll see in today’s secondhand scores roundup have actually already moved multiple times since adding them to our space! Keep scrolling to see photos of each item as I spotted them in the antique store, and then quick snapshots of the pieces styled in our mid-century home.

Pink has been a star color in our retro ranch ever since moving in two and a half years ago as I’ve played around with the design. I find myself naturally gravitating toward any shade of dusty rose, and this Asian-style table lamp above is a good example of that. I spotted it at Greenwood Antiques and couldn’t get over the pretty crackled finish of that pink base. It’s really not all that often that you see vintage lamps in this color (they’re usually much more saturated if you can even find an authentically vintage pink lamp), so I scooped this one up immediately. It used to be in our primary bedroom, but I just moved it out to our living room this past week to give the room a feminine edge. I love how it pulls out the red lip and sweater on the lady in that portrait that we’ve had for more than a decade.

The rest of the color palette in our home consists of rusty orange, deep beige, light cream, and shades of blue and green. I rarely see these colors pictured in floral art, even though that’s probably my favorite subject matter aside from portraiture. So, when I found the amazing oval-shaped flower print pictured above in my exact color palette, I just had to get it. It’s a little more traditional than I usually go with art, but the colors were too good to pass up, and I like to add something really old to our décor every now and then to make sure our home doesn’t feel too mid-century “themed.” The ultra traditional vibes of this rounded print juxtapose really nicely with my more modern art, I think.

Whenever I have the opportunity (and a spare handful of dollars) to go out antiquing, I try to make up a list of things that we actually need so that I ultimately invest wisely. I remember writing “small rounded coffee table” at the beginning of my list the day that I found the coffee table you see pictured above, so it must have been meant to be! This table is the ideal shape and size for the snug seating area just off our kitchen because it allows for really easy flow throughout the space. Our snug is in the center of the thoroughfare between our living room, garage, kitchen, and sunroom, so we needed to have room to maneuver around. This petite vintage coffee table was just the right fit, and is the perfect spot for us to rest our feet or a glass of wine when we’re all hanging out together in the space.

Here’s another good example of floral art in a slightly unusual color palette. I saw it at the Stuarts Draft Antique Mall some time before my birthday back in April and fell madly in love with it, but at the time I simply couldn’t afford it. I mentioned it to my mom, and she very sweetly picked it up for me as a birthday gift. I can’t tell you how overjoyed I was to unwrap it on my special day, and I immediately hung it on the wall just across from our bed so that I could gaze at it every evening before I fall asleep. It’s easily one of my very favorite things, especially because of the unusual minty blue color palette that goes so well in our home.

Finally, I wanted to share this secondhand plant stand that I scored for our new hardscape patio. The multi-level table allows me to incorporate lots of extra greenery in our space, and I love the curvy shape. Again, it’s a little more “sweet” and traditional than I would typically go for with our modern aesthetic, but I think that unexpected character helps make the space feel more collected and unique. Right now, I have it styled with faux succulents because I thought I couldn’t keep the real deal alive, but I took a chance with live succulents recently and they’ve been doing just fine, so I think I’ll swap those out soon.

I hope this post inspires you to head out and do some secondhand shopping of your own this season. Buying pre-loved items for your space is one of the single-most impactful things you can do to help sustain the environment and keep things from heading to the landfill. It’s a great way to give your space a one-of-a-kind look, too! I relish every chance I get to go antiquing now, and hope I can bring you guys along for another secondhand shopping adventure soon. Stay tuned…