I love great thrifted finds to decorate our home! Check out these easy ways to decorate with yard sale finds for budget friendly pretty decor!  Keep reading for a little tour around our home and how I decorate with yard sale finds!

Who else loves a great yard sale find?  If you’re hopping over for Thrifting with the Gals today, I already know you love some fun home decor on a budget!  So…welcome!  Today, I’m sharing all about some of my favorite ways to decorate with yard sale finds around my home.  A yard sale decor tour, I guess you could say!

Living in South Florida, we have the benefit of yard sales throughout most of the year.  However, I learned a long time ago to NOT have a yard sale of my own in the summer. At the same time, if I want to shop at any yard sales, do so very early in the morning before it gets so hot!

Otherwise, you could say it is almost always yard sale season around here.  I’ve hit up some great sales, markets, estate sales, and auctions lately.  Now, it’s the perfect time to share with you some spots around our home that I’ve refreshed to decorate with yard sale finds.

At the same time, I may point out a few favorites that I’ve had for many years because they are just too good to walk past and not show you!

Who’s ready for a yard sale decor tour?!

Thrifting with the Gals

First, though, let me just remind you that it’s Thrifting with the Gals day!  That means I am joining some great friends of mine from around the country who share my love of home decor, thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, and everything between!

Since we all live in different parts of the country, it is always so interesting to see what everyone finds and shares from month to month!

You’ll love their posts and home decor inspiration:

Rachel from The Pond’s Farmhouse

Ann from Dabbling and Decorating

Kristin from White Arrows Home

and our guest host this month, Wendy from WM Design House

How can I decorate my house with little money?

I remember before I got married and how excited I was to set our first small house.  It’s really too bad that Facebook Marketplace wasn’t around then.  I could have saved a lot of time combing through Craigslist, Ebay, and the classifieds in the newspaper.  However, slowly but surely, one piece and then the next came together.

We were finishing up college and student teaching and definitely didn’t have a big budget.  However, our mismatched collection of hand-me-downs, thrift store furniture, yard sale finds, and warehouse clearance purchases combined to create such a sweet home!

Even though my budget has expanded over the years, thankfully, I still love hunting for a great deal.  It is completely possible to decorate a home with a very small budget.  You need these things:

1. Patience
2. Time
3. Patience
4. Determination
5. Did I say patience?

Here are a few tips for the best success at decorating your home with a low budget:

1. Hit up the thrift stores often.  Go to every yard sale you can in your community.  Consistency will pay off!
2. Keep measurements of key areas in your home.  You never know when a road-side freebie will come along!
3. Roll up your sleeves and get to work.  You can make even ugly pieces look brand new with cleaning, paint, and some TLC.
4. Let Google be your friend by teaching you how to fix things!  Sometimes people get rid of stuff just because they don’t have the time or skills to fix it.  But you can do it instead and turn their trash into your treasure!
5. Stick with neutrals.  Even if you love colorful decor, keep your large pieces and basics in the neutral zones.  They will last you longer and go with everything!
6. Quality does matter and pays off in the long run.
7. Splurge on key statement pieces.

What to look for when thrifting?

Here are some of my favorites to look for when I want to decorate with yard sale finds:

• unique pieces
• items that can make a quick (and fun) DIY project
• baskets
• old books
• planters, pots, and vases (vessels that will hold greenery and florals)
• seasonal decor
• vintage pieces
• antique mirrors
• vintage art
• architectural salvage
• old brass decor
• furniture that has great function and fits a specific spot in our home

How to Decorate With Yard Sale Finds: High Impact Low Budget

Are you ready to get started with our yard sale home decor tour?  I think the best way to break this down is into categories, so we are going to skip around the house a bit.  However, I think you’ll get a good idea of how much I love great thrifted finds and some inspiration for your next yard sale trip too!

Decorate With Yard Sale Finds: Furniture

I don’t have as many furniture yard sale finds as I used to.  However, most of my furniture is old, meaning I am definitely not the first owner!  We love hunting for amazing vintage pieces that will function great for our home.  Most of them have been purchased from vintage markets, flea markets, and vintage dealers.  While they aren’t technically yard sale finds, they are definitely second…or third or fourth….hand!

Let’s take a look at few of my favorite yard sale furniture finds!

1. These vintage chairs were a yard sale find from my friend and she recovered them in gorgeous fabric.  Perfect size and scale for the space and comfortable too!
2. Our dining room table is one of my favorite finds.  I stopped by a yard sale/estate sale for something completely different.  However, I ended up driving home with this table sticking out the back window!  It would be quadruple the price in an antique store these days; I feel so blessed that we get to enjoy it in our home!
3. These yard sale porch swings have served us well for several years now!  We picked them up for $30 for the pair at a roadside yard sale!  They need to be replaced soon, but they have certainly served their purpose for a steal of a deal for 5 years or so now!

Decorate With Yard Sale Finds: Home Accents

Accessories and small home decor is a lot easier to find (I think) at yard sales than bigger furniture.  To be honest, most of us probably swap out accessories a lot more than furniture, so it makes sense!

Picking up great home decor accessories at yard sales is a perfect way to refresh your home on a budget.  Plus, I don’t feel badly about swapping things out when I get them for an awesome yard sale price!  Then, I don’t feel badly about using it for awhile and selling it at my own yard sale when I get tired of it too!  Haha!

Here are some of my favorite home decor accessories found at yard sales:

4. This gorgeous painting was a recent estate sale find.  I don’t know a lot about legit art, to be honest, but I think it is just such a pretty painting and I’ve been enjoying it this spring.  It is definitely quite old, vintage for sure, and has a gorgeous frame.  For $30, I think it is a beautiful piece that I can enjoy for many years to come!

5. You all know how much I love using glass cloches in my home decor!  This one was a yard sale find for a grand total of $1.00!  I have definitely paid a lot more than that for other cloches, so it’s good to balance out the collection with a steal of a deal!

6. Little vintage clocks are so perfect for tucking into vignettes.  They can get pricey in vintage shops sometimes, but I lucked out with this one at a flea market!

7. The big scale in my kitchen sometimes make for an interesting conversation starter when we have guests!  However, I love having it on our kitchen island.  Since our island is 12 feet long, the scale breaks it up a bit and gives a focal point.  It is fun to decorate without having clutter around the kitchen.  (Who needs more of that?!).

True story: I purchased this at a yard sale but the only way the guy would give me a steal of a deal on it is if I purchased the second one he also had!  I guess he was tired of having these huge, heavy pieces to deal with!  Robb wasn’t terribly excited about loading them.  However, we sold the other scale and ended up paying only $50 for the one we kept!

How can I decorate my house with a low budget?

Sometimes, people just don’t know what they have.  At the same time, they likely just have very different interests and things that are worth a lot to you aren’t worth much to them!

One way to decorate your house with a low budget is to just always be watching.  You literally never know when you will strike gold with a fun find!

Here’s another fun yard sale story for you!

My husband and I stopped by a yard sale because it had been advertised on FB marketplace as having vintage and antiques.  Often, at least here in South Florida, it’s not my kind of vintage decor.  However, I stop anyway because you just never know!

Upon walking up, it looked like just tools and tools and tools.  Followed by shelf after shelf of cookbooks.  Random.

However, covered in dust, midway down a shelf of odds and ends, under some plastic junk, I spotted what appeared to be a stack of oval white platters.  A closer look made me think these were worth digging out, as the platters were thick.  Could it be ironstone?

Sure enough!  A stack of 5 or 6 ironstone platters, some of them quite large, and all in great shape.  Most of them even had stamps on the bottom.

I took them over to the seller to get the price.  When he said, “Ehh, how about $10 for the stack?”, I really tried to not look too excited and embarrass myself!!

I saved my happy dance for by the car and still can’t believe this stack of goodies came home with me for just $10!!!

Ironstone is not a popular find here in Florida, unless you visit an antique or vintage store.  It was such an exciting find!  So, of course, I have to add this one in:

8. Stack of ironstone platters at a super random yard sale, only $10 for the stack!

Decorate With Yard Sale Finds: Lighting

Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever shared about two of my very favorite yard sale finds.  Honestly, I guess I just have so many of them.  Haha!

9. I often get questions about the vintage chandelier in our master bedroom.  It was a yard sale find too!  The contents of the home were being sold but I don’t think many people had looked UP!  We actually didn’t end up at the sale until after it was pretty much over and most things were gone.  I don’t know how that chandelier was still there.  However, I was super thankful!

I think I paid $50 or $75 for it; it’s been years ago now!  At the time, we were buying lighting for all the rooms.  We were so glad to save a lot of money and get something unique too!

10. The sconces in my office were another yard sale find for only $20 each!  They are huge, beautiful, and I didn’t know what on earth I’d do with them when I bought them.  We hadn’t even built the office yet!  I just knew I loved them.  So, they sat in storage for a long time until finally, I had the perfect spot.

We mounted them on some architectural salvage pieces and I love how the whole project turned out.  That’s another blog for another day, I guess!

Pro Tip: Look for advertisements for estate sales or “contents of home” sales.  Moving sales are also a great opportunity.  These kinds of sales are more likely to have nicer items.  A typical “clear out the clutter” yard sale can definitely have some great finds, too, but often it’s just stuff that could become clutter in your home too!  

Who’s ready to hit up the yard sales this weekend?

Me!!!!  This post was so fun to put together for you. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed seeing some views throughout our home along with some of my favorite yard sale finds!

I think it goes without saying that the main key to decorating with yard sale finds is to just go to lots of them.  Actually, I walk away from many more sales empty handed than I do actually finding something.  However, when I do find something, it is almost always worth the hunt and definitely worth the wait!

If you don’t find anything at the first few stops, don’t be discouraged.  Try again the next weekend or whenever your area has yard sales.  Truly, you just never know!

You’ll want to hop over and check out the thrifted shares from the other Thrifting with the Gals ladies today too.  So many fun things and great decor inspiration for you!

Happy hunting and thrifting!!!

You may also enjoy these related budget-friendly decorating posts:

• How to Use 10 Common Thrift Store Finds for Spring Home Decor
• 3 Easy Ideas to Display Beautiful Thrifted Art
• 7 Affordable Items You’ll Want to Thrift for Summer Decor
• 5 Easy Ways to Decorate with Thrifted Baskets
• How to Create a Beautiful Spring Centerpiece with Thrifted Pots
• 27 Easy Ways Use Old Vintage Books in Home Decor

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Blessings,

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