How to upcycle your Goodwill finds into beautiful home decor – 21Oak
If you love all things home decorating, odds are you may have spent some time on Reddit. The subreddit page r/HomeDecorating has loads of information, inspiration, and how-tos on all things home decor and how to find the best deals, where to find them, and how to turn regular items into dream items for your home.
Take this one example from Redditor u/aquareyus, who showed off an inexpensive Goodwill find that they turned into a gorgeous piece for home entertaining. “Took this $20 goodwill find & made the bar cart of my dreams. Cheers,” they wrote, showing a before-and-after picture that is quite the transformation.
This Redditor showed how with just a little imagination, some paint, and new doors, an old, boring table can become a gorgeous bar cart. Before repainting any piece of furniture, it’s best to sand it, so the paint is applied evenly. This can be done with a hand sander for smaller items like this or an electric sander for bigger items. Once it’s completely cleaned, you can prime and paint it. We love the bold color choice for this cart, which brings it to life. The doors also give it a ton of character, and there are videos online available to show how to use cane webbing.
We weren’t the only ones who loved it! They got a ton of positive comments back, like, “I really admire people like you that can see a plain/ugly piece of old furniture and have both the creativity to envision what you could turn it into and then the skills to make it happen,” and, “I love that! There is nothing more satisfying than repurposing something old into something new and different.”
Whether you’re looking for a bar cart or another home furnishing, spotting items isn’t as hard as you think.
If you want to learn how to upcycle all types of furnishings and decor, most big box stores like Home Depot and smaller, independent stores will have classes on chalk painting, restoring wood, learning how to replace glass, and other tips and tricks on refurbishing items you have laying around the house or ones you find while antiquing. You’ll be surprised once you get the hang of it how easily you can redo an old item and turn it into something new and on-trend.
Redditor AxlCobainVedder shared a nostalgia-inducing photo on the Subreddit page r/TheWayWeWere, titling the photo, “Images of the first Costco store in Seattle from the year 1983.” In it, you see people standing in lines, “Wholesale Members” and “Returns,” looking as patient as one can be standing in line waiting. What’s striking about the photo is how little has changed from our current Costco visits when you still see the same lines forming. The only thing that looks different is the fashion, which will probably be making its own comeback before we know it.
People’s reactions
People flooded to the photo with comments that agreed with our sentiment. “Still looks pretty much the same all these years later,” one Redditor wrote. Another chimed in: “Honestly, it seems pretty much the same. ‘Look honey, I know we don’t need it but I’ve always wanted to windsurf!,'” which sounds eerily similar to the conversations I have with my husband perusing the aisles of our local Costco, shopping on a Saturday morning.
Bring on the nostalgia
Many people added to the photo with memories of the 1980s and what their experiences were going into their local Costco. “Random fun fact, that shot of a bunch of phones for sale may not seem that interesting, but it was actually a very big deal,” another Redditor said. “Up until the early ’80s in the U.S., you typically couldn’t just buy a phone, the phone system was a monopoly with AT&T aka “Ma Bell” running it, and you could only rent phones. When you needed a phone, you went down to the phone store and looked at the like four models they had and then rented one.”
Another talked about weighing your options on which line would move faster, which I think we can all agree still happens to this day. “I still remember how you’d pick your cashier line by which one had the best 9-key typer and box loader/number caller team,” Redditor ElCochinoFeo wrote. “You’d just stand there and hear numbers being called out at an auctioneer’s pace, click-clacking of the keypad, and boxes artfully packed like Tetris.” Another added their memory from another store, saying, “This kind of reminds me of old-school Trader Joe’s, when the checkers just knew all the prices by heart and would call them out as they were keying them in.”
When searching for new and affordable furniture to spruce up your interior, it can be frustrating to find the right items for your design. Of course, you want quality pieces that look stunning, but sometimes the name brand isn’t always best for you or your situation. While luxury and name brands often have what seem to be the perfect items, the prices aren’t always suitable for your home furnishing budget. That’s why apps like Craftle have come to your aid.
Craftle is a unique app that may be a game changer in your next redesign. If you’re looking for ways to save money while still creating a luxe look in your space, then this could be just what you need.
What is Craftle?
Craftle is an app that works to find similar or lookalike products for a fraction of the price of the original name-brand item. For example, if you love a West Elm sofa but don’t love the high price tag, Craftle’s lookalike finder can search for a similar sofa design for a cheaper price. If you’re looking to save money in your next redesign or are working with a limited budget, Craftle’s lookalike search finder could save you hundreds.
Everyone loves a good do-it-yourself project, especially when it saves you a ton of money and looks like it was bought at a high-end store. You don’t have to be an expert builder or even that educated in DIY in general with all of the millions of YouTube and TikTok videos done by non-experts that are willing to walk us all through the steps to put something together. This DIY bathroom tray from TikToker “woman.of.gold” is both of those, costing less than $5 and giving that high-end vibe that everyone wants in a bathroom.
How to pull it off
Woman.of.gold wrote that the “plastic plate was only £1.49” and “the tea light holders only 50p each” so the total cost was £3.49 (approximately $4.34) since she already had the paint and baking soda at home. (And even if you don’t have those supplies, a little paint and baking soda won’t add too much to your total cost.
https://www.tiktok.com/@woman.of.gold/video/7197510192395717893
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