Showing posts with label Thrifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrifting. Show all posts

5/15/14

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The Secret Reason We Buy Too Much Stuff

Posted by Inspired at 1:37 PM No comments :
(Picture: Jerry Bakewell)
There are many reasons why we indulge in retail therapy, but one of them isn’t mentioned very often. It’s so obvious we don’t even think about it.

Sometimes we buy things just because we have the space for them.

This realisation struck me when I moved house recently (when they say it’s the most stressful thing you can do, they’re not kidding!). I moved from a huge art deco apartment to a decent-sized two-bedroom flat with one less room.

I’d already given away a lot of stuff before I moved but was amazed at what I still had.

The most surprising thing was that I had quietly amassed a collection of thrift store pictures over the almost ten years I’d been in the apartment. I had a total of more than thirty pictures altogether! This is without any conscious collecting on my part – just a desire to fill the empty spaces on the large walls.

The irony is that there are very few picture hooks at this new place, and I am reluctant to ask the landlord if I can put them up at this early stage in the tenancy. So the majority of these pictures are going to have to go – I’m intending to sell some of the better ones on eBay.

Having amassed all these pictures has taught me a lesson in restraint. I did get very skilled at picking pictures with future potential – the more kitsch the better – and was proud of the way I arranged them in my apartment. And I will keep some of them at the new place, and rotate them on the few picture hooks I have so I don’t get bored.

But nothing is forever, and I will let the majority go with grace.

I know now there is always a new picture around the corner. Only a week ago I found myself staring longingly at a large, abstract print in an op shop in the inner city suburb of Port Melbourne. I knew I didn’t have room for it. When enough pictures are sold, perhaps I will let myself buy one or two new ones.

So next time you're about to buy some little knick-knack or a piece of furniture it’s worth asking yourself the question: am I buying this just to fill space?

Perhaps there is just one thing you buy too much of, because you’ve started a collection – collections have a tendency to constantly demand that they be added to!

If you tend to do this, next time you could rethink whether you really need the item. If it still ‘calls’ to you, is there something you already have that you could get rid of?

Another question it's worth asking when you’re buying a piece of decor: is there something else the money could be used for, like a great experience or a large savings goal?

Until next time!
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7/11/13

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Latest Thrift Store Finds - Jacket City!

Posted by Inspired at 2:15 PM 1 comment :
I was going to call this blog entry just 'latest thrift store finds', then I realised that most of the finds recently have been jackets! Which is just as well, because Melbourne has been going through a chilly winter; the days are often pleasantly sunny but it's freezing.

First in the parade is my ten dollar birthday jacket below. I found it on my birthday in the Vinnies store in Ashburton. It is doublebreasted so I was a bit doubtful at first as it seemed too fitted to be comfortable when buttoned - but it's fine, and looks great buttoned up. Love the cherry red colour. The label is Just Jeans and it is surprisingly good quality considering.


Still in need of winter clothes, I found this trench coat in the Don Bosco store in Sydney Road, Brunswick. It's not particularly warm though, as the fabric is cotton drill, but I feel like a fifties detective in it. I must to something about the right lapel, which flops a bit.


I picked up the retro-style jacket below only yesterday - by far the best bargain I've found in a while - for fifteen dollars, it's Jigsaw no less! I found it in a little op shop in Caulfield that I peruse frequently, but am rarely lucky in. The woman who served me said she had had her eye on it - I don't blame her! It's quite formal, but may be useful for meetings with clients:


I wasn't really looking for another jacket because half an hour earlier I had picked up this little beauty from the Vinnies in Auburn Road, Hawthorn, for the same price:


Just to vary things a bit, I pounced on this amazing pair of trousers - eighties if the incredibly high waist is anything to go by - a couple of months ago at the Brotherhood store in Bentleigh. They are warm and in great condition but the waist is just a tiny bit small, and I don't know how people put up with those high waists - quite uncomfortable! For $1.50 you can't complain - they were on the bargain rack, which is unusual for a store that is usually aware of vintage trends:


I would dearly love to buy more sweaters and trousers from thrift stores, but good quality items in these categories seem harder to come by. Perhaps the quality of jackets is higher because jackets tend to be sturdier and don't get washed as much, and possibly people tire of them before they become worn out.

What do you think - do you find jackets easier to buy at thrift stores, or do you have any tips for buying sweaters and trousers?

Until next time!



If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Great tips for successful op and thrift shopping.
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7/6/13

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Chipped Thrift Store Treasures: Celebrating the Beauty of Imperfection

Posted by Inspired at 8:38 PM No comments :
Do you ever buy chipped things? I used to have a horror of anything that wasn’t perfect and whole, but now I embrace the odd chip, scratch or dent as long as it doesn’t detract from the look of a piece.

Herewith, a showcase of some chipped things I love.

I bought this large ceramic vase for ten dollars at my local thrift store / op shop. It’s very heavy – it’s  been fired in a kiln, and has a lovely glaze. I’m not sure of the level of skill of the person who produced it – there is no identifying signature at the bottom – but the glazing and colour are very soothing. I discovered there were chips on the inside of the rim when I got it home, but they’re not that visible so I’m not too worried about them.


I bought this decorative vase from an op shop for about ten dollars, but didn’t realise the sculpted flower on the top right was chipped; it's difficult to notice. Still I love the detail so much I don’t really care.


This cement (I assume) pot was bought at a garage sale for a couple of bucks – I really should keep some sort of record of prices I pay for things – and the sculpture that makes up the rim is chipped. It’s really supposed to have a plant sitting in it but instead it sits happily enough in the corner of my bathroom to the right of the vanity basin, slowly accumulating black mould (which I recently scrubbed off it so it’s not looking too bad). It has a kind of decadent Roman, neoclassical feel to it.


I bought this picture from the Brotherhood op shop in Bentleigh. It was very shabby chic when I bought it (shabby being the operative word) but is now even shabbier after a piece of the frame on the lower left-hand side fell out a few months ago. I suppose I could mend it with suitable glue – I tell myself the missing piece simply adds to the olde worlde appearance.


This little birdie sits on my front porch. Because its tail was already chipped it cost about four bucks at a local garden centre. It sits precariously on narrow little toes and I chipped its little beak once, when I tipped it over accidentally. I feared it would be useless but somehow it still retains its birdiness.


It’s easier to accept imperfections in something that has always been imperfect. When a possession we’re invested in gets chipped or dented, it’s as if the ego itself sustains the injury.

Then gradually the change becomes incorporated, and we stop seeing it and feeling it. It's like a tiny scar, reminding us of all the injuries, bruises and deeper wounds we ourselves have sustained. It also reminds us that imperfection is the essence of beauty, life and growth.

Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry you might also like: In with the Old and Out with the New - Shopping and the Search for Perfection. 
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4/29/12

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Treasure Hunting: Five Brand New Op Shop (Thrift Store) Tips

Posted by Inspired at 9:37 PM No comments :

1.  Visit stores that are far away from where you live. It’s easy to get used to the prices and kinds of stock in your local op shop, and to assume that it’s all the same wherever you go. Explore further afield and get a new perspective on prices and the stock available. Not only that, but a new store is a novelty that gives you a fresh eye to hunt out the bargains with. I found the navy cardigan pictured above at a Salvos store in Bentleigh, a suburb I hardly ever visit. It was half-price so cost only a few bucks. I just love the ruffled sleeves. The pendant in the picture was also an op shop find, from Salvos in Camberwell.

2. Don’t make assumptions about how the geographic area affects stock quality and prices. Stores in disadvantaged areas don't necessarily have poor stock, and those in well-heeled parts of town aren't always overpriced. There’s a tiny op shop opposite Fitzroy’s high rise housing estate that obtains some of its donations from the pupils of an exclusive boys grammar school in the south-eastern suburbs. A couple of months ago I visited a Vinnies store in Kew, a prosperous inner eastern suburb of Melbourne, and found it was cheaper than the Vinnies in Malvern. This cute shirtdress was waiting for me -- it was only $8 and brand new. An independent op shop I visited in Kew on the same day also had great prices.



3. Visit op shops when business is quiet. Any day when there’s less competition for the stock is a good day to go op or thrift shopping! Long weekends are a great time to visit; most of my suburb seems to go AWOL if there's a public holiday either end of the weekend. Cold rainy days are also great for secondhand treasure hunting.



4. Leave something behind. On most of my best op shop visits I'll find at least one treasure that wasn’t meant for me. On a recent visit I bought what appeared to be two brand new cushions (Ikea?) for $5 each (pictured above). On the back wall of the same shop I found a gorgeous kitsch print for only $19, but I left it behind because it just didn’t feel right to buy it. That print was meant for someone else, and whoever they are, it's probably looking fantastic in their loungeroom as I write!

5. Wait for prices to go down. As op store mavens know, ‘chainstore’ op shops like Salvos and Vinnies have a ticketing system that involves reducing the price of items that haven't sold after a certain time period. Independent op shops will often overprice their stock for much longer, but eventually they'll reduce the prices on items that aren't selling.



I waited about two months before I nabbed this gorgeous picture at my local op shop. It has a lovely carved frame in gold-coloured metal and is in great condition, but at $70 it was beyond my budget; about $45 would have been my limit. Luckily it was hanging quite high up on the wall so it was easy for shoppers to miss. One morning I dropped into the store and noticed that the price had been halved to $35. I snapped it up immediately! My patience had been rewarded.

Happy hunting!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Inspired Thrifting: What Makes a Good Find at the Op Shop or Thrift Store? and Great Tips for Successful Op and Thrift Shopping. 



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