Thrifty Garage Sale Cottage Decor | Decorating on a Budget

One of the best ways to add European farmhouse style to your home and save money is to use garage sale cottage decor as much as possible.

It’s garage sale season which is one of my favorite times of year.

The great prices you find at thrift stores never seem to compare to the prices I pay for the treasures I find at a garage sale.

So today I thought I’d share some of the tips I’ve learned over the years about garage sale shopping.

I also thought it would be fun to show you how I styled all the garage sale cottage decor I picked up over the past few weeks in this post.

Over on YouTube you can watch me talk about this garage sale haul, decorate the dining room and then see a big change we brought to the dining room!

How To Decorate Your Home on A Budget?

There are so many ways to decorate your home on a budget.

Some of the best tips I’ve learned are:

• Go slow; one project or space at a time (the right pieces for the right price will always surface if you’re patient)
• Don’t be afraid of the hunt (sometimes the perfect piece is at the bottom of a basket or at the back of the shelf)
• Shop second-hand stores and garage sales
• Check Facebook Marketplace for people looking to get rid of things for FREE
• Paint can transform and give new life to anything
• DIY projects are a must

How Do You Shop Successfully At a Garage Sale?

In order to feel like you’ve had a successful trip you have to be able to do two things.

1. Find a few items that you want to bring home
2. Don’t over spend

Increase Your Odds of Finding Amazing Things

While there is never any guarantee that you will find amazing items every time you head out to go garage sale shopping; you can increase your odds.

The first tip for increasing the likelihood that you find something awesome is to carve out time to go garage sale shopping.

Try to find community sales, so you know you can squeeze as many houses as possible into the allotted time.

Most times in community sales you end up running out of time before you run out of houses.

On the other hand, when it’s possible I always try to stop at garage sales on my way to all the places.

Even if it wasn’t on the schedule, I swing by the garage sale on the way to the grocery store or on my home from preschool drop-off.

Another thing that you can do when you plan to go garage sale shopping is make sure you have plenty of water and some snacks.

It can be hot while you shop, and the last thing you want is to be uncomfortable because you’re not taking care of your body.

This may also be something that I’ve learned to make garage sale shopping successful with kids haha!

Not that it’s a good thing, but I feel like I can manage myself a lot better without snacks than my girls can.

Don’t Over Spend

This is something that I have learned the hard way.

Does anyone else struggle with “buyers remorse”?

I struggle with it so intensely that when my husband and I first got married we ran to Value City to buy some newlywed budget furniture, and after we got home I called them and canceled a portion of the order.

I am terrible about spending money.

This is probably why I prefer to thrift and garage sale my way through life haha!

So, the way I protect myself from buyer remorse is I decided before I go how much I’m comfortable spending.

Most of the time its as little as $20-40.

I go to the ATM, grab that amount of money and then begin.

Then I don’t over spend.

Example: My husband and I have been going through a stressful season with some dreams being put on pause and it’s just been emotionally hard on both of us.

My husband told me he wanted me to go get a massage to help me relax.

This is a HUGE treat for me; it’s something I used to do regularly before getting married and having babies, but it costs money.

So here I am 2 weeks after my husband said “Call and make an appointment” and I’m like maybe I’ll just get a pedicure instead cause it’s half the price haha!

Thrifty Garage Sale Cottage Decor

Garage Sale Cottage Decor | From this trip

Baskets

You guys!

Do you believe me now?

I have a basket problem.

But I justified these baskets because they are laundry baskets and I only have 3 laundry baskets for our family of 5.

AND, they were only $7 for both of them!

I haven’t ever found baskets like this for $3.50, not even at my local Goodwill.

They are European farmhouse style and are so functional.

I’ve already added them to my laundry rhythm and I love it!

They are my favorite baskets to use.

Artwork

I actually found this at a “pre-garage sale” while I was picking up a Facebook Marketplace piece.

It’s a countryside landscape which is where my heart is.

Whenever I find artwork that takes me places I grab it.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was going to put it, but it drew me in and it was only $2.

For such a great price I felt like I couldn’t say no.

Not to mention if you take a look around my house at the artwork I have hanging up you’ll notice I have a thing for countryside landscapes.

Honestly, I think they help me refocus on that which matters most.

They speak to my heart.

Wooden Bowl

I wasn’t looking for a wooden bowl.

But I was looking for a large glass bowl or crock for my sourdough bread.

I have 2 bowls that are large enough for sourdough, so if they happen to be in the dishwasher or being used for something else then I’m stuck.

BUT, I do have a large crock bowl that I use for our produce.

I saw this bowl for $0.50 and decided I could swap the produce into this bowl and then I could use that crock for sourdough.

This is one of my favorite garage sale cottage decor finds of all my recent finds.

A large bowl or crock would have cost me $5-10 easily.

So solving my problem with a $0.50 wooden bowl is pretty amazing!

Furniture

I found a new dining room chair too.

We have 4 chairs and a bench currently.

The bench and 2 of the chairs are in rough shape.

They aren’t terrible, but they aren’t great.

So I decided to enhance the cottage feeling in our dining room by doing a mix match of dining room chairs.

I want them to all be similar in their simplicity.

All wood.

But other than that, I’m so excited to keep hunting for a couple more chairs to bring home.

This chair was marked at $10 and when I asked if she would take less she offered $7, which I was happy with.

If I’m being honest, I want to find them for $5, but for a chair that I liked and fit the bill I wasn’t going to split hairs over $2.

One of the things about a garage sale that I try to keep in mind is the idea of a win-win.

I want the person to feel like they got what it was worth, while I feel like I got a great deal.

Dishes

This is something I always look for because I am forever finding dings and chips in our dishes.

I usually can get them for $0.50-$1 at our local Goodwill, but garage sales seem to be better when it comes to saving money.

I’ve also been keeping my eye out for dishes because I want to add some plates and platters to the walls in the dining room.

So when I found this platter I immediately picked it up.

It was $3 and it’s Pfaltzgraff.

I looked it up after I got home and it’s on sale for $13 online right now.

So I’m very happy with the price I paid, not to mention it’s beautiful in its simplicity and I think it’s gonna look great on the wall for decor.

Pitchers

I’ve talked about pitchers for home decor before.

I find them to be a great addition to a kitchen or dining room decor.

But for us, we needed a pitcher for function.

I had a plastic pitcher, but every time I would pour the lemonade it would spill down the front of the pitcher and made me not want to use it.

But in the summer lemonade and ice tea are so refreshing!

So when I found this pitcher at a garage sale for $2, I asked the lady about the spilling situation.

She told me this pitcher never did that to her, she just didn’t use it anymore.

That’s another thing you can’t do at a thrift store.

When garage sale shopping you can ask questions and get answers from the people who used the items.

Garage Sale Cottage Decor | What I’m always on the lookout for

I feel like I have a mental running list of things and I don’t even realize what all of them are.

For this specific garage sale haul I knew I was looking for some dining room items, but I also found things that I didn’t have in mind for the dining room specifically.

So I sat down and actually wrote out some of the things I always look for in case it would help you know what to look for while you garage sale this summer.

• books (for decor and enjoyment)
• ironstone
• candlestick holders
• holiday decor
• breadboards
• baskets
• dishes
• clothes (especially for the girls)
• small wooden furniture (side tables/chairs)
• artwork/frames
• wood accessories
• vases/pitchers
• holiday decor
• homeschool/teaching items (folders, notebooks, etc.)

Dining Room Changes

Well, that’s all I have for my recent garage sale haul.

But I did want to tell you, that I shared something in my YouTube video that isn’t in this blog post.

I recently bought something off Facebook marketplace and in my video I share my husband and I bringing it in the dining room.

If you have time I’d love for you to head over there and let me know what you think.

I’m still undecided…

More Summer Inspiration

Summer Living Room Decor

Summer Kitchen Decor

Pin for Later!

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Have a great week! XoXo

Open Your Doors,
Aliya

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