Guide to Thrifted Furniture

I’ve been thrifting since middle school, frequenting secondhand stores, flea markets, garage sales and antique malls ever since. While vintage jewelry used to score high on my list, today, as a homeowner, I’m all about beautifully made midcentury furniture pieces.

While I do scour thrift shops often, my best furniture find sits in my front entryway: A teak midcentury credenza made in Denmark, discovered at my favorite local antique store.

As Virginia Chamlee, a thrifting expert and author of the best-selling book, Big Thrift Energy, puts it, “Thrifting is scouring thrift stores for heavily discounted used items.” Today, she believes the term has expanded to include rummage sales, antique stores and anywhere else you can find bygone items.

Why do people, including myself, return again and again to these secondhand destinations? “The thrill of the hunt,” says Sarah Lyon, a freelance interior design writer and avid thrifter. “That is, never knowing exactly what you’ll come across when visiting a thrift shop.”

Ksenya Malina, founder of New York-based design studio Time & Place Interiors, defines thrifting more broadly. She believes it involves buying any home decor, furniture, clothing or household items secondhand. Check out our guide to know where to sell furniture.

Currently, thrifting is experiencing a resurgence. Beloved for its eco-friendliness, low price tags and “character,” thrifting is trending in a big way. And it’s a fantastic outlet for uncovering hidden-gem furniture pieces that tend to be much better made than furniture in big-box stores.

Thrifting 101/Basics

If you’re a first-time thrifter, here’s what you should know before heading out.

• Transportation: If you’re shopping for furniture, remember to “clear out your backseat and trunk to maximize your storage space,” says smart shopping expert Trae Bodge. Lyon says if you don’t have access to a vehicle, it’s wise to look into moving solutions ahead of time, like TaskRabbit. Or give a friend with a van a head’s up that you might need their assistance should you score big.

• Cash: Some secondhand shops may offer discounts if you pay with cash. And cash is just a good idea if you’re going to flea markets and garage sales where you likely can’t pay with a credit card. Hit the ATM before you go. Otherwise, particularly at flea markets, payment options are becoming more and more modernized, with vendors using Venmo, Apple Pay or Zelle. Many offer Square so you can use your card.
• Tape measure: “If you’re shopping for a specific, larger piece, such as a new dining room table or a media stand, bringing a tape measure is key,” Lyon says. “Of course, take any measurements of your desired space before leaving home to shop, so that you have a clear sense of what size item will fit.”
• Blankets: For your vehicle, bring along blankets or even rugs so items don’t shift and scuff during transport.
• Rope/bungee cords: “Bungee cords are great for sofas or large items like pianos,” says Tyler Chanel, founder of the blog Thrifts & Tangles.
• Negotiation/haggling: Negotiations are hit or miss.
  • Chamlee says charities run most thrift stores, so they understandably don’t permit haggling.
  • Saraid, of the blog Sunset Saraid, says negotiable prices at antique stores or estate sales depend on the seller.
  • Lyon says some thrift stores offer discount days or mark down certain tag colors.
  • When haggling, be respectful to the seller. “Remember, it took the vendor considerable time and effort to source the piece and get it to the market,” Chamlee says. “That being said, most vendors expect to negotiate and are more than willing, particularly if you’re buying multiple items. For one piece, I generally don’t go lower than 15% off, unless I’m buying in bulk.”
  • Chanel adds if an item is dinged up, you can usually negotiate a better deal.

Best Pieces of Furniture to Thrift

For furniture that’s worth the money and effort, keep these expert tips in mind:

• Anything made of marble or stone: “These pieces are classics,” Chamlee says. “They’ll always be in style, and they’re generally so expensive elsewhere.”
• Midcentury modern pieces: Saraid says some of her favorite pieces of furniture she’s thrifted are midcentury wood side tables and a credenza. “I love vintage pieces because the quality is better than most pieces created today,” she says.
• Stools and end tables: Lyon says these pieces can conveniently double as cocktail tables or surfaces to display plants.
• Large furniture items: “The best furniture pieces to thrift are dressers, armoires or large floor-length mirrors,” Chanel says. “You’ll spend a fortune buying these items brand new. These pieces are usually great quality and a fraction of the price.”

Worst Pieces of Furniture to Thrift

And then there are some furniture pieces that are rarely a good idea.

• Anything missing a leg or arm: These furniture pieces are a “no go” for Chamlee. “I’ve been burned in the past by thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll fix this up,’ ” she says, “and then I bring a broken item home just to see it languish in my garage for years.”
• Upholstered items: Bodge says she would never buy a large, upholstered easy chair or couch secondhand. “You never know if there are bedbugs or other critters, or if liquids have been spilled in the past, ruining the integrity of the foam or stuffing,” she says. “Dining room chairs with soft seats are OK because you can remove and replace the seats fairly easily if you are handy.”
• Damaged pieces: Major damage is a major red flag:
  • “The worst pieces to buy are items that are truly damaged,” Chanel says. “Some thrifted damaged items will cost more to repair than just buying it new.”
  • Chamlee recommends checking for wobbly legs, working drawers and other aspects to ensure a piece is even worth bringing home.
  • Bodge adds: “If an item is damaged, assess how much labor and materials it will require to repair it. Be realistic about how much time and money you are willing to invest.”

Additional Expert Advice

Hoping for a real score? Malina suggests checking the undersides of furniture and decor for labels and doing a quick search on your phone to identify makers.

“Open drawers to look for markings,” she says. “Beware of falsely-identified replicas, especially for super-trendy midcentury designs whose fakes are ubiquitous on the market.”

Finally, if you’ve decided to commit to it, be willing to thrift often. Lyon says because these stores have so much turnover, “The more you go [and the earlier in the day you go], the most likely you are to get your hands on new, hot-ticket items before other people scoop them up.”