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Thrifting for Vintage Summer Decor: Affordable Style for Any Room

By Rachel

published 05/29/2025

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Discover how to refresh your home with affordable vintage summer decor! Adorn any room with sustainable yet stylish seasonal charm.

Tired of spending a fortune on seasonal home decor? Or, maybe you are looking to add a touch of unique style to your living space without breaking the bank. Either way, look no further than the world of thrifting! With its affordable prices and endless possibilities, thrifting offers a budget-friendly way to infuse your home with charm and character. Join me as we go thrifting for vintage summer decor to achieve affordable style for any room!

Vintage Home Refresh: Summer Vibes on a Dime

I don’t know about you but here in the North, after a long winter, I crave the warm days of summer. With heaps of sunshine and easy, breezy weather, I have all the desire to reflect the beautiful sunny aesthetic inside my home.

Table of Contents

From vintage dishes to versatile decor pieces, you can transform any room into a summer oasis. In this blog post, we will explore the art of thrifting and how thrifted items can create a stylish and inviting space without overspending.

I’ll cover topics such as why to thrift, styling tips for thrifted decor, and simple thrifting advice as well as share a recent thrift haul! Here, I will guide you through finding and styling unique, budget-friendly summer decor from secondhand stores.

So, if you’re ready, grab your bag and let’s go thrifting! Get ready to find hidden gems and give your home a vintage makeover while staying on budget.

Thrifted Goodies Volume 35- Thrifting for Vintage Summer Decor: Affordable Style for Any Room

Hello, guys!

Welcome, or welcome back, to the blog and to the next installment in the ‘Thrifted Goodies’ series! If you are new around here, welcome!

This is a monthly series where my friend MaryJo from the blog Master’pieces’ of my Life and I share thrift hauls, thrifting tips, and general thrift shopping advice.

MasterPieces of My Life

My partner in this series, MaryJo, is sharing how to decorate a summer mantel with thrifted finds! How fun is that?!

After you are done here, head over to her post and say hello! You may find just the thing you are looking for.

MasterPieces of My Life Social Channels:

Shop Favorite Vintage Summer Decor

Why Thrift for Summer Decor?

So, you might be wondering, “Rachel, what’s so special about thrifting anyways? Like, why thrift for seasonal decor when I can just go to Target?”

So glad you asked!

Let’s chat about four points below on why thrifting is always a good idea!

Eco-Friendly Decorating

I’ve talked about this very thing a ton here on the blog because it’s something I’m super passionate about. It’s no secret that buying secondhand reduces waste and minimizes your carbon footprint by giving already made items a second life.
To me, the benefits of thrifting for sustainable summer decor, such as the cheap price points and variety of vintage options, outweigh shopping at big box stores.

Affordable Home Decor

Did I mention that thrifting is cheap?! Over the years, I can safely say that I’ve saved thousands of dollars on items such as furniture, home decor, needed home items, and clothing.
Thrifting yields significant cost savings compared to buying new seasonal decor! A stylish summer home doesn’t require a large budget.

One-of-a-Kind Finds

When you thrift for decor, there is immense joy in discovering unique summer finds that offer character and tell your story. Mass-produced items cannot do that because they are new and purchased by thousands of others.
Vintage summer decor found at thrift shops or antique stores brings personality to any space in your home!

Helps to Embrace Imperfections

- Sometimes, I struggle with perfectionism. But, thrifted decor and vintage finds helps me to remember that nothing is perfect.
  Old things, due to their age, come with flaws such as cracks, chips, or stains. However, those minor imperfections add charm and authenticity, helping my space, and my soul, be beautifully imperfect.

Tips for Successful Summer Thrifting Adventures

To be successful at finding what you are looking for when thrifting, there are a few key tips that I’ve learned to abide by. These are simple thrifting methodologies from my back pocket that have enabled me to find the good stuff again and again!

1. Have a Thrift List (But Be Flexible)

I suggest having a general idea of what you’re looking for. This not only helps with remembering what you went to look for in the first place but also curbs overspending (a list on your phone is handy). However, remaining open to unexpected treasures that may pop up is my preferred method of thrift shopping!

2. Assess Quality & Condition

Before purchasing a found item at the thrift, I always give the thing a once over to check for damage, stability, and the potential for cleaning or repairs. Small chips or cracks in vintage pieces are totally fine by me but, if it’s a piece of furniture or something of that nature, I always make sure that it’s suitable for use.

3. Visualize the Potential

Look beyond an item’s current state! Try and visualize the potential it could hold with a fresh coat of paint or by using it in a different way. For example, I buy vintage pitchers not to use for water beverages but rather to use as vases or vessels for styling into vignettes. Get creative, guys!

4. Go Often!

Finally, and the most important point, is to go thrifting often! To find the good stuff, or to find the things you are looking for, try and get to the thrift shop once a week. Inventory changes daily and goes quickly. For the best selection, try going on a weekday morning!

Top Thrift Finds for a Sunny Summer Home: Haul and Styling Tips

Okay! Now, with all that thrifty knowledge tucked safely into your back pocket for later, I want to show you some recent thrift finds! All of these vintage decor pieces are items that I can use in my home for summer with simple seasonal tweaks.

I’ve found some amazing things so let’s get into it!

1. Three Vintage Copper Bowls

We are starting with my most favorite find first. You GUYS! I cannot believe this.

Hubby took me vintage shopping for my birthday last month and gave me a set amount of money to buy whatever I wanted. Well, we were at a vintage shop that I hadn’t been to for years and, inside one of the booths, were these copper bowls. Now, mind you, I haven’t found a piece of vintage copper in probably six months!

Each bowl was priced individually but the prices?! AMAZING! I paid $18 for ALL of them!! Usually one copper bowl is about $25 on the low end. Mind. Blown. Yes, please!

I have the set of them hanging above a doorway in the kitchen that leads to the dining table. In my head, I’ve always envisioned something copper hanging here and now that vision has come to life!

I display my copper collection all year round because it’s timeless for any season. My pretty bowls are perfect here for summer and beyond!

2. Lidded Milk Glass Dish

Yet another find from the same store as above, this hobnail milk glass dish is incredible. I’ve never seen this shape before and it did test for the ‘ring of fire’, meaning genuine milk glass, so into my pile it went. There is a small chip on the lid so the vendor had it marked accordingly at just $5…that’s like a thrift store price!

For summer, it’s going to be styled with yellow and blue accents on the mantel. I’m so happy to add this piece to my collection!

3. Porcelain Candle Holder

This was a super fun and unexpected find.

On a recent thrift stop, I was rummaging through some boxes in the back of the store that hadn’t been unpacked yet. I happened to spot this Homco porcelain candle holder in one of the boxes priced at just $1.99!

What’s super neat is that I thrifted a round wall hanging with this exact same blue floral pattern years ago. So, now, I have a matching set I guess…that’s what’s SO great about thrifting…you just never know what you’re going to find!

I styled it in my curved curio cabinet atop a stack of vintage plates. Since that’s the place where I display all of my blue and white decor now, this candle holder fits in perfectly.

4. 3 Vintage Books

On the same birthday thrifting outing, I hit the vintage book jackpot!

I found all three of these old books together on a shelf and they were just $3.00 a piece. I RARELY come across pretty vintage books at thrift shops these days so I was super excited to find them.

In my home, I mainly use antique and vintage books for decor purposes. I style them into vignettes or utilize them for height in seasonal displays.

The light blue book about being a hostess is HILARIOUS! When I opened the cover, there was a bunch of other vintage ephemera from the lady who owned the book way back when.

If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you should because I shared a whole video on all of the silly things I found when rummaging through this book. It’s circa 1930’s.

I always love coming across antique hymnals. With a strong Lutheran upbringing, hymnals remind me of my grandma Jean. The hymnal I found at the thrift store is full of scribbles, small notes, and music methodology notations inside the back cover.

Maybe it was used as part of a church choir? Regardless, it’s amazing to have this old book as a part of my story now.

Finally, a PLAID book?! Like, how pretty!!

Never have I ever come across an old plaid book. And, this one is about fishing…it’s called ‘The Big Fisherman’.

What’s super neat is that there is a really cool map on the inside cover. This book spoke to me due to the plaid pattern as well as the subject manner. It’s circa 1948!

5. Blue Milk Glass Plate

Have you ever found blue milk glass while thrifting?! I knew it existed but have never come across it out in the wild.

This plate is marked ‘Fire King’ on the back, which is great. I always tend to gravitate towards vintage pieces that have a marking or stamp on the back versus not…that way I just know that it’s authentic.

My new blue plate is styled in my curved cabinet alongside its other blue and white friends 🙂 What a score for only $1.00!

6. Ironstone Platter

Last but not least is this stunningly huge ironstone platter by J & G Meakin.

I love to pick up these neutral platters whenever I find them for a good price to use in the background of seasonal vignettes and displays, as seen below. This one was $6.00, which is a tad more than I normally pay, but I didn’t have this pattern yet so I felt okay about it.

Ironstone platters are practical and versatile pieces of home decor. I mean, you could always use another serving dish for Thanksgiving, right?!

And then, when the platters aren’t being used for food, they become lovely accent pieces to use throughout your home! (Yes, I use platters as decor even in my bedroom, like behind a row of books on my dresser)

Closing Tidbits on Thrifting for Vintage Summer Decor: Affordable Style for Any Room

With that, this thrifted goodies has come to a close. Thrifting for summer decor is a true joy due to the unique, one-of-a-kind finds and the affordability of it all. I truly hope that the tips offered here encourage you to embrace sustainable summer style AND get you inspired to embark on your own thrifting adventure this season.

Thrifted decor allows your home to tell a story, your story. I can’t think of a better way to embody the carefree spirit of summer!

Be encouraged to thrift your way to special summer home, one sustainable find at a time.

I would love to know what you’ve been finding at the thrift stores recently! Leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @theantiquedjourney.

If you are new here, I’m Rachel, the writer and content creator here at The Antiqued Journey. I’m so happy to have you! I encourage you to stop by the ‘about me’ page to get to know me a little more.

Here on the blog, you will find loads of inspiration for decorating with vintage and antique decor, simple DIY crafts and many thrifting adventures. If that interests you, I invite you to sign up for my e-mail. You will receive a free digital download as a thank you!