Our best second-hand buys and how we've styled them
Need inspiration for second-hand shopping? Check out our favourite finds and how we've used them in our own homes
Both Charlotte and I are huge fans of rummaging through car boot sales and leisurely shopping in charity shops looking for the perfect item for our homes. Buying second-hand furniture and homewares has never been so popular. And with good reason too: not only does it stop homewares from ending up in landfill, you’re also saving potential CO2 emissions associated with buying brand-new. In need of some inspiration? Here, we reveal some of the best second-hand purchases we’ve made and how we’ve used them in our own homes.
CHARLOTTE’S FAVOURITE FINDS
Look out for designer homewares
I’ve always loved Tom Dixon’s designs, so I couldn’t resist it when I spotted this Tom Dixon tray with its distinctive shape, propped up in the corner of the charity shop. It had quite a bad ring stain on it, but for £3 (yes, THREE POUNDS) I thought it was worth the punt. As it happens, it fitted perfectly into the nook of our new media unit in the ‘grown-up’ living room and so I turned it into a little bar area (Martin and I are partial to a late-night snifter of port on the odd occasion) – the champagne bucket was also a second-hand buy.
Upcycle charity finds
I wanted a striking mirror for my daughter’s bedroom and found this more unusual hexagonal one in a local antiques and bric-a-brac shop – it cost around £28, but the orange pine wasn’t quite the look I was going for! I decided to use my leftover sample pots to paint it with a fun scallop pattern to match the scheme in the bedroom. This is the great thing about wooden frames – you can tie them in perfectly with your scheme to make them entirely unique to your space. I did the same with a couple of picture frames I picked up for a quid each and did a bit of a Matilda Goad-inspired stripy frame that really elevates them.
Visit second-hand rug shops
Who needs brand new when pre-loved shopping means you end up with something affordable and just as nice and sometimes even better made? Rugs are a great case in point. I wanted a pretty large rug to zone our family living space but was on a tight budget. I knew I wanted a kilim-style design, but similar ones I’d seen new were way out of my price range. I couldn’t believe it when I found this one after visiting Pantiles Oriental Rugs in Tunbridge Wells – the owner had so many reasonably priced kilims and she let me take it home to try it out first in case it wasn’t right. The colours and geometric shapes tied in perfectly with my Ottoline Bloomsbury Stripes wallpaper – meaning she was definitely a keeper! At £270, I think she was a stupendous steal.
Scroll through Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace was a real treasure trove when we were extending and an amazing way to get higher quality pieces on a shoestring budget. I spotted these Ca’ Pietra hexagonal tiles and knew they were the ones before I’d even decided on the rest of the scheme. They became the starting point for the design and only cost £35 for the lot. It’s great to check out tiles on second-hand sites for smaller spaces like cloakrooms or splashbacks, as often people will overbuy and have surplus stock sitting around. I also bought the majority of the CTD tiles in the shower enclosure from Facebook Marketplace and topped them up with a couple of extra boxes.
SOPHIE’S FAVOURITE FINDS
Shop your home
This is a really basic Ikea hack. You’ll have seen in last week’s newsletter that I’ve recently renovated my daughters Lily’s and Ada’s bathroom. At 4 years old, Lily is still a little too small to get on and off the toilet seat on her own and has to stand on tip toes to reach the bathroom sink. I started looking for a second-hand wooden stool online but couldn’t see anything locally in my price range, which was when I decided to upcycle an existing plastic Ikea stool that we already had in the house. I added a primer coat and then painted it in the same colour as the walls to help it blend in with the rest of the room!
Transform an old cabinet
A vintage sideboard, cabinet or dresser base can easily be repurposed as a bathroom vanity unit. I’ve done it twice now in mine and my husband’s en suite and in our daughters Lily’s and Ada’s bathroom. We found both units for around £200 each in our local antiques store in Crystal Palace. We probably ended up spending a little more buying in a London shop, but we didn’t have to pay for travel and delivery costs. We topped both with a quartz offcut sourced from a local supplier in Bromley called Marbles Ltd. We love the vintage vibe, mixed with the contemporary worktop and countertop basin. Plus, the amount of storage we now have in both bathroom spaces is exactly what we need in our busy family household!
Repurpose a drinks trolley
Although my husband and I enjoy a little tipple at night, with two girls running riot – along with their two younger and equally as pesky cousins on occasions – we can’t justify having drinks and glassware out on display. But when I saw this 1950s bar cart a few years back in a Lincolnshire antiques shop while visiting friends, I knew I had to have it. It reminded me of a trolley that my nan used to have. So instead of using it for its traditional purpose, I’ve made it into a plant stand!
Look out for discarded items
One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure, right? When I saw this wooden stool abandoned on the side of the road opposite our house, I immediately grabbed it before anyone else got a look in! You’ll see from the above idea, that I love displaying plants around the house and I’m always taking baby cuttings from my spider and aloe vera plants, meaning I’m always in need of extra surfaces to display them on. Which is where the stool came in handy for my daughter Ada’s bedroom. I sanded it down and painted it in a pink to match her existing bedroom decor scheme. I think the greenery helps create a peaceful bedroom sanctuary!
What eco and sustainable additions have you made to your home? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below…