Frugal Projects That Stand The Test of Time
by Katy on July 18, 2023 · 39 comments
I look around my house and almost everything is either thrifted, curb picked, upcycled or horked* from my mom’s house. Even so, I think my house looks great despite the humble origins of all my furnishings.
Of course a house described as fully thrifted or garbage picked doesn’t paint a pretty picture. So much so that Stephanie Becker, the producer for my Today Show segment wrote a whole article about how surprised she was that my house wasn’t “A house of horrors — decrepit furniture, smelly clothing and broken-down appliances — but instead, her home was lovely and homey.”
Umm . . . thanks?
I’ve shared the following projects over the years, but thought it would nice to post a recap of a few pieces in a single blog post.
I painted this curb picked Union Jack side table in 2015 and it’s since served as everything from a side table to its current iteration as a plant stand. It weights next to nothing and the side flaps flip up for a larger tabletop. Super handy, I’ll keep it forever.
I refinished my Princess Katy bedside table in 2010, having used it previously as my 25-year-old son’s changing table. My mom likely thrifted at for a couple bucks at the Goodwill bins and it’s a keeper. I garbage picked the vintage glass knobs from someone’s broken down desk.
Our kitchen island is also a 2010 project and involved no purchases beyond the single $89 piece of IKEA butcher block. We already owned the metro shelving which kept this project under budget. Not only does it have storage, the prep space is a thing of beauty. Mwah!
This 2015 campaign dresser is not only strong enough to hold the 165 pound got-it-for-free TV in our bedroom, but also neatly contains all our family photos. I splurged and paid $19.99 for this Goodwill dresser, but balanced that out by spending just $2 on the paint at the Habitat Restore. Classic lines plus ungodly heavy means this one is also a keeper.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these frugal furniture projects all in one place. Especially since my home is not a “house of horrors!”
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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* “Horked” is defined in my family as “borrowed without a plan to ever return.” It’s an excellent word, which I highly recommend adding to your vocabulary!
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{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
People can be so rude!! And people who have never thrifted or come from families who always buy new, are missing out and have wrong notions about what’s possible!!! (AND spend a lot of money!!)
I have friends who really(quietly,mostly) judge me because most of my clothes comes from consignment and thrift stores. They do not understand how much FUN the thrill of the hunt is, for me, and also that I LOVE european and boutique brands, and I FIND THEM in abundance at my fave resale shops, for pennies on the dollar. I do love my clothes but would NEVER pay retail for the stuff I want.AND I get all those brands in ONE STORE..I hate running from store to store.
For those people who buy retail:SOMEONE may have had that garment on their body in the dressing room and it wasn’t even LAUNDERED afterwards!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE recycling. Clothes,furnishings, you name it.I love your refinishing projects, and the Frugal Girl’s too..
KEEP SHARING WITH US!
I think of clothes and other goods a lot like the price of a passengers ticket on an airplane. Everyone pays a different price, but no one knows what the other persons ticket cost…
I dont tell people that I get most of my clothes second hand, or as hand me down gifts from friends. We dont tell everyone we got my sons polo shirts for school for $2 a shirt at sale at a thrift shop, and most had their tags still on them. We dont have to tell everyone, and when we sit next to them at work, school, or other social venues, no one knows the wiser. But, I’m willing to share that information with people who I perceive are interested and open to hearing it.
That’s how we differ I guess, as I’m a blabbermouth about nonconsumerism.
I dont have a platform or anything that I promote so I feel like it’s nice to have a more private life and avoid the judgement and opinion of others. I’ve often thought of creating a Youtube channel but dont know that I could come up with constant content. Also, I think I’m in a thinning stage in life. I want to have as little responsibility as possible lately and I’m doing some of that with decluttering and putting things in order.
No, read her article — it’s gushingly complimentary!
Likewise with dishes, pots & pans and utensils from thrift shops…don’t people who claim to be too squeamish to eat with those realize every time they eat in a restaurant, they’re eating with “usedgoods”? Possibly hundreds if not thousands of people have eaten off them?
Plus used sheets in hotels, used upholstered furniture in waiting rooms and on airplanes.
Your “horked” is my “snarfed.” Now I have just expanded my vocabulary. Thank you.
BTW, your home is thoughtfully and lovingly curated 🙂
Thank you! Adding “snarf” to my vocabulary.
Your TV reminds me of our 1994 stunner that just recently conked out after a long and happy life. It look up a lot of space, but there was a wacky niche in the wall that it fit perfectly into. They (the TV and the niche) were made for each other.
We’re also still using our microwave from 1995. We loaned it out once for several years, then got it back when we needed again. It runs like new.
When my sister got her 3rd (and I hope last) divorce her ex took most of her kitchen items. I curb picked crock pot, toaster oven, toaster, bar stools, Ethan Allen end table, a lamp, a brand-new comforter & shams, and who knows what else. She happily took these items & it saved her a lot of $. I cleaned & washed it first of course. A friend of hers at work gave her a nice chest of drawers & mirror to go over the chest. I couldn’t find an electric can opener so I bought that for her Christmas present with some Ace Hardware points. She sold her former house & bought a different one. A clean sweep!
There’s almost nothing that can’t be sourced on the secondhand market!
I was sitting in my living room the other night and looking around and thought everything here is mainly a gift, thriftedor from a garage sale-and it made me smile.
It tells a better story, plus stuff that wasn’t trendy won’t look dated.
I also have a home filled with secondhand treasures. Your home is lovely. I especially like the campaign chest. This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. It’s modern yet traditional at the same time.
BTW, I have a question regarding your television. It looks as though it pre-dates flat screens and digital programming. I was wondering how you used this TV. Do you have a converter box and a digital antenna? Do you use it primarily for watching movies thus having a DVD/VHS player? Or do you use a HDMI along with your laptop? I sometimes run across older televisions, but never thought that they could be used.
It’s an early-ish flat screen TV, so we’re able to hook it up to streaming boxes and watch Netflix, etc. I’m guessing it’s from 2005 or so.
What a nice home you have!
I had to Google the meaning of “horked”. Here is what I got:
(slang) To eat hastily or greedily; to gobble. I don’t know what got into her, but she horked all those hoagies last night!
And…..it is my new favorite word and I am going to work it into daily conversations.
I saw that as well, although we enjoy our own definition.
Just tilt the kaleidoscope a little bit further and see that a house full of antiques is really a house full of hand-me-downs or thrifted or otherwise used items. Yet the word “antiques” conveys some, what, gravitas?
(P.S. I admire you now, but if you can tell me your photographs are carefully organized in that chest, I will admire you even more).
Hopefully avoiding the “fussy grandma” vibe.
I love your kitchen island!
Thank you, it was an absolute game changer! Plus, it’s taller than an average kitchen surface which works for us as my husband and I are also a bit taller than average.
What a dreadful thing to say – your projects are all lovely.
And I’m genuinely coveting that little Union Jack table.
Lovely house. Cool stuff. Interesting stories of origin.
I remember when this first came out! I’m amazed at how long you have been doing this, and doing it well. Your home is beautiful! Thanks for the peeks into your projects.
There’s at least one thing I’ve sewn in every room of our house, and often from fabric I thrifted, yard saled, or recycled. It makes me happy to look around and see my work, and I am sure you feel the same way.
So many of my household items, from furniture to tablecloths to framed paintings, belonged to my parents, my grandparents and even my great grandparents. I even had a pair of simple small gold hoop earrings that belonged to my great great grandmother given to me by my grandmother. I gave them to my own granddaughter on her 16th birthday. I treasure having their things around me and sometimes recall stories attached to them told to me in years past.
I admire your ingenuity Katy, in making secondhand items work so well in your beautiful home. I especially loved the Princess Katy table since it was also used a changing table for your babies. Things don’t mean a lot but the memories attached to them are priceless.
I used to get annoyed with people who told me to enjoy having babies as time flies too quickly. Turns out they were right. By the way, I was enjoying them, I was lucky to have easy babies.
My husband and I bought a wooden campaign dresser in 1974, one of the first pieces of furniture we purchased after we tied the knot. We used it as is for a decade. When I grew tired of the style he removed the hardware, filled in the cracks and holes, primed, painted it off white and added simple white knobs. It has held my sewing supplies for almost forty years now. I love it. Wooden furniture can be refreshed forever. It’s the best.
Forever and ever . . .
Had to laugh – in our house, your “horked” is a certain sound. “The cat horked up another hairball and it’s your turn.”
I think that’s the normal definition, your family is not alone.
I meant to comment when I first read this post – looking around my living room, there is NOTHING in the way of furniture here that was bought new. I have 5 pieces from my Dad’s cousins – still have the original bill of sale for them along with a bed and a few other things, the total came to under $100 – mind you, the Bill of Sale is from 1905…. I have two leather lay-Z-Boy chairs that I bought from my #2 daughter (the chosen one not the birthed one) for $200 total, she had purchased them for the same 6 years ago and I coveted them, when she moved to her first owned home the living room was too small. She would have given them to me but – new home? HA, I happily purchased. Gave the thrift store back the not-perfect non-name-brand lay-Z-Boy along with two matching chairs that I had purchased for cheap… I moved the other big chair (a gift/trade with a girlfriend. I gave HER a chair, she gave ME one, we both were happy) to a different corner of the room. I am down one soft chair however the room is much bigger. the table is a Buy-nothing gift, the antique singer sewing machine (foot powered) is from my friend who died, the hope chest in the corner was made by my great-grandfather during the depression and willed to me by my great-grandmother when she died in 1960…I have some expensive -to -me art on the wall that was created by friends and friends of my son (brilliant large pieces that I adore) and I LOVE this space. Anyway, all flat surfaces are covered with books so why would I want to invest in anything more expensive and likely less substantial? Love your blog, Katy – continue to be inspired.
Wow, I can picture it all! Thank you for taking the time to chronicle all your furniture for us.
My absolute favourite piece of furniture is a teak side board my in laws purchased in England in 1955, they shipped it to the US with their 1st move and to Canada with their second. It has been mine for 10 years and I am about to ship it 2000 km across country to my new home. The kitchen table it matches is still going strong and one of our sons has already called dibs on it when his grandfather is done with it.
What’s not to love about furniture with a story.
I wish there was a way for you to share a photo!
In my family, “horked” means something like “to steal brazenly and cheerfully, with grudging consent from the current owner, who is probably your mom, aunt or indulgent older sibling, for an undefined period of time.” It is also part of the portmanteau “horkticulture,” – “to obtain plant genetic matter by scrounging, especially by pinching a plant of any provenance that benefits from pinching.” My mom was a past master of the art.
Yes!!!!!
Thank you for inspiration! Seeing your kitchen island made me realize that a vintage rolling 3-shelf cart that is currently under utilized is exactly what I need for a printer stand! I was planning on looking at Habitat until I was catching up on your posts today and I discovered I already have something that will work. Hooray!