Skip to Content

How to Decorate With Vintage Treasures & Thrift Store Collectibles

Do you love the look of vintage home decor but don’t want to spend a fortune? If so, you’re in luck! There are plenty of ways to decorate your home with thrift store finds and vintage treasure collections without breaking the bank.

Here are some tips on how to begin collecting vintage treasures and how to style them in a way that looks stylish and cohesive.

So whether you’re a thrift store pro or a beginner, read for some great tips on decorating your home with thrift stores and vintage treasures!

Vintage step back hutch with budget friendly vintage treasures found at Thrift Stores.

How To Style With Vintage Treasures Collectibles

There are so many options for displaying your collectibles; I’ll share those with you and some great visual inspiration.

I get many questions about what I do with my thrift store finds, and I honestly display almost everything I find. Maybe not all at the same time, but almost everything is something I use in my home decor.

I love to collect, but I don’t have collections like some of the ladies that inspire me. So today, I’ll be sharing some pro collectors with you and some of my meager collections.

Antique Pine Hutch filled with Budget Friendly thrift store finds and vintage treasures for Farmhouse Decorating.

Thrifting with the Gals

Do you love the thrill of the hunt? The ladies from Thrifting with the Gals are all sharing tips about using your thrift store finds today. In addition, Brooke from The Junk Parlor is joining us with her fabulous budget-friendly thrifting tips. I’m so glad you stopped by if you are joining me from Kim at Shiplap and Shells. Be sure to check the end of this post for all the links.

(Posts on The Ponds Farmhouse may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See the full disclosure details here.)

What is a Thrift Store Find Collection?

First, everything doesn’t have to come from thrift stores. You may find many items at yard sales, flea markets, estate sales, and antique shops. So I’m referring to anything you have collected over 3 of.

I have many collections, and I don’t style everything together, but the smaller the item, the better they look displayed together.

Thrift Store Finds - Shopping for collectibles to display in your home.

Displaying Vintage Treasures on the Wall

A favorite way to display vintage treasure collections is on the wall. You can see beautiful collections of plates, platters, copper, breadboard, and more hanging on a wall for a lovely display.

Plates and Platters – Thrift Store Finds

Last week, I shared 5 Easy Bedroom Ideas for Spring.

For this update, I pulled all my thrifted blue & white transferware pitches, platters & plates to display together. You can see the impact of the entire collection on the room.

Several dishes and platters are displayed on the wall above the bed. To complete the vignette, several transferware pitchers are nestled on the mantel among vintage books used as risers.

Vintage treasures - blue transferware pitchers, platter, and plates displayed over bed.  Thrift Store Finds for Farmhouse decor.

Vintage transferware dishes displayed inside a old picture frame. Thrift Store finds for farmhouse decor.

If your collection is small, consider framing the collection of plates with a vintage picture frame.

The frame allows you to display smaller pieces until your collection grows.

If you want to see more ways to use vintage frames, read 19 Ways To Up-cycle Vintage Frames.

My favorite plate display belongs to Jenny at Farmhouse Luv. The various blue and white transferware patterns are perfectly mixed and matched for a timeless style.

Blue and white dishes wall display. Vintage treasure and budget-friendly thrift store finds.

Click Images for Resources

Insider Tip – How To Hang Plates On A Wall

When displaying plates and platters on a wall, it’s important to choose hangers that are safe and will support the vintage treasures.

Here are some suggested plate hangers

More Vintage Treasures and Collections Wall Display

Vintage wooden shifters displayed on wall over sofa for economical farmhouse decorating.

One of my favorite wall collections belongs to Jenn at Down Shiloh Road.

I love how she displays her collection of vintage shifters. Check out the vintage treasure of ironstone in the corner cabinet as well.

Another great thrift store find is vintage copper pots.

We recently added a DIY Copper Pot Hanger to allow the copper pot collection to be displayed above the kitchen window.

The pot hanging rack was an easy and budget-friendly option for displaying a curated collection of copper.

Vintage Copper hangs on a brick wall with DIY copper pot hanging rack. Sustainable Farmhouse Decorating Ideas.

Display vintage picture frames and vintage treasures in a gallery wall Eco-friendly Farmhouse Decorating.

You can create a gallery wall of vintage photos and old picture frames.

Check out How To Hang A Gallery Wall Without A Mistake.

How to Display Smaller Thrift Store Finds Collections

One of my favorite thrift store finds is kitchen vintage kitchen utensils. There are several ways to display smaller items, and here are some great tips.

Old Rolling Pin Collection display on kitchen countertops Cottage and farmhouse style decorating ideas.

One of my favorite collections is vintage rolling pins. Many are thrift store finds.

This is an example of a collectible that completely loses its value when not grouped together.

By placing them in a vintage toolbox, they create one of my favorite vignettes.

A favorite way to decorate with vintage treasure collections is to display them on a plate rack.

This DIY plate rack is perfect for displaying the budget-friendly breadboard, copper, and ironstone.

DIY plate rack perfect for breadboards, ironstone and copper vintage treasure collections

Old scales and smashers budget minded thrift store finds.

Amy at My Rustic House has beautifully displayed several smaller thrift store finds collectibles on her vintage Hoosier cabinet.

Notice the vintage spoons, smashers, scales, butter pats & ironstone collections that she has thrifted for years.

Tablescapes With Vintage Treasures And Collections

Creating a pretty table setting is another of my favorite ways to display collections. It gives me an outlet for my obsession with dishes and vintage tableware. When you use collected pieces, the table is so much more unique and interesting.

Jadeite Collection

Emily at The Thrifted Table is an avid tableware collector. Her St. Paddy’s Day tablescape is stunning with her jadeite collection.

Collection of Jadeite on St. Paddy's Day Table Setting. Antique Collectibles.

Milk Glass Budget Vintage Treasure

Budget-Friendly Thrift Store Finds milk glass used to decorate a Valentine's Day Tablescape.

Check out this Milk Glass collection for a Galentine’s Brunch.

I used vintage table linens and a collection of old milk glass vases for the centerpiece.

The budget-friendly table is almost exclusively thrifted.

Vintage Clock Collection

My friend Michele at Vintage Home Design used her collection of clocks to ring in the New Year with this fun New Year’s Eve Tablescape Centerpiece.

Vintage Treasure Clock collection for New Year's Eve party table display with thrift store finds.

Cabinets and Hutches Perfect For Thrift Store Finds

Another perfect way to display your collectibles is to gather them all together in a great vintage hutch or cabinet. Here are some stunning displays that will take your breath away and make you want to join us for Thrifting With the Gals every month.

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so that you never miss an adventure.

Antique hutch filled with antique jadiete & vintage treasures for classic farmhouse style decorating.

Just look at this stunning collection of Jadiete from Katie at Baker’s Nest.

Debra at Vintage Crushin introduced me to Ironstone and how to know if it’s the real deal.

She loves budget-friendly thrift store shopping.

Look at her many vintage treasures, so beautifully displayed.

Ironstone collection in a green hutch for farmhouse style budget decorating tips.
Blue and White Dish collection on a hutch

Lindy at Lindy’s Blue Rabbit Cottage has been collecting Blue & White Dishes since she was 5 years old, with her first tea set, and it’s proudly displayed here.

What’s more beautiful than a primitive cabinet filled with vintage canning jars? Shelby at Exceeding Joy perfectly displays her vintage treasure collection.

Also, check out the old crock collection.

Vintage treasures fill a cupboard with old crocks and blue canning jars and budget-minded thrift store finds.
Ironstone fill a antique pine hutch. Classic Woods and Whites decor for a country chic farmhouse style.

The antique honey pine hutch creates a warm display area for this hodge-podge collection of ironstone dishes and pitchers.

Most of my finds are budget pieces, and some are stained and well-used.

Check out Decorating with Antique Furniture in A Modern Farmhouse for a full view of the hutch.

Insider Tip – Group Collectibles

The one thing you will notice is that the vintage treasure collections are grouped together and, therefore, have more visual impact.

Display groups of three or more items to create stylish and timeless vignettes within your home.

I hope these tips inspire you to pull your collections out of the closet and display them proudly.

Resources

More Thrift Store & Vintage Treasures Inspiration

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the collections and collectors who inspire me when I’m out Thrifting with the Gals. Now it’s time to see what tips and tricks my friends are sharing with you this week. Next up is Ann at Dabbling & Decorating from Maine. Click on the highlighted names to link to each post.

Stacy Ling at Bricks N Blooms / Kim at Shiplap & Shells / Rachel – The Ponds Farmhouse / Ann – Dabbling & Decorating / Kristin – White Arrows Home / Brooke – The Junk Parlor

If you enjoy learning more about decorating with thrift store finds, check out 9 Unique Vintage Bedroom Ideas or Where to Shop

Pin It To Remember It

Did you find some great ideas you’d like to save for future reference? Hover over the images you’d like to save and pin to your favorite Pinterest Boards when you see the PIN button.

Vintage Thrift Store Finds and Collectibles for Budget-Friendly Cottage and Farmhouse Decor.
How To Display Thrift Store Finds Farmhouse Style Decorating with Vintage Treasures.

Stephanie

Wednesday 15th of November 2023

Hello - do you know the blue paint color in the first picture? Thank you 😊

Rachel

Thursday 16th of November 2023

Stephanie, I don't see a blue paint in the first picture. The only blue paint is on a image from a friends home. I linked to her account in the post. You can reach out to her and see if she has the paint color.

Suecia DeAnda

Thursday 21st of September 2023

Hello Rachel. Going to downsize my home and going through a lot of things that I’ve collected and inherited a lot I don’t mean to keep and unfortunately today’s kids are really not interested in Yesterdays treasures of history. However, I don’t know what to do with that talking in the small town that I live in with some antique dealers. They just want to give you Harley anything for it for it and unfortunately I know it’s worth a little. My phones are limited. I have to make some money. Can you help me maybe by guiding me in the right direction if possible. Thank you so much for everything that you do and all your postings it’s giving me a lot to think about especially knowing that I have some of the things that I have seen through here blogs to help others which you have helped me tremendously. My husband is the type that it if we don’t need it get rid of it and he doesn’t understand the value of the history and the meaning of things unfortunately. He’s not attached to anything of the past. If it was up to him, it would go to the dump immediately. And it’s created a lot of problems I know the value of having nothing accumulate in things by inheriting buying Thrifting garage, selling estate selling, etc. etc. and especially in my previous job which was in the nursing field working privately with the elderly I got to learn a lot about the history of things and the meaning and the value. Thank you Rachel be safe, and I appreciate all you do.

Rachel

Sunday 24th of September 2023

I'd begin by posting larger items on Facebook Market Place. You may also check into a consignment shop that would allow you to set your prices. If you have a lot of items, you may consider renting a space in a vintage shop or consignment shop until your item sell. This last option allows you to price your items as you desire. I hope this helps.

Ivory

Monday 24th of May 2021

I love how you placed each of your fines in your home. You gave me ideas for placing my own fines and family heirlooms. I have to get moving. Thanks for sharing

[email protected]

Tuesday 25th of May 2021

Ivory, Thank you for your encouragement. I appreciate your compliments.

Ana Ochoa

Saturday 24th of April 2021

Oh my! So many stunning collections!

[email protected]

Monday 26th of April 2021

Ana, I really appreciate this.

Shawna

Thursday 22nd of April 2021

You have such beautiful collections Rachel! This was such a fun post to read.

[email protected]

Monday 26th of April 2021

Shawna, I really appreciate your comments.