Last updated: June 5, 2026 · By Anna Katherine Page
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I actually use.
Quick answer: The smartest way to learn how to thrift furniture is to target thrift stores that do donation pickups. These stores send trucks to homes (often after estate sales) and bring back whole loads of real furniture: sofas, beds, dining sets, cabinets. Skip the thrift stores that only stock knick-knacks, and you will find dramatically better pieces.
If you want to learn how to thrift furniture and consistently find pieces you actually want to live with, where you shop matters more than how often. The best vintage furniture does not show up randomly at any thrift store. It tends to land at a specific kind of thrift store, and once you know which kind, your finds get dramatically better.
You can go thrifting every weekend for a year and not find a single piece worth bringing home, if you are walking into the wrong stores. Different thrift stores get their inventory in very different ways, and that single difference shapes what you will see on the floor. Knowing how the inventory arrives is the foundation of how to thrift furniture well.
How to thrift furniture: target stores with donation pickups
Here is the one move that changes everything. Find thrift stores that offer donation pickups. These are the stores that send trucks to homes to collect donated furniture, not the ones that only accept whatever fits in a car. Most cities have a handful of them. They are often run by larger nonprofits, and the pickup service is usually a free phone call away.
Once you know which stores in your area do pickups, those are your stops. The smaller thrift stores that only accept counter drop-offs are great for clothes and knick-knacks, but they are not where the good furniture lands.
Why donation-pickup stores get better furniture
When a thrift store sends a truck to a home, they are not going for a few small items. They are going to pick up whatever the homeowner is donating in volume, which often means an entire room or even a whole house worth of furniture at once. The most common reason for a pickup like that: an estate sale wrapped up and the leftovers were donated, or a family is downsizing and clearing out the parents’ house. Either way, what hits the floor is real furniture, often vintage, often in great shape, and priced like thrift inventory rather than antique-shop inventory.
The heavy pieces worth thrifting
Heavy, expensive-to-replace pieces are exactly where thrifting wins biggest. Buying these new is brutal on the wallet, and the vintage versions are often higher quality construction than what is sold new today. Specifically:
Sofas and sectionals
Armchairs and accent chairs
Beds, bed frames, and headboards
Cabinets and dressers
Dining sets and dining chairs
Side tables and coffee tables
For all of these, a donation-pickup thrift store is where you are most likely to find a piece worth bringing home.
Why how to thrift furniture matters for first-time homebuyers
As a millennial first-time homebuyer, I learned fast how brutal the cost of outfitting a whole house is. New furniture for every room adds up to thousands of dollars, often for pieces that will not last more than a few years. Thrifting vintage furniture flips that equation. You can fill a home with real wood, real upholstery, and pieces that have already lasted decades, for a fraction of the cost. Learning how to thrift furniture early is one of the best skills a first-time homebuyer can develop.
Tips for spotting quality vintage pieces
Check the joinery. Dovetail joints in drawers and well-fitted construction usually signal a piece built to last.
Look under the cushions and behind the panels. Solid wood frames and metal hardware are great signs. Particleboard with stapled corners is not.
Bring a measuring tape. Vintage pieces vary in scale, and a measure on the spot saves disappointment at home.
Refinishable beats perfect. Surface scratches, dated finishes, and tired upholstery are easy fixes. Broken frames or rotted wood are not.
Wear work gloves. Old upholstery hides staples, dust, and the occasional spider. Gloves let you check inside drawers, lift cushions, and feel along frames without flinching.
Keep moving straps in your car. The best thrifted pieces are heavy. A pair of lifting straps turns a two-person dresser job into something one person can handle.
Key takeaways
How to thrift furniture comes down to one thing: shop the stores that do donation pickups.
Those stores get whole-home donations, often from estate sales, which means real furniture lands there.
Thrifting is most valuable on heavy, expensive-to-replace pieces.
For first-time homebuyers, it is one of the highest-leverage skills you can build.
Frequently asked questions
How do you find thrift stores that do donation pickups?
Search online for the larger nonprofit thrift stores in your area, then check their websites or call them to ask about pickup services. Most stores that offer pickups advertise it clearly. Local moving-related forums are also a good place to ask.
What is the best day to thrift for furniture?
Weekday mornings are often quieter and let you see fresh stock before weekend shoppers pick it over. Some stores restock on specific days, so it is worth asking.
Are vintage thrift store finds always cheaper than new furniture?
Almost always for solid wood furniture, sofas, and cabinetry. Vintage pieces are priced by thrift inventory standards, not by retail. The savings are biggest on heavy pieces that cost the most new.
How do you spot a quality vintage piece at a thrift store?
Check the joinery and construction. Dovetail joints, solid wood frames, and metal hardware all signal quality. Particleboard and stapled joints suggest a cheaper piece.
Is thrifting furniture worth it for first-time homebuyers?
Yes. Outfitting a whole house with new furniture adds up to thousands of dollars. Thrifting fills the same rooms with sturdier vintage pieces for a fraction of the cost.
What kinds of furniture are worth thrifting?
The heavy, expensive-to-replace pieces are best: sofas, sectionals, chairs, beds, bed frames, headboards, cabinets, dressers, and dining sets.
About Anna Katherine
I am a South Carolina founder, thrifter, and first-time homebuyer documenting the real version of building a home and a small business with vintage finds. Follow along on TikTok and YouTube.
Last updated: June 5, 2026 · By Anna Katherine Page
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I actually use.
Quick answer: Here is the full Jenny Lind high chair makeover, the multi-year story of one piece. I bought this vintage 1980s chair at a thrift store for $10, painted it black to match my kitchen, then stored it in the barn for years. Recently I refinished it in white to use as a styled rental piece for my event business. This is the full multi-year makeover, paint and all.
Some pieces of furniture have more than one life in them. This vintage Jenny Lind high chair has had at least three. It started as a $10 thrift store gamble, became a black statement piece in my kitchen, sat forgotten in a barn, and is now a freshly painted rental item for first birthday parties. Here is the whole story, and how I refinished it each time.
Years ago I spotted a vintage 1980s Jenny Lind high chair at a thrift store and brought it home for just $10. A Jenny Lind is the classic style with the rows of decorative spindle turnings, and they have a timeless, slightly old-fashioned charm that is hard to find in modern furniture. At $10 it was an easy yes. I documented that very first flip on the blog back then: you can read the original Vintage 1980s Jenny Lind highchair furniture flip, and I filmed it in two parts on YouTube, Part 1 and Part 2.
Round one: painting it black
At the time, my kitchen was leaning moody and dark, so I painted the high chair black to match that vibe. It worked beautifully for that season of my home. That is the honest truth about decorating: your taste shifts, and a piece that was perfect one year can feel off the next. The high chair earned its spot for a while, then slowly stopped fitting the space.
Round one: the high chair painted black for a moodier kitchen.
Then it sat in the barn
When my style moved on, the high chair did what a lot of good furniture does. It went out to the barn for storage. It was too charming to give away and too out of step with the house to keep inside. So it waited. For a few years it was just a black vintage high chair under a dust sheet, holding its potential.
Round two: bringing it back in white
This spring it finally got its third life. I am building an event rental business, and a vintage high chair is exactly the kind of charming, photogenic piece families want for a first birthday celebration. So I pulled it out of the barn and refinished it, this time in a soft white to suit a styled party setup.
Here is how it turned out: the same $10 thrift store frame, the same charming spindles, now in a fresh white that photographs beautifully against any party backdrop.
The finished high chair in soft white, styled for a first birthday celebration.
Renting it out through Keowee Event Co
The high chair now lives a working life as a rental piece with Keowee Event Co, my event rental business. We rent backyard games and styled pieces that make gatherings feel special across Oconee and Pickens County, South Carolina. A vintage high chair is a perfect example of the kind of charming, photo-ready detail that turns an ordinary first birthday into something memorable, and giving an old piece a new purpose is exactly the point.
The high chair with a vintage rocking horse, both refinished as event rental pieces.
Pin this Jenny Lind high chair makeover
Saving this for your own thrift flip? Here are the pins from the project.
Key takeaways
A $10 thrifted vintage high chair has been refinished twice over several years.
Round one was black to match a moody kitchen; round two is white for event rentals.
The white refinish took three cans of satin spray paint applied in thin coats.
Old furniture is worth keeping. Its next purpose may just be a paint job away.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Jenny Lind high chair?
A Jenny Lind is a classic style of wooden high chair recognizable by its rows of decorative spindle turnings. The look has been made for generations, and vintage versions like this 1980s one are popular for their old-fashioned charm.
Can you repaint furniture that is already painted?
Yes. You can paint over an existing finish. Clean the piece well, give it a light scuff sand so the new paint grips, and then apply your paint in thin, even coats. This high chair went from raw wood to black to white over its life.
What kind of paint should you use on a wooden high chair?
A satin-finish spray paint works well on a spindled piece like this because it reaches into the turnings evenly. I used a satin enamel spray paint and built the color up with several light coats.
How much does it cost to flip a thrifted high chair?
This one cost $10 at the thrift store. The white refinish added three cans of spray paint, so the whole project stayed inexpensive, which is part of what makes thrift flips so satisfying.
How do you get a smooth finish when spray painting furniture?
Warm the can, shake it well, and use short sweeping strokes that start and end past the edges, building thin coats. The full method is in my spray paint tips guide.
Where can you rent vintage event pieces in Upstate South Carolina?
Keowee Event Co rents backyard games and styled event pieces, including this high chair, across Oconee and Pickens County, South Carolina.
About Anna Katherine
I refresh thrifted furniture, document real makeovers, and run Keowee Event Co, an event rental business in Upstate South Carolina. Follow the flips and the building of the business on TikTok and YouTube.
Follow the makeovers and the rental business on TikTok, or see what we rent at Keowee Event Co.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.
$25 Thrift Store Furniture Flip – Vintage Wood Desk Transformation
This thrift store furniture flip proves you don’t need a big budget to create something beautiful. I found this vintage wood desk at a local thrift store for just $25 and transformed it into a stunning statement piece. According to the EPA’s guide to reducing waste, furniture restoration and upcycling keeps thousands of tons of wood out of landfills every year , making every thrift store furniture flip a win for your wallet and the planet.
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through these links. I only recommend products I personally use and love.
Before
After the Thrift Store Furniture Flip – The Final Result
This thrift store furniture flip was one of my favorite projects , there’s something incredibly satisfying about giving a forgotten piece of furniture a second life. If you’re looking for your next thrift store furniture flip, keep an eye out for solid wood pieces with good bones. The best thrift store furniture flip candidates are vintage desks, dressers, and side tables made from real hardwood.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.
Quick answer: I restored a 1960s vintage rattan dining table with BEHR paint as my entry to the BEHR To DIY For Season 2 contest. The table had been weathering on my screened porch for almost three years. This walkthrough covers the prep, which is where nearly all of the real work is, and the paint I used.
Vintage Rattan Table Restoration – Bringing a 1960s Dining Table Back to Life
This vintage rattan table restoration project is proof that with the right paint and some patience, you can transform a forgotten piece into a stunning centerpiece. I entered this vintage rattan table restoration into the BEHR “To DIY For” Season 2 contest , and the results speak for themselves. According to This Old House, proper prep work is the key to any successful furniture restoration.
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through these links. I only recommend products I personally use and love.
Here is my official entry posted on TikTok for Challenge #2:
As soon as I saw BEHR’s video on TikTok announcing Challenge #2, I immediately knew which table I was going to tackle for my entry to the contest. Yes, that dirty, old, forgotten 1960’s vintage rattan dining table I had weathering away on my screened in porch is EXACTLY what popped into my head (cobwebs & all).
I acquired this table almost 3 years ago at a local rental house going out of business and selling their inventory. It was the last day of the sale that I stopped into the shop & I saw this dining set along with 6 chairs. They had it listed for $100 but when the owner saw me looking at the set, she offered it to me for only $40 for all 10 pieces (1 table, 3 leaflet inserts, & 6 chairs). I quickly obliged and handed her the $40 as quickly as I could. At this time in my life I was still living with my parents but actively looking for a home of my own. I stored the dining set in their garage along with my other thrifted, yard-sale, & flea market second-hand finds for my home. 2 months after purchasing it, I made an offer on a home with a dream of a screened in porch and I knew that this table would make the perfect addition to the large porch area for entertaining. Fast forward to now (2 & 1/2 years later) and I still haven’t gotten around to sprucing up this dining table and it’s been long overdue!
My intent for this table was to never alter the original beauty or integrity of this piece. I knew I wanted to leave the table surface itself alone as it is in decent condition. The only 2 items that required attention were the wood veneer peeling around the round edges below the table’s surface. This was a simple fix and only required me to peel it off by hand and then use a knife for those trickier areas that were more difficult. Lastly, I wanted to add a fresh coat of paint. I like the original yellow color but it didn’t vibe with my color pallet for my porch. When looking through BEHR’s potential color options offered in their spray paint, I was overwhelmed (in a positive way) with the many color options. I was immediately drawn to the color Matcha. I ran to my local Home Depot & went straight to the paint section to grab myself 2 cans of their Premium Matcha Gloss Interior/Exterior Spray Paint.
Check out what this table looked like before..
The Vintage Rattan Table Restoration Process
Here are some of the products I recommend for furniture restoration projects like this one:
KILZ Chalk Spray Paint – Ultra matte finish for upcycling furniture, works on wood, wicker & rattan: Shop on Amazon
Amy Howard Chalky Mineral Spray Paint – No stripping, sanding, or priming needed: Shop on Amazon
Whether you’re tackling your first vintage rattan table restoration or you’re a seasoned DIYer, the BEHR paint line makes it easy to achieve professional-looking results on any budget.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.
Quick answer: I bought a vintage Italian style mid century modern black leather chaise lounge at a yard sale for $15 and resold it for $150, a $135 profit. Here is how I spotted it, what I checked before handing over cash, the light leather clean I did, and how fast it sold.
How I Found a Vintage Mid Century Modern Chaise Lounge for $15
Finding a vintage mid century modern chaise lounge at a thrift store is every furniture flipper’s dream. According to 1stDibs, authentic mid century modern furniture continues to appreciate in value, making pieces like this vintage mid century modern chaise lounge incredible investments. Here is the story of my best flip yet.
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through these links. I only recommend products I personally use and love.
Discovering a Vintage Mid Century Modern Chaise Lounge at a Thrift Store
Have you ever stumbled upon a vintage mid century modern chaise lounge in the most unexpected of places? That’s precisely what happened to me during a recent yard sale adventure. Little did I know that a seemingly ordinary event would lead me to a remarkable Vintage Italian Style Mid Century Modern Black Leather Floor Chaise Lounge Chair, waiting patiently to be discovered and appreciated. What makes this story even more extraordinary is the quick turnaround that transformed this $15 purchase into a jaw-dropping $135 profit. So, let’s rewind the tape and relive this exhilarating journey together!
Picture a sunny Saturday morning, the air filled with anticipation and the possibility of finding something truly special. As I perused the various yard sale items, my eyes were suddenly captivated by an alluring silhouette, a sleek and stylish chaise lounge chair draped in rich black leather. Its design exuded the timeless elegance of mid-century modern aesthetics, whispering stories of a bygone era. Instantly, I knew I had stumbled upon a hidden gem.
With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I approached the seller to inquire about the intriguing chaise lounge chair. Much to my delight, they revealed that it had been in their family for decades. The chair had been lovingly maintained, and although it had lost some of its former luster, its allure remained intact. Negotiations ensued, and after a brief haggle, we settled on a humble price of $15. I couldn’t believe my luck!
Researching the Value of My Vintage Mid Century Modern Chaise Lounge
I immediately took a picture of the chair and searched it on Google to identify the brand and to research sold listings for similar chairs. As I began my research, I had already made my purchase when I quickly realized that this chair was missing the base. The chair along with the base could have brought in upward of $750 if I were to list this chair on Facebook Marketplace. Without the base the chair alone didn’t have much value and thus I priced it to sell quickly at $150. This was definitely a big learning experience for me as a reseller. Every time I sell an item, I am constantly learning something new and this time I was reminded to do my research before buying.
Listing and Selling the Vintage Mid Century Modern Chaise Lounge
Thrilled with my newfound treasure, I wasted no time in capturing its beauty through captivating photographs. Armed with my i-phone and a keen eye for aesthetics, I ensured that every angle highlighted the chair’s elegant lines and supple leather upholstery. Armed with these stunning visuals, I was ready to introduce the chair to the digital world and embark on the next chapter of its journey.
Using Social Media to Sell Vintage Mid Century Modern Furniture
Social media has undoubtedly transformed the way we connect, discover, and buy. With the chaise lounge chair’s photos in hand, I eagerly crafted a compelling listing and posted it on my Facebook page. In a matter of minutes, the chair began attracting attention, with admirers expressing their interest through comments and private messages. It was apparent that this vintage piece had struck a chord, and potential buyers were eager to welcome it into their homes.
To maximize the chair’s visibility, I employed some strategic tactics to enhance its search engine optimization (SEO). By incorporating relevant keywords such as \”vintage,\” \”Italian style,\” \”mid-century modern,\” and \”black leather chaise lounge chair\” into the listing title and description, I ensured that it would appear prominently in search results for interested buyers. A well-optimized listing can make all the difference when it comes to attracting potential customers, and I was determined to make this sale a resounding success.
The response was nothing short of overwhelming. Enthusiastic inquiries flooded my inbox, each person eager to learn more about the chair. ‘s history, condition, and, of course, the asking price. The combination of a visually appealing listing and effective SEO techniques had truly paid off. As I diligently responded to messages and engaged with potential buyers, it became increasingly evident that the chair’s destiny lay in the hands of someone who truly recognized its value.
Ultimately, after careful consideration, I selected a buyer who shared my admiration for the chair’s timeless design and appreciated its significance as a rare vintage piece. Bidding farewell to my profitable acquisition was bittersweet, but knowing it would be cherished in its new home brought immense satisfaction.
Lessons Learned From Flipping a Vintage Mid Century Modern Chaise Lounge
Reflecting upon this vintage mid century modern chaise lounge flipping experience, I am reminded of the hidden treasures that can be found in the most unexpected places. The world of yard sales is a treasure trove for vintage enthusiasts, offering countless opportunities to unearth remarkable pieces with tremendous potential. The key lies in keeping an open mind, honing your eye for quality, and having a bit of luck on your side.
As I conclude this extraordinary tale of discovery and triumph, I invite you to embark on your own treasure-hunting adventures. Whether you’re seeking to enhance your living space or looking for profitable investment opportunities, the world of vintage and resale is brimming with possibilities. Who knows? You might just stumble upon a Vintage Italian Style Mid Century Modern Black Leather Floor Chaise Lounge Chair of your own, one that not only brings joy to your life but also adds a substantial boost to your wallet. Happy hunting!
