Holiday

[Oznell]

The intrepid and affable professional thrifter and re-seller Laura Caldwell set herself an impromptu challenge--  create a harvest "look" by using things she already had, plus what she could find at Goodwill.  She wanted items that didn't spell "fall" by themselves-- but that she could combine with other things to give that feeling.

Hmmm.  She knew she wanted height in her vignette-- so she grabbed this perhaps not-too-promising tall vase at Goodwill:

As a counterpoint to the black of the vase, she found warm colors in this pottery, for a few dollars:

Then she hunted up some things she had at home, and came up with this--

I really like it, for several reasons.  It says fall to me in subtle ways, with the colors used, and the fall-themed flowers.  And, it fits with her personal decorating style, which I'd say is "midcentury bohemian".  (See 3-tiered woven floor lamp and prized "atomic" clock.)

Let's look closer.  Don't you love the thrifted painting she already had, and used?  The colors, the lovely woman and snuggling cat, how perfect!  The tall and short Goodwill vases look great here, with all the autumnal flowers and wee pumpkins-- 

The portrait is so great with this.

The carved wood candlesticks are 1970's or 1980's, from India.  Her choice of purple candles brings out the purply flowers.  And she decided to use her Mexican pottery, below, which has been everything from containers in her kitchen, to planters.  The black and brown colors of this pottery relate back to the Goodwill pieces, beautifully.

Do you thrift, and would you do so for your seasonal decorating?  I regularly browse a local church thrift store, and a St. Vincent de Paul's, often when I bring donations there.  It's fun to find treasures at such good prices, especially in these days of oppressive inflation.

Laura's online site gives good inspiration for using what you may already have, whether you ever set foot in a thrift store or not.  Her enthusiasm is contagious.

The best thing for me is that she can use her thrifted items in other ways, not just seasonally.  But do you find her arrangement too subtle, not overtly "harvest" enough for you?   For me it's plenty, but I can also enjoy when people go a bit "bigger" too. 

[kitcat51]

I enjoyed watching Laura & Selena (Vintage Bombshell) when they thrifted, decorated &  sold items together on YouTube, for some reason they parted ways & I stopped watching both. 

[Trailrun23]

I like her arrangement because it doesn't say Halloween. It says autumn....my favorite season. I would like it more with a linen or light burlap table runner underneath tthe pieces. It would make them stand out more from the color of the table. Love the painting!

[781Florist]

I was struck by how clean and appealing the Goodwill Store in the first picture seemed!

I would be loading that bookcase into my car.  Those green metal lights on top of it are great also.

I think she did a good job evoking "fall" without becoming too cliche', but the choice of blooms seems a little pedestrian to me.  How about some olive Hydrangea and orange pincushion Protea along with some Billy Balls , champagne Roses, Hypericum berries, orange or rust mini Orchids...how striking would those vases be?!?

You can say "fall" wthout resorting to mums and pompoms!

The lamp with the wicker shade in the last picture is very nice, but if it was going to live in my house it would have a band of cork around it covering the painted design(?).

No doubt about it, there is gold in them 'thar hills at the Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity stores!

[Oznell]

These are great comments!

@kitcat51 ,  I liked Selina and Laura's joint videos too.  For me, them each going independent was OK also.  Selina's style is very Victorian, and quite pretty, but since I have midcentury leanings, I'm more likely to check out Laura's finds.

@Trailrun23 --  I really like your idea of a runner, or some other kind of fabric, adding tons of texture.

@781Florist --   Ha, ha, no fair for a professional florist to weigh in on those selections (even though your more esoteric ones sound fab).  She set the exercise of seeing what she could throw together easily, plus Goodwill, so my guess is she got supermarket flowers and maybe even some from her garden.

My thrift stores, sigh, are not as good as hers ( Oregon).  I'd flip if I regularly found the kind of 50's Italian pottery and art glass, etc., that seem to regularly show up at hers...     

[LindaSal]

I'm not a big thrift shopper but I do appreciate how people make some of these finds work so well.  Mostly when vacationing we will stop in thrift shops or antique stores just for fun but many times I have walked out with something wonderful!

I love the look that was created here, it is lovely.

[Marceil]

I used to watch her a lot.  Did she ever have a baby?  She used to talk about it.  

[Oznell]

@LindaSal ,   that's what I like about "thrifting as recreation"-- walking in randomly, and sometimes discovering unexpected treasures... you never know!  And you don't even have to buy anything-- sometimes I get ideas of how to arrange my own stuff, or see it differently, just by gawking at antique or thrift displays...

@Marceil ,  good question--  I would say not, but I've caught her videos pretty sporadically,  so not 100% sure.