Thrifter Shares How To Decorate Your Kitchen With Vintage Thrift Store Finds

Whether you're taking a peek at a roadside flea market, stopping at your favorite antique shop, or browsing the thrift store for brands that are worth buying, taking a peek at the homeware section will almost always reveal at least a handful a pieces that catch your eye. You take a look at the price tag, realize you're getting a great deal, and decide to bring your items home — but once you're actually faced with incorporating the pieces in your haul into your home's design, things get a bit trickier. Thankfully, there are plenty of creative ways to style common thrift items for unique decor at home, and one of the best places to start is the kitchen. 

Most people spend a ton of time in their kitchens, and these rooms serve a functional purpose. Because of this, you'll want the decor to have utility and aesthetic value in equal measure, allowing you to keep your kitchen counters clutter-free. This can be a hard balance to achieve. However, as thrifter and content creator Scarlet Cee showed on TikTok, displaying vintage items like pot holders, cookbooks, mugs, and baskets can help you get the best of both worlds. Keep an eye out at the thrift for pieces that help you organize, cook, or serve food, and you'll be able to create a design that feels unique and fun without leaning into cluttered territory.

While it's tempting to bring home everything that catches your eye at the thrift, it's best to set some rules before you start shopping. When styling your kitchen, sticking to the kitchenware section will give you the easiest shot at finding things that are useful and visually appealing. For example, when decorating their kitchen, Scarlet Cee used an assortment of practical yet aesthetically pleasing items, including pot holders, serving plates, mugs, cookbooks, kettles, glassware, salt and pepper shakers, storage containers, candy bowls, recipe card holders, scales, cutting boards, and cookie jars.

The goal is to find items you can actually use, so you'll also want to make sure these pieces are in good condition and safe around food. Unfortunately, lead paint wasn't banned until 1978, so there's a chance that older objects might contain lead, making them unsafe to use during food preparation. The same goes for beautiful, glowing uranium glass. While it might be fine to admire as a display piece, eating and drinking from plates or glasses containing uranium is ill advised. Because of this, it's best to stick with newer items if they might come into contact with food; if it's a recipe card holder, cookbook, trivet, or pot holder, however, feel free to shop from any time period.

While the kitchenware section will give you the best shot at finding items with kitchen-specific uses, your browsing doesn't have to stop there. Make sure to also take a peek at the textiles, books, and homewares sections. Here, you might stumble across organizational items, baskets, cookbooks, napkins, tablecloths, and towels that could look great in your kitchen.

Styling your pieces can be as easy as setting them on a countertop or on some exposed shelving, but there are ways to make your space look more curated and ensure everything is in a convenient spot. First, consider the function of the item and how often you'll use it. Pieces that are for hosting or that you only plan to bring out occasionally can go on high shelves or sit behind other items, while those you'll reach for regularly should be displayed on lower shelves or directly on the counter. Items should also sit in the area where you'll use them. For example, display your mugs by your coffee maker, the way Scarlet Cee does, or keep your cutting boards on the counter by the knife block.

If things are feeling a bit chaotic and mismatched, now is a great time to consider implementing a theme. While focusing solely on one aesthetic can often limit the personality in a space and make your styling feel overly restrictive, it can be helpful to incorporate a more limited color palette or search for items with specific motifs. During fall, for example, you can bring out pieces that feature warm tones like orange, yellow, and brown to give your kitchen a seasonal facelift — this was Scarlet Cee's approach to building the color theme in the kitchen. Meanwhile, spring is a great time for pastels and florals. Finding a through thread with your decor can help keep things looking intentional, even if you find yourself thrifting a wide array of items from different time periods.