13 Thrift Store Finds You Can Upcycle Into New Treasures

Tea Pot & Tea Cups — Credit: Karen M. Romanko / Getty Images

Those old mason jars, bottles, bookcases, and drawers you see at the thrift shop? You'd be remiss to pass them by.

So many treasures, so little time. Lucky for you, thrift shops abound and are a great way to get beautiful things to give new life to. Among all the objects waiting for you, the best finds are those that can be upcycled into a new project for the home. Think of glass bottles as decanters, mason jars as storage containers, and crates as your newest decorative statement piece.

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Teapots

Teapot with flowers arranged inside variety of blossoms — Credit:
Ashley Poskin

Every thrift shop will have at least one teapot; it's just a fact of life. If you're not a tea drinker, you can still reap the benefits of these unsung treasures. It's not that hard to repurpose a thrifted teapot into a dual‐purpose treasure—a vase and a flower frog. With just a drill, a splash of paint (optional), and a bit of creativity, you can transform something ordinary into a show-stopping centerpiece.

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Mason Jars

Mason jars have timeless multipurpose appeal, and it's no wonder: With just a little retrofitting, an old-fashioned jar can be reused as a container garden or terrarium, pencil holder or kitchen container, a charming vase for flowers, or a new sewing kit with a built-in pincushion.

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Glass Bottles

Ubiquitous at many a market, bottles of a bygone era are worth cleaning and polishing anew. They can be used as decanters for oils at the dinner table (or for liquid soaps in the bathroom), spritzed with paint as home décor, dressed up as hostess gifts, or turned into a pendant light. If you're someone with a green thumb and looking for a more earthy feel, create a terrarium.

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Picture Frames

Picture frames—whether they be weathered and worn or come with broken glass—are still useful as serving trays, trivets and coasters, mounted organizers, shadow boxes, key racks, and (as always) displaying photographs in a gallery wall. Leftover paint unifies a set of assorted frames into an artful display.

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Crates and Bins

Crates, bins, and boxes of all kinds can be converted into cubbies for useful storage. With a little restoration, they can also be stylish and sophisticated. Think of them as versatile building blocks that can be stacked, clustered, and configured in any number of ways: as a wall-mounted bookcase, a bedside table, an ottoman, an office desk, or a stepping stool for the kids.

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Tea Cups

Those mismatched porcelain cups and saucers are not so delicate that they can't be put to practical use. Pick up even a single teacup, and it can enhance your everyday life by serving a soft glow by candlelight, adding short-stemmed flowers as a vase, filling with tea bags and petits fours for a gift, or organizing and displaying your jewelry.

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Costume Jewelry and Accessories

With easy, do-it-yourself reinventions, someone else's jewelry stash can shine in new ways. Start with a handful of inexpensive costume pieces—brooches and earrings with openwork designs—and turn them into belts, bookmarks, drawer pulls, magnets, wall art, or a stately embellishment on a regal crown, just like Martha's!

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Garments and Fabric

Something as simple as a jacket, bandanna, or rugged pair of jeans can be ripped at the seams, trimmed, and sewn into something entirely new. Think aprons, sleep masks, drawstring pouches, sachets, and storage bins.

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Magazines, Books, and Printed Paper

newspaper pots with seedlings — Credit: Janelle Jones

A stack of once-glossy magazines and newspapers has something e-readers never will: crisp, saturated pages you can repurpose for use at home. Flip through old issues and snip parts of images containing colors and patterns you like, then turn your clippings into beads or tasseled toppers on gift packages. And for those wrinkled, unsightly sheets? Transform them entirely into projects like seedling pots, holiday decorations, and papier-mâché toys for the kids.

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Ladders, Wheels, and Wooden Fixtures

A door can become a headboard. A wheel with spokes can divide plants in a container garden. Or take advantage of every bit of bedroom space by stacking your nighttime necessities instead of crowding them on top of a tiny stand. The four wide rungs of an extra stepladder provide a steady spot for a row of books as well as the necessary alarm clock and a reading lamp.

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Plant Pots, Containers, and Planters

They're solid containers for hosting flowers, herbs, and small shrubs—but that's only the beginning of their potential. They can be used on the desk in your home office, covering food when dining al fresco, or corralling items outside in the yard.

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Door Knobs and Hardware

paperweight collection — Credit: Bryan Gardner

Those knobs that catch your eye? Inexpensive and one-of-a-kind, these trinkets can be reused as a custom key rack, bookends for your home library, toppers for lidded jars, or even a new look for your cabinetry.

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Furniture and Fixtures

Others may overlook them, but you see potential. A foldable cot becomes a coffee table. A cubby-hole cabinet becomes the space for a hidden drop-down desk. An old chair becomes a jewelry holder. As these quick upgrades prove, an outcast is often just a makeover away from being an object of envy.