Decorating My Home with Fall’s Biggest Trends—Using Thrift Store Finds!

Can I recreate this year's biggest fall decor trends with just one afternoon of thrift shopping? I headed to two local Goodwill stores with a budget of $75 and somehow came home with all of this. Now, some of these pieces already fit this year's trends perfectly, but others need a complete makeover. So let's see if these thrift store finds can become beautiful fall decor for my home. The first spot I want to decorate is this round table in my library. I'm keeping the wicker basket with the dried hydrangeas from last week's video, along with the antique birdcage. Then I'm going to build on that with a few of this week's thrifted finds. But before we start styling, let me show you the projects I upcycled specifically for this space. When I spotted this old brass clock for $3.99, I knew it'd be perfect for one of this year's biggest fall trends, warm metallics. I want to trade out the floral clock face with something more suited for fall. So I first removed the clock hands and the nut that held the battery mechanism in place. The rose design was glued on really well. So I took the clock face outside to use my orbital sander to sand it off. To replace it, I uploaded a vintage pheasant image into ChatGPT and asked it to use the image to create a clock face. Then I printed it out in a size to fit my clock and adhered it with spray adhesive. I used an X-Acto knife to cut out the opening for the pendulum, then flipped the clock over and trimmed away the paper covering the brass ring. A few little bits of white paper were visible around the edge. So I just touched those up with a little antiquing wax. After cutting out the center opening for the clock mechanism, it was time to put everything back together. This is really easy if you keep all the parts laid out in the order you removed them. Pottery and stoneware are everywhere this fall, especially pieces with an aged, handmade look. This week, I thrifted two stoneware cheese crocks, probably from the 1970s. To give them some personality and make them look even older, I decided to add a rub-on transfer from IOD's traditional pots package. These transfers come in black, white, and blue. I started with a black one, but I wasn't loving it, so I tried a white one on the second pot. Unfortunately, I only had a few larger white ones left, so I needed to trim off some of the details to make it smaller to fit my jar. The white one looked so much better than the black, so I used a razor blade to scrape off the black one. So I replaced it with a white one. The white was a little bright, so I brushed some dark antiquing wax over the transfers, which made them look more cream or beige-colored, which I thought was perfect. Nature-inspired animal decor continues to be popular this fall, especially birds and other woodland animals. I thought this little cluster of ducks was adorable, and for only 99 cents, you know I grabbed them. But I wanted to make a few changes so they would fit in better with my fall decor. First, I painted the base with black chalk paint. I let it dry, and then I brushed a thick coat of antiquing wax on the ducks. Before wiping the wax back, I brushed gold wax over the black base to make it look like brass. If I accidentally got some gold wax on the ducks, I would be able to easily wipe it off because of the antiquing wax. So I waited until I was done applying the gold wax before I wiped off the excess antiquing wax. Now, let's get back to decorating that table in my library. Another trend that never seems to go out of style for fall is decorating with vintage books. I thrifted this set of four small brown books. They were $1.99 each, and I'd like to try to use them on this table too. Although this jar is larger than this one, it's not taller, and I wish it stood up a little bit, so I'm trying to decide if I'm gonna put something under it. Maybe just a couple of these really small books. I think I'll stop for now because I'd like to add a wood box, another item that's trending this fall. I thrifted this small trunk, probably made in the early 2000s, for just $3. Although it has a reddish stain and faux leather straps, it is a good size and shape for an upcycling project. My first task was to pry off the upholstery tacks so that I could pull off the decorative vinyl straps. Then I used a little goof off and a putty knife to scrape off the glue residue. I'm going to completely cover the box, so I also removed the latch and the handles on the sides. Since heritage artwork, especially landscapes, are so popular right now, I downloaded a fall landscape from Wikimedia Commons and had it printed on blueprint paper at Office Depot. A poster size costs less than $5. I was going to use it to decoupage my wood trunk, but first I needed to cut out pieces for the front, sides, and top. To do that, I laid the poster over the trunk and used my hands to crease the paper along each edge. Then I pulled it away and used a straight edge to trace those crease lines with a pencil, which made it much easier to cut out each piece accurately. Once everything was cut to size, I brushed a thin, even coat of Mod Podge onto one section of the trunk and a light coat onto the back of the matching piece of paper. After positioning it, I smoothed it with my hands and then rolled over it with a brayer to press out any air bubbles or wrinkles and make sure the paper was firmly adhered. When decoupaging each side, I applied the paper continuously from the top of the lid to the bottom of the box. Once the paper was firmly adhered, I used a sharp razor blade to carefully cut along the seam where the lid meets the box. That way, the image lines up perfectly when the trunk is closed. I let the Mod Podge dry for several hours before coming back with a piece of sandpaper to lightly sand all around the edges of the trunk. That removed any excess paper and left the edges looking clean and natural. There were a couple of spots where bits of the image had accidentally pulled away during the decoupaging process, probably because I touched them with sticky fingers. To help disguise those areas, I lightly brushed on a little antiquing wax, which blended them right into the colors of the landscape. Finally, to seal and protect the paper, I brushed on a thin, even coat of Mod Podge. Once that top coat was dry, I reattached the original hardware. Even though my decoupage job wasn't perfect, I absolutely love how this box turned out. In fact, I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for another little trunk at the thrift store so I can try this again with a different vintage print. To give the vignette a little more height and dimension, I placed the antique birdcage on top of the wood trunk, and then I tweaked the rest of the arrangement until I was happy with it. One of the biggest fall decor trends is dark walnut wood in both furniture and accessories. I found this walnut side table at Goodwill for only 4.99, probably because one of the legs was falling off. To fix it, I'm going to use a combination of wood glue and quick wood, which is a two-part epoxy putty that dries hard and can be sanded. I used the putty to fill in holes and cracks, and then used wood glue to reattach the leg to the dowel rods. It looked like one of the table's feet had been chewed on by a dog, so I used a little more of the quick wood to rebuild it. I let the glue and quick wood dry overnight, and the next day, I gave the tabletop a light sanding. It looked like someone had already started refinishing this piece, because most of the original finish had already been sanded off. So all I needed to do was smooth everything out and prep the surface for stain. Then I brushed on a water-based stain in a dark walnut finish. I let the stain soak in for a minute or two, and then wiped off the excess. I decided it wasn't quite as dark as the rest of the table, so I repeated the process. While the stain dried, I lightly sanded over the areas that I had patched with the quick wood, and then I painted those spots with some dark brown paint to match the walnut wood. Let me just say, I'm pretty happy with the stain job. I think it's a really good color match. I am gonna seal it with some polyurethane, but I need to let the stain dry overnight. I've already started adding the books, and I'm actually really surprised at how many books fit in these little openings. I still need to finish this one, and I think I'll leave this side forward, and so I wanna add a little variety in here rather than just filling it completely full of books. So I'm going to add this vintage hobo cigar box that I thrifted for 2.99, and I think I'll just add a couple small books on top. I think I need a little animal figurine to put there. I thrifted this little bird Christmas ornament for 99 cents, but I feel like that if I turn the holly to the back that it works for fall. I thrifted this vintage brass lamp for $10. It's really heavy. This is a vintage wood tray with an equestrian print on there that a viewer sent to me, and I absolutely love it. I had this clock here before, and I still really like it, and I had these florals, which I also still like, but I think I need a piece of artwork, so let's repurpose this wood plaque and easel. First, I sanded off the dated artwork, and to replace it, I printed out this cute watercolor of a fox. To decoupage it to the wood, I brushed a light, even coat of Mod Podge first on the wood surface and then on the back of the paper. I carefully smoothed it into place and then rolled over it with a brayer to remove any air bubbles and to ensure good adhesion. I was worried about air bubbles forming, so I made sure the Mod Podge was completely dry before I applied the top coat of Mod Podge. Next, I want to add some fall decor to this vintage velvet chair that I rescued from the curb a few years ago, and I wanted to start with this little wood suitcase-shaped box that I thrifted for $3.99. The wood tone was much too light for my library, so I thought about staining it walnut, but since deep greens are showing up everywhere this fall, I decided to paint it instead. I still wanted the wood grain to show through, so I applied just one coat of paint, and then when it was dry, I lightly sanded it to let even more of the wood show through. My green paint was a little lighter than the deep, moody greens that are trending right now, so to darken it and seal the finish, I brushed on a coat of black antiquing wax. It settled into the wood grain beautifully and gave the whole piece a richer, more aged look. Rather than perfectly arranged florals, this fall we're seeing more homes decorated with branches, acorns, pine cones, and other natural elements. So I'm going to create a casual arrangement using pieces pulled from this $4 thrift store wreath. I'm always surprised by how many floral stems come off just one thrifted wreath. They really are one of the best values at the thrift store. To make this arrangement look like something I had just gathered outdoors, I arranged everything in a rustic wood tote that I thrifted for only $2. I tucked in a few faux branches and leaves to make it look even more realistic. I still had a big pile of faux maple and oak leaves left over from the wreath, so I decided to repurpose a few of them by gluing them onto some branches from my yard. I simply snipped off the leaf stems and hot glued the backs of the leaves to the smaller branches. The last thing I wanted to upcycle for the chair was this rustic piece of moose art that I thrifted for $2. And no, the moose is not stained. Neither is the tree. What caught my eye was the frame, which is made from real sticks that have been sliced in half. I'd love to recreate this myself, but I have no idea how to safely slice branches that small. So if you know how they did this, let me know in the comments. I tried sanding off the painted design, but couldn't get it all off. So instead I gave it a light coat of chalk paint. Once that was dry, I lightly sanded it again to smooth the surface because I wanted to apply a rub-on transfer and those tend to stick best to smooth surfaces. I chose a design from IOD's winter botanist package and it took a lot of rubbing, but eventually I got the transfer to adhere. The green paint I had used was too light. So I wanted to darken it. I knew that applying the antiquing wax full strength on the wood would make it so dark that the transfer would get lost. So I diluted it with a little water before brushing it on. Then I simply dabbed away the excess with a cloth. Now let's see how these things look on my vintage chair. The little wooden suitcase was the perfect size to create a riser in the seat of the chair. Then I placed the wooden tote on top and just spent a few minutes arranging the rustic artwork and the leaf branches behind it. Next, I want to swap out this pothos plant for something that feels a little more like fall. I thrifted this wicker basket because it came with so many florals for only $5. I honestly didn't even notice what a great basket it was until I got it home. The color was a little too light though, not the rich warm browns that are trending this fall. So I gave it a coat of spray paint in the color down to earth. Once the paint was dry, I brought it inside and brushed dark antiquing wax over the wicker. It settled into all the crevices which gave the brown more depth and a darker finish. It was such a cute basket that I could have simply filled it with florals, but I thought it would be fun to put a glass jar inside. And luckily I found one in my stash that fit. I began separating the stems that had come in the basket and I decided to use three that had these little pumpkin-like pods on them. They were a bit too short though, so I used some florist tape to attach the stems to a stick from my yard, giving them the perfect height for the jar. I've barely touched the top of this cabinet here in my foyer since my Homeworthy tour, which wasn't that in January? So it definitely needs a freshening up. So let's start by adding another woodland animal figurine. This cute little rabbit was only 99 cents because it had both a hole and a crack in it. To repair them, I used the quick wood putty because it works on a variety of materials, not just wood. I filled the hole and the crack and tried to emulate the fur design by making lines in the putty with an X-Acto knife. I wanted to make the figurine look like brass, so I first spray painted it black. Once the spray paint was dry, I brushed on gold rub and buff. I only had a little wax left, so I cut open the tube and I actually ended up having more than enough. I love the size and shape of this thrift store picture, but the botanical design just emphasized the cheap quality of the metal. So I decided to sand it off, but it was not coming off easily. So I decided to let it soak in some hot soapy water for a few hours to soften it up. Then I dried it off and it sanded off easily. To create a new metal finish for the picture, I painted it with Dixie Belle's bronze patina paint. I love this stuff. You don't need much because the paint has great coverage. Once the first coat is dry, apply a second coat. And while the paint is still wet, spray it with patina spray. I used both the green and blue sprays. Then I used my heat gun to dry it and to speed up the process. You'll end up with a rusty, verdigried finish. I wanted to fill the picture with the burgundy flowers from the thrifted wicker basket because burgundy is a hot color right now, but their stems were too short. So I repurposed a piece of the styrofoam to fit into the top of the picture. Then I alternately added pink and burgundy stems for variety. And I also added a few seed-like stems that came off the pumpkin wreath. This faux marble frame caught my eye at the thrift store due to its green color and grapevine design. But I thought it would fit in better with my fall decor if the frame was darker and older looking. So I gave it a coat of antiquing wax. For the artwork, I printed out a vintage image of a woman picking apples. She's wearing a pink dress, which I loved because it will coordinate with my floral arrangement. Since the glass was missing from the frame, I just used glue stick to adhere the print to the back of the frame so that it wouldn't shift around. Now I'm ready to add these items to the cabinet in my foyer. And even though I adore this little lamp, I think I want to trade it out. I want to try this larger brass lamp. And I thrifted this dusty pink shade for $1.99. And I think that's going to go so well with the cabinet and with the artwork. I can pull this cabinet out because this is actually hanging on the wall. It just looks like it's resting on the cabinet. When I first saw this rabbit at Goodwill, I envisioned it just like this, looking like it's brass sitting on a small stack of books. I might add this leather box into the mix here. This was $3.99. As much as I like the shade here, I don't think I'm really loving that lamp there. I think maybe I like this spaller one sitting up here better. I hope you enjoyed today's video. And let me know in the comments, which trend are you most excited about this fall? And if you want even more fall decor, here's another video you're sure to enjoy.