The thrill of the hunt
The most underrated tool for finding good things for your home, budget decorating tips from experts and 3 things to look for at secondhand shops
One of my favorite activities is looking for things. I love searching for the right word or phrase to complete the paragraph, the piece of art that shines on a wall, the song to play on the piano that fits my mood perfectly, etc.
I like it because I like when things fit, when they settle in just perfectly and feel complete. I enjoy solving the puzzle. Perhaps, also, I’m driven by some sort of connection to ancestors who hunted and gathered for survival — because, after all, what is an antique shopping spree if not a biological predisposition to gather?
There’s something life-affirming about finding the thing that you wanted, whether it’s finding a lost object or finding the way you desperately needed to express yourself. It’s the thrill of the hunt, the exhilarating feeling of that search for something. You did it — the task was achieved.
Today’s newsletter is about the thrill of the hunt: starting out on a search, being resourceful and finally finding that thing you’ve been looking for. It’s thrilling, no? Thanks for being here.
LISTS GONE WILD
The most underrated creative tool
Lists may be the most underrated creative tool because they organize thoughts and keep you on track when other circumstances set you off course. You can reference them when you have a question or when an opportunity presents itself.
When it comes to the thrill of the hunt, and finding good things, a list is an invaluable tool. Finding good things is less about knowing where to look or how much to spend and more about having a vision for the things that you do come across. If you can create and iterate upon a vision, you’ll be able to recognize things that fit into it.
Here are a few lists to make to help you in the thrill of the hunt for your home:
Measurements of spaces in your home
Paint colors you’ve used
Furniture design styles that catch your eye (midcentury modern, art deco, etc.)
Words to describe the environment you want to create
Practical or decorative items you need to fill up your home (so you know what to look for when you stumble upon an estate sale)
Books, music, movies, etc. that you want to read, watch, listen to or collect
Brands with high-quality items that you like or that someone has referred you to
It’s so easy to get lost in a sea of sales, discount items and the urgency to finish a room, but if you can stay on track with a vision, you’ll have more success in your search.
NO RHYME OR REASON
Things that I’ve liked lately, for various reasons
Sister Parish’s Kinnicutt fabric is the prettiest pattern and I love the mocha shade.
A bed in Jean Cocteau’s home in France. How magical would that be?
Butterflies from the New York Public Library’s collection.
Incredible Murano glass lamps that look like candy at a boutique in Copenhagen.
The home of American expat Harry Blackmer in Athens, Greece.
Pretty pink and red tiles (image source unknown).
DECORATING ON A BUDGET
Tips from the experts
Fiona McKenzie Johnston, House & Garden’s agony aunt, wrote a wonderful article on decorating when you’ve run out of money and I thought the tips were a lifeline (and so practical). My biggest takeaway was this: Finding good things, and making them work together, takes time. You have to be willing to go on the hunt and live in the in-between as it’s slowly furnished.
Journalist Pandora Sykes, who decorated her home quickly and with plenty of high-low mixes, said each item in the home represented at least eight hours of searching. Her home, photographed below, has a beautiful, collected feel.
Here are a few great tips that stood out to me:
Don’t fear secondhand upholstered furniture.
I’ve always thought secondhand upholstered furniture could be risky: it’s costly to recover and you never know how well it was kept. But in the article, the advice is to look for shapes and styles you like and know you can recover it later. The in-between solution? A pretty throw blanket. Simple. Easy. Clever.
Paint is a gateway DIY project.
If you don’t think you could DIY — whether because of the skills or the labor it requires — try out painting. It’s an easy, high-reward way to transform a space and it’s budget-friendly too.
Think of ways you can customize premade, big box items.
Whether with paint or a decorative trim, affordable, simple curtains, furniture and lamps (and so on) can be made more interesting with a little more creativity.
Don’t disregard hand-me-downs and cast-offs.
To fill a home, especially one that’s empty, keep an open mind. Hand-me-downs and gifted items from friends and family (even things set out on the curb) can be useful and serve an interim purpose — and you may even find that they fit in your home’s design.
Above, designer Lucinda Griffith decorated her cottage in Wales for £7,000 (about $9,000) total with secondhand finds and thrifty ideas. My favorite note is the use of bright color on the walls, which makes each space feel unique and special.
NO REASON TO BUY IT NEW
For great finds, keep an eye out for these 3 things
You can find so many things secondhand, at antique stores and resale shops, but there are a few to keep eyes on: original art, framed (always framed, and make sure you like the frame), antique dressers or chests of drawers and coffee table books, which are expensive to buy new if you want to amass a collection but are abundant at estate sales and used bookshops.
GOOD CHOICE
Scrappy solutions with fabric remnants
I’ve taken to searching Facebook Marketplace for designer fabric remnants for small projects. Those many months of searching (and finding nothing) finally yielded some fruit: I found a piece of Schumacher’s Pyne Hollyhock for a deeply discounted price. The fabric was long on my design plan for use in our hallway bathroom and the remnant was just enough for a cafe curtain. What fortune!
All the best,
Mary Grace