I just decided it would be a good idea to make a master list of the items I want to find at the thrift store, so that when I go there, I will know what to look for and so I don't feel the need to wonder the isles wondering if I might be missing something that I could use. (I hate that feeling.) But, if I have a list, I can just attack the parts of the store where they keep the items I am looking for.

I imagine that I will have to keep this list for a few months before I've checked off everything on it. Most of the items on the list are things that I'd like to have in our large guest room downstairs but that I still don't have because I can't justify purchasing them new (or really afford them new without going over budget).

Want to know what's going on the list I am making?

So far, I've got:


Two twin bed skirts (Preferably matching)

One twin mattress cover (Only one of the twin beds has a cover already.)

Update: SCRATCH THAT!!! I cleaned out the top of my closet and found another twin mattress cover that had long been forgotten. I guess it got washed and folded and put away with the linens in the top of my closet to be forgotten. These kind of details are so much harder to keep up with now that I have two kids.

Queen mattress cover (I found a brand new queen bed skirt for $4 at the thrift store the other day because I happened to be looking in that section. This is what inspired my idea for a list in the first place. But, the queen bed in the guest room still needs a mattress cover.)

Small lamp (One of the twin bed's has a lamp. The other doesn't.)

Waste basket (I am using the bottom of our wooden ice cream maker lined with a plastic bag as a trash can right now. It's cute, but I'd like to find something more traditional to use instead.)

Crib sheet and blanket (I usually let Avril go without her regular sheet and blanket so any guests with babies will have a nice set. I wash them before our guests arrive, of course. But I'd like to find a decent crib set that can just stay in the guest room for the crib that's down there.)

I've gotten over one of the major obstacles that prevented me from buying things from thrift stores: the need to make everything match perfectly. In my opinion and experience, that has very little to do with making your guests feel welcome or making your home feel happy. I think it's more important to make sure everything is neat and clean and to make your guests or your family members the center of attention rather than the center of everyone's attention being on your lavishly decorated home.