In Praise of Second Hand

Tis the season to buy things and this year I haven’t. Not much. My daughter Molly, my main recipient, is staying in California and I’ll be visiting her in the new year so no crazy holiday traveling for me. Nor gift buying. I’ve never really operated well under the seasonal pressure of giving presents. Working in a bookstore I used to give a lot of books. I’ll still happily give books, but unless you’re a little kid, who needs more books? I am now an avid library user. I’ve also been tackling my shelves — filled with unread titles. I bet yours are too, right?

I don’t hate shopping per se. I usually enjoy food shopping and I like wandering through hardware stores. (Lowes – never Home Depot) But I love thrift shopping. I have been a thrifter since high school and still find it an adventure.

Currently in my living room, these are the things I purchased new: television, vacuum cleaner, this computer, the carpet, woodstove and one small chair. That’s about it. Everything else has been thrifted, found at tag-sales, scavenged, and given to me by friends. The same is true for every other room in this old house. The things I own have stories – and only some of them are mine. Pre-owned, they came to me with their own history. 

I look around my living room. A Boston fern I transplanted a month ago to give it more room, sits on a plant stand I picked up off the street while walking in the neighborhood. Someone’s reject. The simple wood stand could use a fresh coat of paint; a task that may take me a while to get around to and sometimes, I just don’t. But right now, the plant and wooden stand look lovely in the light of the wood fire burning in my stove. I am burning wood from the oak tree I reluctantly took down this summer. I salute each log as I put into the fire, grateful for the years of shade and now the heat it brings me. I carry the wood in from the porch in a wire basket that Molly spotted at a tag sale a few years ago. 

A blond, Swedish-design coffee table sits in the center of the living room as it has for years. This and matching chairs were a gift from Mary, formerly a beloved neighbor who gave us some furniture when she moved out. Only the table still remains. The solid, deep and comfortable couch was my friend Nina’s. She told me it hosted countless naps and gatherings of her big family of mostly boys – now all grown. It’s a better piece of furniture than I would purchase new and each soft crevice feels like love. Now, it’s where I sometimes snooze.

In the corner is a metal stand that 30 years ago my friend Hendrik designed and welded for me to display one of my sculptures on. During the winter months, I move the sculpture and give this indoor stand to one of my Gardenias plants. It seems happy in its warm corner. 

I prefer used and older furniture, clothes, garden and kitchen tools – almost anything. New things rarely have the grace nor substance of older pieces. While I admire beautiful couches on display in upscale stores and funky themed showrooms, I am not interested in stretching my limited budget to pay for them. 

Years ago, when I was living in NYC, a guy I was dating said to me, “You live like a refugee.” In fairness, I think he was referring to the jerryrigged cinderblock bookcase. I knew my life in the city was transitional – that I wouldn’t stay living there forever, so why put down roots? And besides, I love other people’s old stuff and my books sat happily on those improvised shelves. I haven’t changed much.

Although I now have more stuff. And real bookcases. Yet I cannot resist visiting my favorite thrift shops. ‘It’s only $15’ I said about the tall metal chair that provided a tall perch on the porch all summer. Now it sits by the window inside. I tuck the heavy winter curtains behind the chair to let the light in. Sometimes I sit there for a different view of my space. Worth $15 for a change of perspective, no? 

My favorite are church thrift shops run by volunteers but sometimes I’ll stop into my local Goodwill, usually shopping for something specific. Most recently my mission was to find large enough dishes to put under all the plants I was moving inside for the winter. I found just what I needed plus a sweet plant stand with spindle legs that now sits at the bottom of the stairs, home to a Mandeville plant with its last red blossom from summer still hanging on.

This afternoon I am going to make a cake that requires a loaf pan. I searched in all the cabinets, looking behind pyrex and clay cookware. How do I not have any loaf pans? But I do not. Dare I venture out to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas? I think Goodwill should be fine! 

May your holidays be beautiful!

PS – Walked down to Goodwill and found these!