8 Things for Your Bathroom You Should Always Buy Secondhand, According to Home Stagers

Bathrooms can be tricky. You don’t want these tiny, utilitarian spaces to feel stark and bland, but at the same time, adding too many knick-knacks or bold colors can easily overwhelm the space.

The solution? Head to your local thrift shop. There, you’re guaranteed to find a handful of totally unique statement pieces that will command attention without cluttering up your bathroom or powder room.

“Bathrooms can sometimes be the ‘forgotten land’ for design,” says home stager Leah Gomberg, founder of Sweet Life by Design. “Adding some pleasant memorable touches to a bathroom can go a long way. These are easy, small items that you can buy secondhand to add style and interest to your bathroom. There are also some bigger items you can buy secondhand that enhance a bathroom’s style quotient every time.”

Since they’re in the market for budge-friendly home decor on a regular basis, we tapped home stagers for their favorite bathroom items to buy secondhand.

Once you visit a thrift shop and see how many secondhand baskets they have, you’ll never buy new again. Baskets are perfect for stashing reading materials or extra toilet paper rolls in the bathroom, says Gomberg.

Science class is back in session — in your bathroom. Use secondhand glass beakers as a fun, vintage-looking way to store cotton balls and swabs, says Rachel Moore, lead designer with Madison Modern Home in Los Angeles.

Want to do a serious overhaul of your bathroom? Consider replacing your standard bathroom vanity with a custom one made from an old dresser or cabinet, Gomberg says.

“An inexpensive sink is attached to the top of the cabinet and then you have a unique vanity,” she says. “This works especially well if you have a tricky-sized space where a standard vanity won’t fit.”

The next time you go thrifting, keep your eyes peeled for trays, platters, and plates, says Katie Ernst, creative director and founder of Bowery & Bash in Chicago. 

“Trays are such a no-brainer way to make things more organized — they are usually in great resale condition and are small enough for a bathroom counter,” Ernst says. “I love little marble or stone charcuterie trays. Also, vintage heavy crystal plates and vanity trays add interest to a modern bathroom.”

Raise your hand if your home still has a big, boring, rectangular, builder-grade mirror in the bathroom. Though it’s easy to overlook the mirror as a design element, consider snapping up a funky, decorative mirror at a yard sale, Moore says. Even this seemingly simple change can go a long way toward personalizing your bathroom.

Head to places like the Habitat for Humanity Restore and other secondhand building material shops for antique or industrial hooks, Moore says. No matter what these hooks were used for in their previous life, you can turn them into one-of-a-kind towel hooks.

Grab a handful of secondhand candlesticks, then arrange them with smaller, chunky candles, Ernst says. And for a more custom, DIY approach, consider spray-painting them first. Ernst loves matte black or concrete finishes.

Thrift shops are always jam-packed with all sorts of framed artwork — and it’s usually super affordable. At thrift store prices, you can update your bathroom art as often as you want (just be sure to donate back any cool art you no longer want to help keep it out of the landfill).

“The bathroom is the perfect place to have artwork that is interesting but not valuable,” Ernst says. “There are so many great secondhand options.”