Thrifty Acres: But Patience Isn't Always Necessary!

Hello! My previous post discussed buying something at a thrift store many moons after I'd spied a similar item at full price elsewhere. 

While it's fun to spy a hoped-for item at a thrift store whenever that may be, it's even more fun when I buy something at a thrift store just after I'd determined a need for it.

Case in point: I'd been repainting a room in our house (originally a parlor, and this work was the reason I hadn't been posting much the previous few weeks). This meant I had to take down the window treatments in that room, of course - sheer curtains and valances.  Both were courtesy of the previous owner. I was fine with the curtains but had never cared for those valances, which were a blah, medium brown-colored cheapo lace (the stuff that's supposed to look like fine lace but ends up not fooling anyone).

Earlier this week, I finally finished all the paint touch-ups, so I hung the sheer curtains back up. Now it was time to figure out a valance replacement. I figured I could make some, but that could involve a lengthy deliberation at the fabric store. Should I pick this print? Or what about this one? And so on. It can be hard to choose a fabric that's "just right" - or at least it is for me!

Or should I arrange some of my vintage embroidered linens and use them as valances? That would work, except that unfortunately most of the embroidered linens I inherited from my husband's aunt feature rather garish color schemes that wouldn't look quite right in the room.

Then yesterday I popped into a thrift store I rarely visit, on my way to another store I rarely visit. And lo and behold, in the household linens section, were four matching valances that I knew would look perfect in my parlor. They were in like-new condition too!

Of course, to be on the safe side I put the valances through the washer and dryer and then eagerly hung them up:

The colors aren't quite as dark as what the above photo shows. 

A close-up of the pattern. The colors in this photo are closer to how they actually look. 

These valances were made by Springs Global but I don't know what stores carried them, nor do I know what they originally cost brand-new. An eBay seller is currently asking $22.99 for a set of two, plus shipping. Including tax, I paid a little over $12.00 for my set of four. 

These valances would have been worth the wait even if I'd found them later on, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait at all!