Boroughbridge Charity Shop Circuit

Around a year before we left all our furniture and doo-dads behind and moved to England I started reading a few home and DIY blogs.  I loved seeing the transformations of rooms and how a coat of paint could change everything.  I liked seeing the thrifted treasures and mismatched vintage dishes. Giving old things a second life seemed so inspiring, but most of my furniture was new, and I didn't need any more dishes in my kitchen cabinets.  Enter moving across the Atlantic as a family of four with only 8 suitcases.  Enter two of my favorite charity shops in Boroughbridge.

As excited as I was to make my first trip to IKEA, I didn't want our entire house to be all brand new straight from the flat box.  I was first introduced to Oxfam, a chain of charity shops across the country as "the jewel of Boroughbridge."  It's been a treasure trove to our family of second-hand books, picture frames, tap shoes, a scooter, a few clothing items, as well as those much sought-after vintage plates.  I took a few discreet pictures when I popped in this afternoon.  I don't visit it as much as I did in the early months in town when I had four built-in bookshelves begging to be filled, but I still stop by pretty frequently.

I think the burnt orange flowers on those saucers are so pretty.

I have a weakness for blue and white dishes.

Oxfam is a good place to browse the paperbacks.

This is the second trip to Oxfam in which I have resisted buying this set of James Bond novels.  I've always wanted to read them, and one of my favorite bits of trivia is that the man who gave us James Bond also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  I love that.

If Oxfam is a good place for knick-knacks, the YMCA shop is your place for larger items like beautiful old tables and desks, good sized mirrors, and paintings.  I'm sitting in a wicker chair I purchased there as I write!

You never know what you might find, and it's always fun to browse.

There are other charity and second-hand shops in town, but those are the two I visit the most.  It's hard to resist walking in to see what 99 pence will get you on any given day.