Revamp Your Home: Unleashing 2024 Design Trends with the Power of Secondhand Treasures

How can you best embrace 2024’s design trends while furnishing your home with secondhand finds? The experts are here to help! Below, several secondhand enthusiasts weigh in to share some of the main looks that will be making a statement in the design world this year and offer tips for how to bring these styles into your own home, all without breaking the bank. 

Shapely Furniture

Curved furniture is majorly in style, and you’ll most definitely stumble upon some pretty amazing sculptural sofas and tables while shopping secondhand. Amy Hughes, the founder of Maplewood Mercantile, was lucky enough to score a Maranlunga sofa by Vico Magistretti for Cassina for $900, therefore saving thousands. It makes a stylish yet cozy statement in her living room, alongside other estate sale finds, including a 60s Womb chair by Eero Saarinen. 

Photo courtesy of Amy Hughes

Metallic Accents

Brass will continue to be big this year, and you can easily bring this material into your home through fun accessories like candlesticks, trinket dishes, vases, bookends, and more. Notes Sarah Teresinski, the founder of Redeux Style, “I found the perfect large brass candle stick for $10 that just needed a good polish!” 

Photo courtesy of Sarah Teresinski

Other metals are certainly in vogue, too, says Chelsey Brown, the founder of City Chic Decor. “Look for metal trinket dishes, silver candlesticks, and metallic bowls or trays,” she suggests, noting that nearly all of the items on her kitchen shelf are pieces that she thrifted.

Photo courtesy of Chelsey Brown

Unique Lighting

Bland lighting is so last year. Bring some instant personality into your home with light fixtures that are unexpected and one of a kind. If you’re feeling crafty, why not DIY a light fixture of your own? Teresinski creatively turned a thrifted birdcage into a showstopping lamp. 

Photo courtesy of Sarah Teresinski

Earth Tones

Warm up any room of the home by infusing beautiful earth tones like brown, rust, and olive green, shades that “provide us with a sense of calm,” according to Danielle Slutzky, the founder of Flair Design House. “There is an enduring quality to these colors, making them a popular choice for current design plans,” she adds, and recommends gravitating toward them when selecting vintage rugs and sofas. 

Vintage Glass

You don’t need a matching china set to style a fabulous tablescape. Instead, focus your efforts on stockpiling stunning vintage glassware, Teresinski  says. She recommends keeping an eye out for sets of plates and glasses, silverware, decanters, and candy dishes. 

This set of vintage Amber goblet drinking glassware and water vase is ready for a new home. Bid here.

Mixing Wood Tones

Wood tones will continue to reign supreme in 2024. “Sourcing classic wooden furnishings can help you bring warmth, variety, and a richness to any design project,” Slutzky says. You’ll want to skillfully mix various wood tones within a room to ensure that it looks as sophisticated as possible. Brown recommends sticking to pieces with the same undertones—wood stools, secretary desks, easels, bowls, trays, side tables, and shelves are all fair game, she says.

Written by:

Sarah Lyon

February 9, 2024     Updated 02:04 PM

Sarah Lyon is a Washington, DC, native living in New York City. As a freelancer, she frequently covers pieces pertaining to interior design, travel, and other lifestyle topics. Her pieces have appeared in outlets including Apartment Therapy, Architectural Digest, MyDomaine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and more. When she isn't writing, Sarah works with designers to help them style spaces for photo shoots (and can't stop rearranging and redecorating her own apartment, either!). She has a penchant for shopping secondhand and loves giving preloved pieces new life. Sarah’s own spaces have appeared on Apartment Therapy, The Everygirl, Houzz, and Washingtonian.com. Her Dupont Circle apartment was featured in both the spring 2019 print edition of Small Space Decorating and the January 2019 print edition of Washingtonian Magazine.

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