$300 Dopamine Decor Thrift Haul | SECOND HAND ON DEMAND

Big thanks to Hyundai Canada for sponsoring this video. It's time for another episode of Secondhand on Demand. I love to shop secondhand and I've shared many of my journeys to find unique, one-of-a-kind pieces for my home. Every time I share my unique finds, I get messages like, Help me! Can you shop for me?

In this series, I go shopping for you. You tell me your decor style and budget and I'll hit the secondhand shop so you don't have to. At the end I reveal my finds and you get to sit back until your curated items land on your doorstep. In this episode we're shopping for Claire, a bold and brilliant soul who lives for art deco flair, tropical lollipop vibes, and dopamine decor. Color is her love language and subtlety? Well I guess that's for someone else's mood board. The question is, can I meet her design criteria and stay within my budget? Well, let's go

shopping to find out. Editor, roll the tape! Yeah, I'm not sure what that was. Dear my friends, welcome back to my channel. Am I excited for this episode? Let's meet Claire and learn more about why she applied.

Hi everyone, my name is Claire. I'm from Australia. I have quite a specific wish list.

I want to talk about Claire's mood board because she had one of the best mood boards I have ever seen. Like our girl provided a main color palette, an expanded color palette, photos of her space, we had decor vase section, we had a statue section, botanical decor section, small unusual gallery wall accent section, animal decor, textiles. You get it, it was very detailed and I gotta say I'm here for it.

So in my conversations with Claire, I'm not gonna lie, we got a bit chatty. Who me? I would never. But to ensure that this video actually stays within a healthy 20 to 25 minutes,

I'm just gonna cover the basis of what kind of items she's looking for me to find her. So first off, vintage altered art was at the top of her list. We're talking old vintage art that allows oneself to paint a cool, modern, or whimsical element into it.

This is very popular right now and she already has a really great one in her entryway where she added a pink dinosaur and it's brilliant and I just I want to find her the right piece so that she can do something like this again. Specifically she's looking for a seascape so that she can paint in a kraken. Say no more. She also wants some dopamine inspired decor vases. You know, think fish glug jugs, dog heads, large food items. Anything unique, colorful, and just conversational.

Fun vintage textiles, art deco birds, bright colored birds, florals, retro patterns, botanical decor, metal or ceramic, dog or cat statues. Now a huge wish list find is that ragdoll retro fluffy cat, very specific. She also loves the colorful statues in a fun dopamine way. I feel like this could be fun to find and DIY so hopefully we can find something. And the last was small unusual gallery

wall accents. So she had a whole section of unique, fun items. It's, you know, taking something that shouldn't be and making it work as art. I think we all know that this is right up my alley and I'm excited for this. Let's chat budget.

Claire gave me a budget of 300 Canadian. This is not a big budget for the type of items that we are trying to source but even if I can curate one of these wish list items I feel like I will have succeeded. I'm nervous because I just want to do Claire Proud but I'm gonna try. We need to pull out all the stops and get a little creative and think outside the box on this one. So I'm excited but we need to go shop so what do you say let's go shop

and wish me luck. I'm gonna need it. Good morning friends!

We're on our way to go shopping for Claire. As you can see, I am not in my usual vehicle and that is because this episode is sponsored by Hyundai Canada. Sorry I just like always get really excited to say that out loud because you know like when you have these like dream brands you want to work with like Hyundai is like one of my dream brands and the fact that we've had the ability to work

together so many times that like literally makes me tingle on the inside and I'm just so excited to share it with you guys. I'm really excited cause I'm in the Hyundai Tucson. I don't know if you guys remember, last year I got to do a whole trip with the Hyundai Santa Fe. And honestly, it kind of feels,

it's got the same coolness. It's got the same vibe with the infotainment touchscreen. Everything is just like, looks really slick. It's very comfortable. Everything's like at your fingertips in here. I'm just obsessed. I love having the ability to do this. I love that I got a little charger for my phone

right in the front here. It feels like you're living the life of luxury, truly. Oh, look, it's got a sunroof. Does that make me look better? Is the lighting better now? I don't know. The reason why it's such a dream brand for me is because I've been driving Hyundais my

entire life. I mean, my very first vehicle was a Hyundai Elantra. That was like my very first car. I bought it with my own money and I drove that car to the ground. Jeffrey, my husband, he drives a Hyundai Elantra GT and we love that car. We have a Kona in the family and now we're in the Tucson and it's just like, it's just as amazing.

So I'm very excited to be cruising around in this to do our thrift shop for Claire because we're going right into the city. And what's kind of nice is that this vehicle has a hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrain option and all wheel drive. We are going to all the Ritzy shops

to find the best pieces for Claire. I can't wait for this day. I need to go pick up Vanessa, so let's go do that and then we can start this day because we do have a quick little marketplace pickup to do first, which I'm really excited about.

So let's go do that and then we're going to go shopping for Claire.

Woohoo!

Let's go shopping!

Camera high five!

What do you want to say to Vanessa?

I'm on my way.

It says, I'm on my way.

Send it?

Yes, please.

Done.

Once I had Vanessa in my vehicle, my first stop was to pick up a marketplace find. It's a pineapple tapered candle holder. I found this cool brass pineapple top for $15. Honestly I think this used to be the top to a larger piece but I knew Claire was looking for some brass elements and definitely wanted pineapples and I thought this is a cool piece that I can't pass up. It's the right price so it's coming home with me.

One piece down, couple more to go. Our next stop was The Apartment Life, a standout vintage furniture and home decor shop tucked right in the heart of downtown Toronto. Anyone in Toronto knows this iconic pink storefront. This place is a visual feast from the moment you step inside. Every corner bursts with color and nostalgia and the entire store is just so thoughtfully curated

into color stories which I honestly personally love and find wildly satisfying. Here it's all about the details. Think shell lamps, pastel glassware, modular sofas, retro shelving and furniture, and an endless array of one-of-a-kind treasures. E.T. phone home. I knew the apartment life would be the perfect place to hunt for pieces with playful personality for Claire.

We were on the hunt for color and I think it found us.

You found me. Our next stop was Bazaar Toronto. Okay and I think it found us. You found me.

Our next stop was Bazaar Toronto. Okay, I had a snack first.

It was too crumbly to eat in the vehicle.

So next I went to Bazaar Toronto. It is a two floor vintage and makers marketplace with over 80 booths featuring everything from curated fashion to handmade goods This space is a cozy little gem that feels like a secret portal into someone's ultra curated dream closet Honestly, the setup feels kind of like you're living in a mood board and I just I love it. It's got vintage denim It's got graphic tees, groovy knits, handmade jewelry,

quirky ceramics, retro kitchenware, and just a lot of art prints. Every booth has its own vibe and highlights pieces in the 70s, the 90s, and like literally everything in between. I'm not gonna lie, there is a whole lot of magic in this store and we definitely felt it.

Ooh, I feel good about this shop.

Oh, and now we get to use the smart lift gate. Watch what happens when this key gets in proximity of the vehicle. It just magically lifts. It's like real life magic. There you go.

All right, feeling good. Off to the next location. One of our last stops of the day was Kensington Market.

Like a glove. Crushed it.

So Kensington Market is easily one of the best places in the city to thrift for the unfindable. If you're after that one perfect thing you didn't know you were even looking for, this is where you come. Around every corner there's a different vintage or secondhand shop with its own flavor. The variety here is unreal.

It is a maze of the weird and the wonderful and I just I love getting lost in this market. Claire wanted pieces that would make her walls feel unconventional and conversational, one of a kind. Well, this place is full of that. Okay, I think I found everything except the art piece she was looking for.

Like the like the ship on the water. I also really haven't found any of the toys that could be turned into something. Hopefully this is gonna work out. I'm putting all the good energy into the universe for Claire.

But I'm so happy with everything we found. Oh my God, it's so good. I'm so excited. But yeah, let's go do one more stop and then hopefully this goes well. Do you want some sound? Some nature sounds? Yeah, I would love some. You want to see something cool?

I go into here, go into mode. Look at this. We can experience the universe. Lively forest on a sail ship, city dawn moment of meditation harbingers of

spring I kind of want to experience the universe experience the universe okay Oh, feel that sound system rumble.

Oh, that's nice.

Toronto traffic, here we come.

I got the sounds of nature by my side. Of course, it was past 6pm and traffic was getting heavy, but adaptive cruise control made it easy, automatically handling the accelerating and braking between thrift stops. We did make a quick stop at an everyday thrift shop

because you just never know. I still had not found my white rag doll cat and I was thinking I gotta look or I might find some tropical inspired fabrics here. Alas, my shopping day did come to an end and you know what

I think I did Claire proud. Okay got my coffee in hand it is very early my 8am her 8pm. I'm excited because I've been dying to show Claire what I found her. I'm a little nervous because I feel like a few pieces were like, okay, these are a risk, but I think they're going to pay off. All right, let's meet with Claire.

Hello. I have to let you know, I'm so excited. I'm a little bit overstimulated.

I did my best to ensure that I come prepared and that I don't let you down. So we are going to work backwards through your list. It's still all very exciting but like least exciting to the most exciting, you know what I mean? We're going to start with small unusual gallery wall accents. So the first piece is this. This is a bib necklace.

I love it.

I love it.

I loved its vibrant, colorful pattern. The textile nature of it made it so intricate and beautiful. The brass feather accents gave it a bohemian, whimsical touch. And if Claire wanted unusual jewelry pieces that could stand in as art,

then I think this necklace is just that. Now I believe it could be from the 60s to 70s Bohemian glam folk era. Necklaces like this aren't just jewelry, they are wearable art. So why not put it on your wall?

This is the least exciting. I'm gonna need some oxygen. That is amazing.

Okay, so item number two. So I found you this flamingo needle felted art piece that I put onto a frame for you but it actually is a bag. This like felt like a piece of art so I framed it but like what a fun thing, you just wanna walk up and touch. It's so soft.

That is amazing.

It's gorgeous.

Four of my wishlist in one.

So like I said, this artisanal piece of art was crafted using needle felting, a folk art technique where dyed wool fibers are repeatedly poked with a barbed needle to bind them into dense textured design. The result is a rich, slightly raised surface

that feels soft but sculptural. I love this and the felt gives just like a handmade, cozy aesthetic and the colors are vibrant, which makes this a standout accessory or art for any space. Last gallery accent wall piece, we had talked about finding small things for the wall.

Well, I found this really unique item and I was like oh this just feeds into the ask from Claire. So I was able to find this belt buckle that's this tiger and it's so fun it's so funky. The green and the gold and the black is just, oh, I love it. So I did some digging and this belt buckle might be or be a reproduction of a vintage 1970s brass tiger head Western biker style buckle. It would have likely been made in the style of brands like American Buckle Co or Renegade.

These were mass produced between the 1970s to 1990s. So it's hard to authenticate, but it's a great condition and made for a super cool art piece to display. I'm not sure I could pull it off as a belt, but as a gallery wall accent, I'm for it.

It's amazing.

We're going to move on to animal decor, but I'm also pairing in dog and cat statues into this. I would say that I was pretty darn successful in this area. That's all I'm gonna say. So I'm gonna actually show you three items at the same time, but then we'll break down each one

and talk about them individually, okay? One, two, three. So of course, these three lovelies, were not purchased this way. So this first piece was, used to be a little porcelain dog and I DIY'd all three of these to make it more you.

So this is a vintage Anarcho porcelain poodle dog figurine. It's not worth much on the market, like under 20 bucks, and I definitely paid less than it's worth, which I'm happy about, but to make this pooch dopamine inspired, I first primed it, painted it with a purple acrylic paint,

highlighted the features in a lighter purple, then using paint markers, added a little pop of color to the body. Moving on to our cat, this was a decoupage floral cat figurine. Again, not worth much on the market. It was absolutely adorable beforehand. Honestly, I probably could

have left it floral and Claire would have loved it, but I definitely had a vision. Again, I primed, I painted this blue with dark blue accents and to add a little flair, I purchased these adorable earrings that were handmade by a local creator, Haley Made, and I created a little flair I purchased these adorable earrings that were handmade by a local creator Haley Maid and I created a Little chain around his neck and added the boot. Oh so sweet The last was our vintage black and white Staffordshire dog figurine So these are known as mantel dogs or hearth Spaniels

They are pretty iconic pieces of English pottery originating from, you guessed it, Staffordshire, England. They were especially popular from the early 1800s through the Victorian era, peaking between 1830 and 1890. So these figurines were once a symbol of middle class status in Victorian homes. Some Staffordshire dogs were known as Wally dogs in Scotland. They were placed in windows to watch over, I put that in quotations, the house or it would signal when a man was home or not home depending on which way it was facing. Our Wally Dog here is a vintage reproduction rather than a true 19th

century antique but it's still charming and very much a collectible piece. I kind of loved his original look but we were definitely going by Claire's original mood board. So we opted to prime and paint our dog a bright pink with light pink details. And I had a lot of fun recreating his features on his face.

It's kind of angry, but like in a cute way, I think. He is stunning.

All the right kinds of grumpy. He's so fabulous.

So we're moving on to botanical decor. And I have to say, this was actually slightly more challenging than I expected it to be. But I did happen to find one item off marketplace, no less. It's a pineapple head candle holder and it's in brass. Isn't that fun? Oh this is so good. Let's move on to dopamine decor vases.

I was able to find you three dopamine decor vases. So let me show you the first one. This little guy is coming at you straight from your mood board. He needed a little love, so I did end up having to repaint the beak and give him a new eyeball. But you'd never know, you'd never know.

He looks brand new, he looks just the same as he was. He just needed a little DIY love, and now he's brand new back to being lovable and In need of a plant the next place I found for you on marketplace When I saw it my jaw went to the floor. I was so happy. I couldn't believe it. It just felt so right I found you a beautiful

double-sided Planter vase double-sided planter vase. This is an authentic Maddox of California double-sided flamingo planter and is a standout piece of mid-century American pottery.

It's highly collectible. It's served as a statement piece in a Hollywood Regency or Tiki-style homes. Maddox of California was active mainly during the 1940s and 1960s, and their designs were

part of the post-war California pottery movement. This last vase I found for you, this is coming to you straight from Iceland. I found this in Iceland. I knew that I was going to come back and be shopping for you. So when I saw it, I felt like it was either kismet or it was just one of those things where I was like,

you know what, I need to take this home with me because I don't want to be home and then not find the piece. So I literally put this on my lap so I didn't break it on the plane all the way home from Iceland. My husband thought I was nuts,

but I was like, I I gotta bring this for Claire. So are you ready to see your very own cobalt blue? I don't know. I'm not. I'm not. So these are a gurgle fish jug or gluggle jugs or glug glug jugs they were called this because of the distinct gurgling or gurgling sound that they made when you pour liquid from them. So when you pour the liquid out, air rushes in to replace it and because of the shape,

this creates a gurgling noise almost like the fish is gulping or talking like gulp gulp gulp gulp. So these guys originated in Britain in the 1870s with companies like Dartmouth Pottery popularizing the form in the 20th century. We're gonna move on to art. This one wasn't on your mood board, but I took a gamble. But I happened to find something that's very dear

to my medium heart, which is I'm a big sucker for stained glass pieces. So I was able to find you a parrot stained glass piece. Isn't it spectacular?

Oh my gosh.

But this could literally just go on the wall, hung on here or in a window.

Oh my gosh. That is amazing.

You asked me to find you a seascape. Let me tell you, was not an easy ask, but then I remembered that I in the past had thrifted something for somebody I know, um, that's somebody being my mother. She was like, I would happily give this to Claire if it meant that she could love it and recreate something because I thrifted it for her and I'll show you.

The sticker is still on it, but I knew that this was going to work.

You ready?

It's gonna work so well.

Oh my God.

Like, can you not see the Kraken coming over top of this? And perfect size. This is the best thing ever. The last item and maybe, maybe this is the one that I've probably been the most nervous about. I know that you have a passion for lamps. I too have a passion for lamps and I have a passion for DIYing lamps. So in my journeys, I happened to come across this toy and I saw it and I just, my head started turning.

I was like, oh, that would make such a funky lamp in a very colorful space and the colors just worked. All right on three one two three open your eyes. That is the best. So this piece was originally the up stub bead maze from Ikea. To make this light, I took the entire thing apart, removed all the pieces I didn't need, drilled a hole down the middle to allow my light small threaded pipe to fit through, painted the base a light pink.

Now you see me painting it here, but I did eventually spray paint it to save time. I also added feet using wood beads that I attached using glue and then painted green. I sprayed a lamp socket a yellow and wired it through the base. I added my fun wavy metal pieces back on with a few selective beads. Added my bulb and voila! A super fun art decor art dec deco inspired light, perfect for a colorful dopamine lover like Claire.

No notes, no notes. I'm in love.

Okay, let's talk about budget. So you gave me a budget of $300. I ended up spending $289.50 on these items.

So I stayed under budget. Yeah you did. Yeah! You did amazing. You found things that were not only mood board adjacent, you found things that were actually on my board. You are the queen of thrifting and the queen of DIY. As I said I'm not normally speechless I can talk underwater but you did the best job and I'm so grateful that you chose me and I'm so grateful that you went out of your way to find my little trinkets and treasures that are just gonna be with me forever.

DIY friends, thank you so much for watching another episode of Secondhand On Demand. If you wanna be a part of this series and let me help you shop for your home, the signup link is in my description box. The crazier, the better, bring it on. You guys should let me help you shop for your home. The sign up link is in my description box. The crazier the better. Bring it on! You guys should let me know what did you think of Claire's

dopamine inspired style. Would you put any of these pieces in your own home? Comment down below and let me know what was your favorite find. Big thank you again to Hyundai Canada for sponsoring this video. Thank you for letting me cruise around the city in the Hyundai Tucson. It made the entire experience so fun and so enjoyable. Is anyone out there a big Hyundai fan like me? Comment below what is your favorite vehicle.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Tucson I was in, it's linked in my description box. Of course, a big shout out to my Patreon family, my DIY friends! If you are looking for a community of DIYers to root you on through your projects or just give you advice, a second opinion, my Patreon is definitely the place for you. Link in the description box.

Alright my friends, another happy customer. I am all dopamine out! But as always, stay positive, stay creative, I am all dopamine out! But as always, stay positive, stay creative, and keep on DIYin'! Bye bye!