I’m all about the thrill of the hunt. I am constantly flipping through magazines, window shopping, pinning and scrolling Insta for the latest and greatest in home design and decor trends. It feeds my competitive side because I must have that oddball item no one else has (yet) and I’ve got to get it for a steal. It’s a little bit like shopping for baby clothes. Mamas, you know what I mean. Everyone buys the same old Carter’s onesies and I crave dressing my little man in that sweet startup brand that a SAHM just launched on Etsy. You with me?

One of the best places we’ve shopped where you can find that incredible piece that checks all of those boxes and then some is your local salvage warehouse. A lot of times you can find everything from light fixtures, knick knacks, old doors and windows, vintage furniture and more. Our most recent #NixonPack remodel was a home built in 1894. We wanted to merry our modern taste with vintage pieces to fit the period of the home. Enter, salvage yard. We went one rainy Saturday not exactly sure what we were looking for but in just minutes landed on a gorgeous oversized door from a downtown Chicago shop in the early 1900’s. Hello, barn door to the master bath!

Does your eye go right to it? Me too. It has a way of bringing all of the elements of the room together, yet standing out as a beautiful statement in the space. It’s the first thing guests comment on when walking in to the room and up close it is the sweetest to see the love notes people carved in it through the years.

On that very same trip, we had another score. Jon and I have a thing for letters (as you can see above). It’s funny, in a previous home we paper mache’d all the letters to form “guest” in the guest suite and a good friend of mine constantly razzed me about it. Apparently, it was a little too obvious. She has her own version of what the letters below look like to her. I’ll let you be the judge:

For those of you in the Chicago area, the C and second O are from the old Dominick’s grocery store. Fitting for a kitchen, no? All of the letters are from old Chicagoland shops no longer in business and to us, there is something so cool about them living on in a different way. That’s the beauty of a salvage yard. Your decor tells a story. I live for that. Rather than walking into Pottery Barn and buying an entire set you see on display, you curate something that feels authentically you. Is this massive COOK marquee for everyone? No. Truth be told, it took some time to grow on me, too. But I love that it’s something I can confidently say that no one else has and it brings a pop of color, and personality, to our main living space.

What salvage scores have you brought home? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!