The Frugal Design Showcase Home Overview

EVERY INCH OF A MODEL HOME IS DECORATED USING ONLY THRIFT STORE MERCHANDISE!!
Picture this…take an upscale model home and completely decorate it with furniture and furnishings from nonprofit thrift stores! When finished, every room in the home is move-in ready - complete with furniture, rugs, artwork, nick-nacks, books, and window treatments. Every item in the house is tagged and for sale, with the money going back to the participating nonprofits. Tickets to the event are sold to the public and the hundreds of people who attend buy the furnishings making it a win-win. The nonprofits receive money and increased awareness about their stores, and the general public gets to see some decorating ideas and purchase second hand treasures for their own home.

People who have never shopped in a thrift store are introduced to the concept of donated items being used in a real home’s décor resulting in rooms that have high style yet are still homey.

This is what one attendee wrote about the event:
“I wanted to share with you how much fun I had at the Frugal Design Showcase Home. Being more of a “donator” than a “shopper” at thrift stores, I was intrigued by the concept of the showcase. More importantly, I had heard from several people in the community that last year’s was quite the event! The idea of having everything displayed in a model home made it easy to maneuver around and visualize how the items might look in my own home. Normally, in a thrift store, everything is grouped together in categories; dining room sets are all lined up, sofas are all together and so on instead of creating vignettes that would sell maybe not only the sofa, but also pictures and other accessories.”

In 2008 over 600 people attended the three day event and it raised $40,000.
In 2009 over 400 people attended the two day event and it raised nearly $27,000.
(We believe the difference between the two years is indicative of one less day and reflects 2009’s economic climate)

But equally as important as the dollars raised, is the public awareness that comes from an event like this. Regional television stations covered it, it made the cover of local magazines and we had multiple stories in area newspapers. The local ABC affiliate television station was a corporate sponsor and ran free TV ads for the event with corporate sponsors’ logos appearing at the end of the commercial.

The media coverage put thrift stores in the spotlight and caused the public to sit up and take notice. Traffic in the stores increased after the event and some even reported that people came in asking about items they had seen in The Frugal Design Showcase Home.