#004: Only Thrifting w/ Kellie Brown

Real estate fate, friendship, and why we're all just feral cats on the hunt for a GEM.

⚡️ Hi friends! A few sexy bits before we get into this week’s thrifting odyssey. First, today’s post is FREE, so pls do like/share it if the spirit moves you—it means a lot when you do:).

🕺 Also, the holy trinity of thrifting/antiquing bacchanalia is almost upon us—Brimfield! And my friend Sheri over at Cool Best Friend is organizing a ticketed day trip (from NYC) for me and a handful of fellow ATA flea market maniacs (I 👀 you). Space is limited, so message her at sheri@coolbestfriend.com if you want a spot in our van. We’ll have totes + treats + a trunk for all our obscene finds. Join us, won’t u?

🏡 Last call for photos + captions of YOUR favorite tiny home spot/corner/nook for an upcoming A Tiny Apt. feature. Email me at hi@atinyapt.com with a few lovely snaps + a short description of this particular VOC (vortex of cozy) as well as why you love it so much. Feature coming soon…xx

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A few years ago, I had the good fortune of visiting Palm Springs on a Pinterest trip. And as luck would have it, the best thing I got from the adventure—other than a giant silver painted sculpture of a marlin tail—was my friend Kellie Brown. Our three days together consisted of various escapes to historic local architecture (including perhaps my FAVORITE tiny modern building, the Frey House II). And despite the two of us being bona fide design/ephemera groupies, our bond was 100% born in a thrift store.

Kellie Brown in Palm Springs Paradise. IE: How most of us feel when we walk into a thrift store (that white lamp 😭).

Kellie is a content creator, a designer, and the maker of the décor/design newsletter DeeplyMadlyModern here on Substack. She also created the coziest of Home Decor Homies series, which is marvelous as hell (one episode featured ATA HQ/my tiny Brooklyn apartment, too ⬇️:).

I could keep going, but I love how she describes herself on her About page: “I’d call myself passionate, other’s might call me a neurodiverse fire sign who’s hyper fixations are a blessing to us all, because if there’s a cool thing, I’m going to find it. Sadly, allergic to cats!” Last year, Kellie made the move from Los Angeles to living in Palm Springs full-time (ie: a thrifter’s DREAM), much of which she’s been documenting on her IG page, too. We’ve got a lot to cover here in our latest installment of Only Thrifting, so let’s get into it...❤️

ATA: Hi Kellie! One of the greatest gifts of taking that trip to Palm Springs a few years ago was meeting you. AND thrifting with you. And now...you LIVE THERE. Tell us about how you landed in Palm Springs, in my book, one of the thrifting capitals of the world.
Kellie Brown: “Meeting you was the absolute best and that we got to share that fabulous trip was beyond. I fell in love with Palm Springs on a press trip back in 2017. It was so much fun, and I immediately felt a connection to the town. I was still living in NYC at that point, and when I moved to L.A. in 2019, two weeks into west coast life, I ended up on another trip to Palm Springs for a friend’s 30th birthday. We stayed at the most charming Airbnb that was essentially a tiny motel. I don’t think it’s around any longer, but the entire trip I kept thinking—I want this. A few years ago, one of my best friends bought a place here, and after losing my dad, he sent me out to his house for a little spiritual healing. It worked, and I just knew I needed/wanted more time out here. I’d been thinking about buying a place, and I knew L.A. wasn’t for me longterm…so I ended up here. Best decision.”

“The entire trip I kept thinking—I want this.”—Kellie Brown

ATA: Did you grow up thrifting, did anyone teach you, or did find your own way into it?
Kellie: “My mother was a huge flea market fan, we’d wake up early on a Saturday morning and drive over the bridge into New Jersey for one of her favorite fleas. She loved a great deal, but I can’t say I remember spending much time in thrift stores together. That came later for me when I was trying to decorate my first apartment.”

My Spring Micro Wardrobe

ATA: When most of us make our way into thrifting I think, out of sheer necessity.
Kellie: “Yes. I wanted cool, kooky furnishings that were just a little bit ugly [our FAVE]. The flame was sparked, but it didn’t really go full-on for a good while. When living in NYC, I loved the flea on the Upper West Side, I think 77th & Columbus. And I’d hit a thrift store here and there, but honestly, moving to California created a full-blown addiction.”

ATA: For me thrifting is more a form of therapy and pleasure than it is about actually finding things, though it's really WONDERFUL when I DO. What is your particular relationship with thrifting?
Kellie: “Thrifting is a combination of the desire to hunt and the dopamine release of finding the treasure. I love poking around and looking at old things, and honestly sometimes that’s enough. Just to browse and imagine—who owned this? Where did it come from? And other times, I’m really just a feral alley cat looking to score! I can find something so good, or I just want to find something so good…so much that I end up going to multiple places until I can find the GEM.”

“I love poking around and looking at old things and sometimes that’s enough. Just to browse and imagine who owned this? Where did it come from? And other times, I’m really a feral alley cat looking to score!”—Kellie Brown, Deeply Madly Modern

ATA: You are such a gifted storyteller, much of which you do through your love of spaces and objects and our connections to those things. Why did you want to launch your series, Home Décor Homies?
Kellie: “The truth is, I want to look inside everyone’s home, I think we all do to some degree, and that’s why home tours are so popular. But I also wanted to do something different. Rather than have someone walk you through every little thing they own, I thought it would be fantastic to focus on the connection, friendship, and a shared love of spaces and personal objects. My series is basically all of my favorite things: A home tour, talking to my friends, and getting to see what pieces make someone LIGHT UP.”

A corner of Kellie’s home in Palm Springs. The yellow Ekstrem chair designed by Terje Ekstrøm in the 1980s, a classic that doubles as a piece of functional art. The lacquer dresser has been inspiring me to find other post-modern lacquered pieces, too.

ATA: Same, same! Okay, you recently launched a newsletter of the same name here on Substack. Did you have a dream in mind creating this new platform?
Kellie: “I wanted to get back to writing and a place outside of social media where I could connect. Basically, I’m an OG blogger girlie, and I missed it. Some of my recent posts feel like confessionals, in particular, I loved writing about how being plus-sized helped me to be a good interior designer. As a marginalized person within the style world, fashion and design are so intertwined in my mind. Both spaces can leave you feeling othered, but what some might see as a deficit, I see as a strength.”

“I loved writing about how being plus-sized helped me to be a good interior designer. As a marginalized person within the style world, fashion and design are so intertwined in my mind. Both spaces can leave you feeling othered, but what some might see as a deficit, I see as a strength.”—KB

ATA: Are you a solo thrifter OR anyone in particular you love to thrift with the most (or 100% not...ever!)
Kellie: “Ha! I absolutely have people I refuse to go with who shall remain nameless. Mostly, I love to go alone…there’s just something about that intentional quiet and wandering, it’s very therapeutic. Then of course, there are people I adore going thrifting with, like my friend Jonathan. We love all the weird stuff, the commentary is always top-notch, and he lets me have the thing we both want (he also always helps with my bags:). My other thrift ride-or-die is Katie from Candy Colored Home. She’s just fun! We love different things, so there isn’t any bickering. We love the hunt and can go to ten places in a row without complaining. And we always look out for things the other might want. And, let’s not forget you and I 🥹. I always feel like I learn so much when I’m with you. You have impeccable taste, and you make me stop to look at things I might have skipped like glorious silk fabrics.”

Kellie in Palm Springs w/some of her thrifted things. (Hot tip: “Vintage mushrooms” things seems like a promising search to me…pls stand by😬).

ATA: That really makes me happy to hear. I feel the same. And I really love those particular friends you can go DEEP with…like you don’t need to eat or rest or stop, you could just keep thrifting well into the afternoon/evening if they stay open late (I honestly want to thrift at midnight when I can’t sleep, which is where eBay comes in.). Okay, THREE things you’ve thrifted lately that have been bringing you a lot of joy + satisfaction…
Kellie: “Since moving from my massive L.A. apartment into my modest-sized PS home, I’ve been so incredibly discerning when it comes to what I’ll bring home and what stays in the store. A few recent acquisitions include this incredible photograph of two men leaning together against a wall [below]—it reminds me of your cool uncle and his friend posted up just chatting. The kind of photo you find in an old family album, but absolute fine photography. I got it from an estate sale, and I so infrequently find art featuring Black people that moves me in second-hand spaces.

I also found a vintage dish/ashtray…the scale was perfect, it was hard not to keep for myself, but I sourced it for a primary bedroom makeover I did for my sister. Lastly, I’m loving this book I found on Venetian Glass. It’s not something I study or subject matter that I was looking to learn more about, but it’s a book that I keep flipping through…it’s so gorgeous.”

Vintage brass ashtray/objet from Sweden. Want!

ATA: I feel like thrifting is always teaching me things I never knew I wanted/needed to know like the origins of some lost arts + crafts or an unsung designer who flew under the radar. What have you learned lately from your thrifting?
Kellie: “My Venetian glass journey for one, and then also this current quest for premium second-hand fabrics/textiles. I’m going to recover a bench that I’ve repurposed from the bedroom for my dining area, so now I’m on that journey. I think, the more you know about a thing, the easier it is to search and to ultimately NOT pass up on an amazing find.”

ATA: What era would you say you’re drawn to the most?
Kellie: “As a [fellow] Sagittarius, I could never choose only one. 1970s Italy/Scandinavia/New York, mixing in the Black American architects and designers of the 1960s, Post-Modern Paris, and contemporary African artists.”

ATA: What's on your thrifting wish-list lately? “I’m always keeping an eye out for an iconic mid-century divider that resembles the installation at the Parker would blow my mind. Most of what I want doesn’t feel like anything I would find in a thrift store, they are way too savvy here, but oh, finding Magistretti, Colani, or a sexy little chair or loveseat in Jack Lenore Larson fabric…ah DREAMS.”

1970s Italian Champagne coupes…dreamy.

ATA: Any tips for beginner thrifters? Any tips for seasoned ladies like moi?
KB: “The biggest tip I can offer is to educate yourself. When the seasoned ladies like you and I find things, we often say “OMG how is this still here?” Some of it is luck of the draw, but a lot of it is people don’t really know what they are looking at so they pass it up. Reverse google image searching can also be your best friend [I can attest to this:]. For Pros, I would say editing is important. I’ve gotten really good at leaving things in the store. Over consumption and hoarding can become an issue when you’re great at finding things. I’ve learned that the hard way. Too many great things is still too many things.”

“Over consumption and hoarding can become an issue when you’re great at finding things. I’ve learned that the hard way. Too many great things is still too many things.”—KB

ATA: To that point, what's your philosophy about keeping/not keeping?
KB: “I walk on the vintage Moroccan rug in my kitchen and imagine a hallway in a small village 40 years ago adorned by this rug, family photos on the wall, and a gorgeous table that I probably would want to ask, “Hey friend, where is that from?” My connection to thrifting is basking in the connection of us all. And the way that we live with and share items that tell the stories of who we are.” ❤️

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Fun bits (the BEST bits:)…

I have been obsessing over finding the perfect, extremely easy lightweight spring/summer suit. This Jenni Kayne jacket (that chic cinchy tie belt!!) and matching pants are kind of The One. Thoughts? Also, this black lace skirt is BANANAS…I want to wear it as a top under a blazer! Later this week, stay tuned for my brief on the best spring/summer tops for now or 4ever. PS: There’s always more cool, worth-it things (and vintage things!) to peruse over at our Tiny Shop on ShopMy. Remember if you buy something, we might make a tiny commission. ❤️