How To Score Unique Home Decor Finds Just Like HGTV's Nate Berkus

Finding unique vintage and antique pieces for your home involves a lot of good luck and determination. While you can occasionally stumble across just the perfect piece at in-person venues like flea markets and thrift stores, some pieces are far more likely to be found in other, more direct secondhand venues, such as collectors and estate sales. If you lack access to some of these in-person spaces because of where you live geographically, online options make these kinds of items accessible. You also have more options available to you since you can shop from a wider range. Recently, HGTV's Nate Berkus did a fun unboxing on Instagram to show off two finds from online auctions for a home he was decorating for a client. Here's how you can find unique pieces for your home decor like he does.

Online auctions, which sell everything from vintage and antiques to highly collectible items and art, are a great way to find unusual pieces or buy antique furniture for your home.  These venues not only allow you to bid on items in person, online, or by phone, but they typically have low starting prices. You can occasionally get really good deals on items that may cost much more in places like antique markets. They are one of the best places to shop for vintage furniture and décor. Even high-profile decorators like Berkus can see the appeal.

There are several popular auction houses that boast great selections of décor and home items, including Lion and Unicorn, the auction site mentioned by Nate Berkus. Others include Everything But the House, Invaluable, and Briggs Auction, which hosts bi-weekly discovery auctions focused specifically on home goods. Many items in these auctions come from particular estate sales and personal collections. They are typically curated and researched by the auction site's team of specialists. This means they are more likely to be identified, authenticated, and correctly catalogued than items available from more general auction sites, like eBay.

Most online auctions run for a set period of time during which you can bid on items. The items are typically catalogued on the site before the auction starts, which allows you to do a bit more comparison and research on what you are looking at. Some may start as low as $10 while others may have a minimum reserve to be met. The amount of bidding for hot ticket items at a bargain may be fierce when you are navigating online estate sales in an auction format, but you can also find things selling for far below market value on occasion.