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Resale and vintage shopping are moving from niche pursuits into mainstream interior design, according to a Livingetc report drawing on market forecasts and designer surveys. The figures point to growing interest, but they do not establish how much of that growth comes from changing taste, price pressures or sustainability concerns.
Vintage furniture and secondhand home goods are becoming a mainstream part of interior design, according to a Livingetc report that points to rising resale-market forecasts and widespread designer use of older pieces. The shift matters to shoppers and the interiors trade because it changes what counts as desirable: visible age, provenance and distinctive materials are increasingly valued alongside new finishes.
The report says that 81% of designers surveyed for 1stDibs’ 2026 Annual Designer Survey sourced furniture or decor from the 1920s through the 1990s. It also cites UK vintage furniture marketplace Vinterior, which reported that sales to interior designers were up 53% year on year in 2026. Those figures suggest vintage sourcing has a substantial place in professional design, although the report does not provide the survey’s sample size or Vinterior’s underlying sales totals.
Several market estimates indicate further growth. ThredUp’s 13th Annual Resale Report projects that the global secondhand apparel market will reach about $367 billion by 2029, including roughly $74 billion in the United States. The report uses clothing resale as an indicator of broader secondhand-shopping interest; it is not a measure of furniture sales. Mordor Intelligence estimates the global secondhand furniture market will grow from about $47 billion in 2025 to $62.7 billion by 2031. Technavio, separately, projects an $11.24 billion expansion in the category from 2025 to 2030.
Livingetc describes a visible change in the people attending estate sales, with younger shoppers joining established buyers to look for clothing, art and furniture. The account is an observation from the report, not a nationwide count. Its central point is that resale is increasingly tied to individuality and design taste, as well as affordability: shoppers may seek pieces with unusual forms, signs of wear or a traceable past rather than simply lower prices.
Vintage Moves Into Design Mainstream
The reported shift affects both how people furnish their homes and how designers source projects. If older furniture is treated as a valued design choice rather than a temporary budget substitute, demand can extend beyond thrift stores to dealers, resale platforms and specialist vintage marketplaces. That can broaden options for buyers while also making sought-after pieces more competitive.
It also changes the signals of status in interiors. Livingetc contrasts the former appeal of untouched, newly purchased furnishings with a growing appreciation for patina, joinery, grain and provenance. Some objects carry a story about their materials or previous use; others are simply distinctive. The report links this taste to sustainability, but the cited figures do not show that environmental motivations are the main driver for every buyer.
For shoppers, the practical implications are mixed. Secondhand purchases can offer access to older construction or unusual designs, but condition, authenticity, restoration needs and price vary widely. The market’s expansion does not mean every vintage item is a bargain, nor that resale is replacing new-furniture purchases. It points instead to a wider set of choices—and a design culture in which an object’s age can add appeal.
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From Estate Sales to Online Resale
The report’s author describes being introduced to auctions and thrift stores by a grandmother whose budget constrained what she could buy, and later making secondhand shops a first stop for furniture, art and clothing. In that account, estate-sale crowds once included retirees, dealers and occasional designers, with few younger shoppers. The author now sees more Gen Z buyers at sales. This personal observation helps illustrate the claimed cultural shift but cannot establish its scale on its own.
The report connects that change to a broader resale economy. It cites younger shoppers’ interest in sustainability and one-of-a-kind finds, as well as forecasts for apparel and furniture resale. It also describes “wood bragging” on social media: people highlighting where reclaimed or repurposed timber came from. A London plane tree that once stood in Soho Square, for example, was used for a kitchen island in a project by ROAR Architects. Such examples show how a material’s history can become part of a design’s appeal; they do not represent typical household purchases.
“What used to feel niche now feels cultural. Thrifting is no longer part of the subculture. It’s the marketplace.”
— Livingetc report
How Broad Is the Shift?
The cited numbers measure different things: apparel-market forecasts, furniture-market estimates, marketplace sales to designers and a designer survey. They cannot be combined into a single measure of consumer behavior, and the supplied material does not include full methodologies, sample sizes or historical baselines for all figures. Forecasts describe expected market size, not confirmed future sales.
It is also unclear how much of the growth reflects sustainability concerns, the search for distinctive objects, price pressures or other factors. The report does not establish whether the trend is equally strong across regions, income groups or types of furniture, or whether increased interest translates into higher resale prices. The source material ends before completing a shopper quotation, so no additional claim from that passage can be verified here.
Watch Sales and Sourcing Trends
The next useful signals will be updated resale-market data and future designer surveys showing whether the reported growth continues. Buyers and design businesses will also be watching how vintage prices, availability and sourcing patterns develop, particularly as resale platforms and specialist dealers compete for distinctive pieces.
For now, the figures support a measured conclusion: secondhand and vintage goods have a growing role in interiors, but the scale and causes of that change remain hard to compare across the available measures. More comparable data on furniture transactions and consumer motivations would clarify whether the current interest is a lasting shift or a trend concentrated in particular markets.
Key Questions
What is changing in interior design?
Older and secondhand pieces are increasingly presented as design choices in their own right, with attention to materials, patina and provenance rather than newness alone.
What evidence does the report cite?
It cites a 1stDibs survey in which 81% of designers said they sourced pieces dating from the 1920s to the 1990s, Vinterior’s report of 53% year-on-year growth in designer sales in 2026, and forecasts for apparel and furniture resale. These are different measures and should not be treated as directly comparable.
Does the report show that vintage shopping is mainly about sustainability?
No. The report identifies sustainability as one possible driver, alongside affordability and the search for unique items. It does not quantify the relative importance of those motivations.
Are secondhand furnishings always cheaper?
No. The report describes thrift and resale as routes to distinctive finds, but does not claim that every older item costs less. Condition, rarity, restoration and demand can all affect price.
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