Growing up, I was a mall rat, but now the idea of a climate-controlled labyrinth filled with shiny new consumer goods is depressing. I prefer the overflowing racks and shelves of the local thrift store, with its back-of-the-closet scent and eclectic selection. Apparently, I'm not alone. In 2008, 14 percent of consumers regularly shopped at thrift stores; now 20 percent do. 

Jenna Isaacson, a lifelong thrifter and a photojournalist who has been visiting secondhand stores around the country and taking pictures for the past three years, says a lot of people tell her they shop at these stores to reduce their footprint. She has also noticed how thrift stores capture the character of the community--"what sports teams people like, who they vote for, their religions," says Isaacson, who blogs at All Thrifty States. "A thrift store in Kansas had a whole rack of overalls. You don't find that on the East Coast." Maybe that's why malls feel soulless by comparison.

For this project, I picked up a cutting board and a plate stand at a thrift store. I glued a Scrabble tile rack to the cutting board and propped the board on the plate stand. Now when I'm cooking from online recipes, I have a sturdy countertop perch for my iPad that is out of the way of spills. I could have bought something similar at Pottery Barn, but this was much cheaper and simply has more soul.