Creator Ashley of @athomewithashley walked into a thrift store not looking for a monkey. She walked out with a monkey-shaped plant stand anyway, and the video documenting it has pulled more than 667,000 views.
“The thrift store said I needed a monkey plant stand and who am I to say no?! 🙊” she wrote in the caption of the Instagram Reel, which shows the kitschy carved piece styled into her home alongside a full, leafy houseplant.
A specific kind of 1970s kitsch is having a moment
The monkey plant stand belongs to a recognizable strain of mid-century and 1970s decor: carved wooden animal furniture, built more for personality than practicality, usually found propping up a fern or a spider plant in someone’s den. It sits in the same family as the carved elephant side tables, rattan peacock chairs, and ceramic owl planters that have been steadily working their way back into circulation as “jungalow” style has picked up steam again. It’s the kind of piece that reads as a joke at first glance and then somehow earns a permanent spot in the room.
The numbers behind the popularity are notable on their own. Ashley’s reel pulled 667,200 views, 86.7 times her typical median of roughly 7,700 views on the account, according to her own posted content. That gap is large enough to suggest the appeal reached well past her regular audience. The account has close to 480,000 followers built largely around thrift finds and home styling.
Why the “who am I to say no” framing works
Part of the appeal is the framing itself. Ashley’s caption hands the decision-making over to the thrift store, as if the monkey stand chose her rather than the other way around. It’s a familiar bit among thrifters, where the best finds are often the ones nobody was actually shopping for. It’s a low-stakes, funny way to justify an impulse buy that, once styled with a plant, looks entirely intentional.
Key Points
- Creator @athomewithashley found a carved wooden monkey-shaped plant stand at a thrift store
- Her Instagram Reel showing it styled at home pulled 667,200 views, 86.7 times her typical median
- The piece fits a broader 1970s “jungalow” kitsch aesthetic of carved animal plant stands and statement furniture
- The account has close to 480,000 followers
Thrift furniture with this much personality doesn’t need a design pedigree to work in a room — it just needs someone willing to say yes to the monkey.
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