In November of 2017, HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines launched Hearth & Hand with Magnolia at Target. Target partnered with Magnolia, a home and lifestyles brand established by the Gaines family.

HGTV fans quickly became obsessed with Chip and Joanna, the witty married couple that take on the worst of homes and transform them into dream homes: Chip taking the contractor role and Joanna dealing with the design and decorating aspect of the revitalization.

Joanna Gaines captivates viewers with her unique ability to turn rustic and antique items into beautiful accent pieces in rooms and homes. One of Joanna's signature steps in her decorating process is finding old statement pieces for walls and decorations in antique stores and bringing them back to life with her personal touch.

Because Joanna is known for her antique style, I found it interesting that the couple made their first partnership with a retail store. I took some time to check out the items they had available, and I was less than impressed.

As someone who finds a ton of inspiration and solidarity by shopping in the antique stores in my hometown, I was surprised by the lack of character in the Target line, Hearth & Hand. The products seemed generic and common "rustic" rather than the unique, distressed, "perfectly-imperfect" nature of her designs on the show.

I decided to do my own investigating to see which is better: shopping the Hearth & Hand line at Target, or mulling through an antique mall to recreate Joanna Gaines' style.

At the antique store, I had no problem at all finding affordable, unique pieces that I have no doubt Joanna Gaines would approve of.

To prove it, here are several pieces I found during my hunt:

This light-blue, distressed, wall-mounting rack is perfect for keys, coats, umbrellas... you name it! The detail on this piece is beautiful and at only $15, Joanna would definitely approve of this for any room in the house.

This chicken wire basket lined with burlap screams "Joanna Gaines," and it's only $10.

This divided box is $12 and would be perfect for storage. Add the Mason jars at $2 a piece to add vessels for flowers, pens, pencils, or anything you can think of.

This "cracked glass" vase is simple and beautiful. Joanna would add some cotton stalks to finish off this $8 steal.

If you're guaranteed to find one thing in any antique store, it's a wooden crate. Joanna loves pieces using old wood, she often revives wood from her homes to create head boards, tables, or other pieces for their clients. This one wasn't marked with a price, but I'd honestly estimate around $10.

Joanna loves a good multi-functional piece. This distressed white storage box is functional and decorative, for only $30. The hand-made wreath behind it is made from book pages, for $10.

This wire basket has that distressed look Joanna is always gravitating towards. She loves hanging things from walls, giving them dimension. This is $10 and would be perfect to house flowers or books.

This wall mirror is $25 and, again, goes off that idea of bringing dimension to walls and making rooms appear larger than they are that Joanna loves to achieve.

This chalkboard to-do list looks like something Joanna personally made. She loves adding character with simple things like this, and she always dresses her kitchens in chalkboard and writes messages on them. At $8, this piece is too good to pass up.

Bookends. Joanna loves decorating with old books and bookends. This set is antique and has that distressed character for only $13.

Needless to say, I was able to find a lot of really awesome items that I think Joanna Gaines would approve of. I looked into the Target line and I really think most of the items lack the distress and character Joanna is able to find in antique stores and that I was able to find here.

There's definitely a down-side to shopping in antique stores. These items aren't necessarily going to be in every antique store you go to. They won't always be at such low prices. However, I think the character and uniqueness you gain from shops like this is worth at least going to look.

Hearth & Hand definitely isn't the most over-priced brand I've ever seen, and it's a good alternative if you can't find the character-filled charm you want for your decor. However, a lot of the pieces available are generic and lacking charm found in Joanna's designs.

Antique shopping is dying, while the desire for that farm-house charm and character seems to be growing. Buying second-hand is a cheaper way to get that distressed character and charm in decor. But, it provides the challenge of not being able to open your laptop and order an item.