affordable antique stores

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by puffle

Twiggy! When are you finally moving here? I've been waiting for news since Magic Touch, gamsauer and Greenie are here, well not all. What's the deal?

Yes well, with the recession already being felt hard in Phoenix I won't be able to sell my house for another year or two. I will have to dream a little longer.
We are just taking the time to remodel a little until the market picks up. It's nice to see you are doing well there. How do you like it? Is it everything you
thought? We are trying to save enough for a down and sell at a loss but times are tuff so we will see.

[puffle]

Originally Posted by twiggy

Yes well, with the recession already being felt hard in Phoenix I won't be able to sell my house for another year or two. I will have to dream a little longer.
We are just taking the time to remodel a little until the market picks up. It's nice to see you are doing well there. How do you like it? Is it everything you
thought? We are trying to save enough for a down and sell at a loss but times are tuff so we will see.

I'm so sorry to hear that Twiggy. Miss your great sense of humor. Things are good hear and I definetly like it better than Ca. My son has made more friends here than he has had in his fourteen years so that was a success! As far as SAD goes, I know it's temporary and that makes it easier. Will you be visiting sometime before you move? How are your kids? I'd PM but you don't have that feature.

[crazyworld]

Puffle...Wells Maine, York Maine all along Rt 1 there....just follow the whole Rt.1....and somebody said Brimfield..that is the one I was trying to think of the other day.

[Baltic_Celt]

Puffle -

Glad you're settling in. Welcome to MA. I remember how excited you were about coming, so am very glad to hear your son is off to such a great beginning.

I know you asked about Essex County, however, if you ever venture into Suffolk County, S. Boston has 2 very nice, inexpensive & surprisingly trendy/funky/stylish antique stores - 1 on "L" St., the other on W. Broadway. Both are easily reachable from 93 N/S & the Mass Pike (90). I don't know the names & can't find them on online yellow pages, but live close to both & would be happy to give you the info, if you're interested? They have unusual, odd & old things... an old wooden Indian greets you as you walk into the one on W. Broadway. They always have an array of trunks or chairs outside in nice weather, lots of wooden things.

I've sold & also purchased things from craigslist. Don't forget freecycle.com. I've given away a lot & also have kindly received house paint, children's furniture, etc.

There's also 1/2-dozen inexpensive furniture stores in Allston, all on Harvard Ave., right off the Mass Pike. They specialize in pine, unfinished furniture, mainly for students, but, it's surprisingly cheap/sturdy/nicely made. So, if you're looking for a small children's bookcase/table/etc., I'm sure they'll have something for you, if you don't mind staining/painting/stenciling it yourself.

If you're ever interested & venturing over to Boston, please let me know. I'm in both SB & Allston regularly & can easily find more details for you before you arrive - store names/hours, etc.

Have fun... VV

[puffle]

Originally Posted by KittensPurr

Puffle -

Glad you're settling in. Welcome to MA. I remember how excited you were about coming, so am very glad to hear your son is off to such a great beginning.

I know you asked about Essex County, however, if you ever venture into Suffolk County, S. Boston has 2 very nice, inexpensive & surprisingly trendy/funky/stylish antique stores - 1 on "L" St., the other on W. Broadway. Both are easily reachable from 93 N/S & the Mass Pike (90). I don't know the names & can't find them on online yellow pages, but live close to both & would be happy to give you the info, if you're interested? They have unusual, odd & old things... an old wooden Indian greets you as you walk into the one on W. Broadway. They always have an array of trunks or chairs outside in nice weather, lots of wooden things.

I've sold & also purchased things from craigslist. Don't forget freecycle.com. I've given away a lot & also have kindly received house paint, children's furniture, etc.

There's also 1/2-dozen inexpensive furniture stores in Allston, all on Harvard Ave., right off the Mass Pike. They specialize in pine, unfinished furniture, mainly for students, but, it's surprisingly cheap/sturdy/nicely made. So, if you're looking for a small children's bookcase/table/etc., I'm sure they'll have something for you, if you don't mind staining/painting/stenciling it yourself.

If you're ever interested & venturing over to Boston, please let me know. I'm in both SB & Allston regularly & can easily find more details for you before you arrive - store names/hours, etc.

Have fun... VV

Very kind of you. I went to the Waltham antique stores on Fenton but was a bit disappointed in the quality. Guess Consignment stores are not my thing. There is one in Newburyport that we really liked with clean, well kept furnishings at very reasonable prices..not consignment though. Thank you for the suggestions and if I find myself over there I will let you know.

[CityGirl52]

Good morning Puffle,

I should send you to my favorite antique places in NE, may be you'll luck out! When you get the chance, try to go to some of these, they're pretty neat. Living on the seacoast of NH, we could literally get lost from Portsmouth, NH to Kittery all the way up to Portland, Maine there's so many interesting funky antique shops and all through NH too along their "Antique Alley" up through Rte 4, it's pretty incredible. One of the shops that we really really like to hit all the time is in York, ME. It's just past the Kittery Outlets on that Rte 1 stretch beyond the shops on the right. As you turn for York Village, Fiona's Porch is right there located at 7 York Street, in York, it's got a wonderful mix of antique, vintage & contemporary home & garden furnishings, accessories & gifts:

Fiona's Porch — Antique, Vintage, and Contemporary Home and Garden Furnishings

Take route 95 to the last exit before the Maine toll booth,( exit 4), bear right at the end of the exit. At the set of lights bear right and head south onto route 1. Go through one set of lights. After the set of lights (immediately) look for the York Auto Body on your right, Fiona's Porch is opposite it, on your left. A triangular island separates them from route 1, you will need to make a 180 degree turn onto York Street (which is one way). There Fiona's sits, it's a white building with gray trim, with a large maroon sign with gold letters.

GO to H.G. Webber's in Hampton, NH some day, it's right on Rte 1, just past the Old Salt restaurant beyond the 4 way lights in the center of Hampton on the right a ways. It's quite good here:

H.G. Webber Antiques Home Page

In Stratham, NH look for the "Collector's Eye". It's located 132 Portsmouth Avenue in Stratham, NH, during the winter they are closed a couple of days during the week, here's their hours:

Monday through Saturday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sun 12:00 PM – 5:00
In January and February we are closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Collector's Eye

In late September every year the Collector's Eye has a Fall Festival when all the various dealers they have there have all their tents and wares set up all out on the field in front of the main shop; which is a big huge barn at the Stratham Circle not too far from the NHSPCA. It's always a pretty, sunny fall day when they have it, it never fails either with the weather for some reason! It's usually held around the 23rd of September or so. This year coming up it will be their 23rd Annual Fall Festival.

In Rye, NH check out "Christine's Crossing", it's like Fiona's Porch in York, with that great mix of antiques, vintage style of home & garden furnishings, accessories & gifts:

Christine's Crossing

Christine & Co., is a renovated three story antique barn with an eclectic mix of handcrafted furniture, antiques, crafts, rugs, specialty foods, fine art, photographs, and one-of-a-kind items. Located next to Christine's Crossing. They carry lines that include: April Cornell, Maine Cottage Furniture, Julianna Rug Gallery, and tons more. The second and third floor have a fine selection of antiques as well.

If you get the chance? Try to get to the "Lee Circle Antiques & Collectibles". It's located at 93 Calef Hgwy, Lee, NH (603) 868-3424. You never know what you're going to find there! It's one of our little secrets up here, it's one of the best places in NH to check out antiques we've found and we always luck out when we're there one way or another! Just this past year, I was looking for a certain style of table for my living room, I had it in my head what style I wanted and we browsed all over the various shops we go to up through here and on this particular day, as I was leaving this shop? In came these two guys carrying the table I wanted! AND they were just dropping it off to sell it, so I was so so psyched when they dropped that table off! If I left any earlier I wouldn't have found it at all, it's exactly what I was looking for. It's quite an interesting antique shop to browse through; like I said, you never know what you're going to find in this one, oh and the woman is a real character that runs this place! You might want to call them to make sure they're open first, it's along NH's "antique alley", but GO to this one out of all the others because it's quite a gem in my book!

Another good one to check out is "A Well Kept Secret" in Kingston, NH., located at 49 Route 125. Again, if you do decide to look for it, it's always a good idea to call them first to make sure they're open: 603 642-5279. Google it for directions. Really be extremely careful on this Rte 125, because it's such a dangerous road up here for some reason, the cars & trucks fly on it and I mean they fly, it's ridiculous and there's always some type of accident all the time on it. So remember that if you do venture off to find it. Google it for directions.

Drive any where along the awesome Ipswich, Byfield, Newbury, Rowley or Essex, down in Massachusetts just past Newburyport! We check them out all along Rte 1-B when we go to lunch at the Village Restaurant in Essex all the time! We always like to hit the White Elephant:

The White Elephant Shop, Old things, collectibles and unique gifts

Look for this one when you're driving through there:
Ipswich, MA Bed and Breakfast, American Folk Art, Olde Ipswich Country Shop and Antiques

There's one more place that you might want to check out that I just thought of. It's called "The Cottage" in Newburyport on Market Square. There's one in Amesbury, MA. as well located at 194 Main Street. I was just at their Newburyport shop a couple of weeks ago and found an awesome wing back chair all reupholstered in the exact colors I needed (HAD to get it, what else is new.) This shop is small, but it's like all the other neat shops, you never know what you're going to find. The Newburyport shop is located as you walk out of and beyond the "Not Your Average Joe's" restaurant (which is in the Firehouse Center on Market Square.) On the corner, you'll see the Cottage shop. It's various antique dealers, it's a small one, but pretty neat...

Good luck!

[CityGirl52]

I forgot about this one, it's located along Rte 1 on Lafayette Rd. in Hampton Falls. It's called "Antiques & Collectibles" at Hampton Falls. It's along the stretch of Route 1 at Post Office Square, their # is (603) 926-1971. It's open daily 10am-5pm Sunday 11am-5pm. It's a multi-dealer shop in a very large 3 story barn in the same plaza as the Hampton Falls Post Office. Directly across from the Hampton Falls Shopping Village at the lights. You could check it out on your way to the antique shop in Hampton which is further up Rte 1. Okay I'm done Administrator, I must be driving them crazy with my add-ons and corrections, ta ta!

[puffle]

Originally Posted by CityGirl52

I forgot about this one, it's located along Rte 1 on Lafayette Rd. in Hampton Falls. It's called "Antiques & Collectibles" at Hampton Falls. It's along the stretch of Route 1 at Post Office Square, their # is (603) 926-1971. It's open daily 10am-5pm Sunday 11am-5pm. It's a multi-dealer shop in a very large 3 story barn in the same plaza as the Hampton Falls Post Office. Directly across from the Hampton Falls Shopping Village at the lights. You could check it out on your way to the antique shop in Hampton which is further up Rte 1. Okay I'm done Administrator, I must be driving them crazy with my add-ons and corrections, ta ta!

Thanks for taking the time to list all the great stores in NH! I really appreciate it CityGirl52. Puff

[Baltic_Celt]

CityGirl -

Great list, thank you. I'll have a few spring weekends mapped out from your list... VV