Long Island's vintage, repurposed and consignment home décor stores make old things new again

Christine Cimone of Farmingdale browses at Back in Time vintage in Farmingdale. Credit: Gary Licker

Decorating your home doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. Shopping for secondhand items from the likes of thrift and consignment shops — for every room and every budget — is becoming ever the more popular on Long Island, making it one of the more affordable ways to shop.

Because inventory changes rapidly at these reseller and recycled-type stores — sometimes daily, other times weekly — Cathy Barry, who owns home furnishings consignment shop Attic Valley in Locust Valley, advises to "pop in regularly because you’re the person who is going to get the item when it's coming off the truck."

Be open-minded when shopping thrifted, antique or vintage items, says Lisa Marchetti, co-owner of My Beautiful Mess in Sea Cliff, whose inventory features a curated scattering of pre-owned items. "Just have fun," she adds. "If the piece makes you feel good, just go for it."

Here are 13 shops to explore:

A collection of items at Angels of Long Island in East Patchogue. Credit: Patricia Peterson

WHERE Patchogue

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WHAT Nonprofit thrift

COST RANGE $1 for washcloths to $300 for mattresses

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Accent pieces, bath, bedding, kitchen, dining

What initially started as a Facebook group seeking donations for a local grandmother and her grandchild has evolved into a nonprofit thrift store where buyers can get otherwise pricey items for a discount — clothing, shoes, accessories, accent pieces, bedding (mattresses, blankets, comforters, pillows, sheets, curtains), kitchen (small fridges, coffee makers, cookware) and bath (towels, storage bins) items are just the tip of the iceberg. Catch rotating sales, including ones that mark down items over $6 to 50% off.

INFO 350 E. Main St.; 631-803-6775; angelsoflongisland.com

WHERE Farmingdale

WHAT Vintage, repurposed items

COST RANGE $4 for home knickknacks to $400 for mirrors and clocks; $300 for a repurposed radio bar to $900 for repurposed industrial carts and wine barrel bars

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Urban farmhouse home décor, upcycled furniture

Laura Napolitano says she and her husband, Joseph, turned a former thrift store into their own haven of "old stuff, new stuff and repurposed stuff" in 2014. They’ve since expanded, filling the spaces next door and behind the store with an abundance of Urban farmhouse home décor, plus vintage and antique items (radios, suitcases, telephones, cabinets) hand-picked by the couple from markets, shows and estate sales from around Long Island and beyond. Customers also get their pick of repurposed items, such as coffee and alcohol bars that were once carts; gutted TVs brought back to life with newly-installed flat screens; radio cabinets restored as liquor cabinets; a piano-turned-wine storage piece, and timeless stoves revamped as coffee stations.

INFO 441 Main St.; 516-586-8443; backintimedecor.com

At Cooky's Thrift & Consignment in Oceanside, shoppers will find wall art, kitchenware and gadgets, furniture and home décor. Credit: Joann Vaglica

WHERE Oceanside

WHAT Thrift

COST RANGE $5 for bric-a-brac for the home to $800 for furniture

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Wall art, kitchenware and gadgets, furniture, home décor

Cooky Kohler started Cooky's Thrift & Consignment in 1994 as a small shop in Oceanside stocked with a collection of goods she gathered from her home. Now, she stocks two floors with merchandise donated from the public. The first is devoted to mainly clothes and shoes, but on the lower level, you can explore the likes of many vintage items such as mirrors, lamps, art work, furniture (end tables, kitchen tables), books, benches, bric-a-brac, dinnerware sets and suitcases.

INFO 224 Merrick Rd.; 516-766-1436

Lauren O’Brien at her home decor store Fez & Ivy in Southold. Credit: Newsday/Joann Vaglica

WHERE Southold

WHAT Vintage, antique

COST RANGE home goods from $10; area rugs from a few hundred

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Area rugs, glassware, wall art

Lauren O’Brien, who has a background in interior design and merchandising, opened home décor spot Fez and Ivy in 2019. It specializes in vintage area rugs from Turkey, Persia and Morocco, but it also highlights vintage and antique glassware (drinking glasses, serving bowls, flatware, decanters), furniture (tables, chairs, dressers), wall art and the like. Among inventory, brought in from local estate sales and flea markets from the northeast, customers will also find a mix of newer items such as pillows, blankets, wicker and rattan trays, candles, jewelry, tote bags and cards.

INFO 53800 Main Rd.; 631-407-5660; fezandivy.com

Everyday essentials, plus home furnishings are available at Give Kids Hope in Port Jefferson.

LOCATION Port Jefferson

TYPE Nonprofit thrift

COST RANGE $20 for an end table to $50 for a dresser

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Everyday essentials, home décor, furnishings

After the community supported Melissa Paulson through her daughter's 2010 cancer diagnosis, she knew she wanted to give back "in a big way," she says. Give Kids Hope launched two years later. The nonprofit thrift store aims to serve underprivileged kids and children with cancer, by offering reasonably priced clothing, shoes, jewelry, toys, dressers, nightstands, pottery, farmhouse décor, lamps, flatware, kitchen tools (rolling pins, coffee makers, cupcake stands, waffle makers, toasters). Purchases help fill an in-store food pantry. Keep an eye out for its pop-up sales where the whole store is 20-50% off, or certain shelves are marked down to $1.

INFO 1506 Main St.; 631-538- 5287

WHERE Mattituck

WHAT Vintage, reclaimed

COST RANGE Vintage items $5 to $75; refinished dresser $600

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Glassware, barware, knickknacks, furniture

Heather Ganguzza started working at In the Attic Too, owned by her her family, when she was 16 to earn some "fun money," she says. Now in her 30s, she and her husband Peter have taken it over and created a space where they sell custom refinishing of old furniture — like dressers, tables and nightstands. Sharing space in the shop is wall décor, glassware (milk glass, goblets), barware and knickknacks for the home. The Ganguzzas also build pieces — small and large — from scratch at an off-site woodworking station. All wood is sourced locally, being salvaged from structures on the North and South Forks. Turnaround time is between three and five weeks.

INFO 10200 Main Rd.; 631-745-3848; intheattictoonofo.com

JB Vintage Goods in Mineola has hand-picked and restored vintage items curated for the home. Credit: Newsday/Joann Vaglica

WHERE Mineola

WHAT Vintage, repurposed items

COST RANGE $5 for small vintage bottles to $300 for metal sign; furniture mostly under $500

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Furniture, kitchenware, storage, signage

Bill Balalaos, who owns JB Vintage Goods with his son, Justin, grew up down the block from St. Vincent de Paul in Garden City Park, a spot that became his "playground," he recalls. "From hanging out there, I got to know all the old stuff." Since 2018, JB's has specialized in midcentury modern and rustic farmhouse items that he and his son get from locals downsizing, lifelong collectors and from flea markets. Inventory runs the gamut from milk glass products (vases, fruit bowls, spice jars), kitchenware (canister sets, Mason jars, jugs, muffin trays, plates, cups, mixers and blenders) and barware (glasses, cocktail shakers) to street signs and license plates, and miscellaneous houseware items, like a working 1950s electric dual oven, fondue sets and slow cookers. On the repurposed front, Balalaos' has turned a children's wardrobe piece into a bar, a traditional step stool into a decorative farmhouse-styled one, a sewing machine into a desk and more.

INFO 146 Second St.; 516-742-8300; jbvintagegoods.com

A selection of home goods at Lumber + Salt in Jamesport. Credit: Lumber + Salt

WHERE Jamesport

WHAT Vintage, antique, reclaimed wood

COST RANGE $65 for a cutting board to $2,500 for European mantel surrounds

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Architectural salvage, European and American antiques

Lumber + Salt, the brainchild of John Mazur and Brooke Cantone, stocks architectural salvage as well as European and American antiques. "We sell a variety of materials, starting with lumber — reclaimed lumber, old sawn lumber — in any scale from beams to planking," says Mazur, who gets these materials from the Eastern Seaboard for his customers to go on and create their own projects. Among the troves of lumber, shoppers will find reclaimed products from stone and pottery, industrial items, vintage signage, antique mantels, farm machinery, vintage lighting, unique gardening items and European cutting boards. "Everything has a history and everything has the opportunity to find its place into a home or design project," says Cantone.

INFO 5570 Sound Ave.; 215-704-6588; lumberandsalt.com

Find antiques and vintage items at My Beautiful Mess in Sea Cliff. Credit: Joann Vaglica

WHERE Sea Cliff

WHAT Antiques, vintage, some consignment

COST RANGE $1 for trinkets to several thousand for larger items, like chandeliers, cabinets

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Home embellishments, lighting, kitchenware, furniture

Best friends and co-owners Lisa Marchetti and Susan Davila describe their storefront as "a total beautiful mess; a total collaboration. It's a little bit of everything." Uncover treasures (consigned, thrifted and retail) like paintings, lamps and chandeliers, cabinets, silverware and plate sets, jewelry, trinkets and children's books. Profits for consigned pieces are split 50/50 between the customer and the shop. The goal at My Beautiful Mess, Davila says, is "giving life to old things, not throwing them away."

INFO 60 Roslyn Ave.; 516-399-2590; mybeautifulmess3.godaddysites.com

Privet's Consignment Warehouse in Riverhead offers shoppers a variety of household goods and furnishings. Credit: Newsday/Joann Vaglica

WHERE Riverhead

WHAT Consignment

COST RANGE From $5 for pillows to upward of $100 for furniture

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Indoor and outdoor furniture, decorative objects, kitchen appliances

In 2015, Kristen Hanyo launched Privet Estate Sales in which she sold the furnishings of Hamptons homes via traditional estate sales. After COVID, she pivoted to a new plan where she removed the items from her clients’ homes and sold them from a warehouse in Quogue. Eventually, she grew out of the space and opened Privet's Consignment Warehouse. "If I go to a client's house and they only have 30% of their home to sell," Hanyo explains, "then it's not enough to do an estate sale, so it comes here." On top of that, customers can consign their own items, for a 50/50 split. Find sofas, tables, dining room necessities, consoles, lamps, pillows, home décor and kitchen appliances. Hanyo also returned to her roots, offering in-house estate sales again.

INFO 54 East Main St.; 631-740-9700; privetestatesales.com

WHERE East Northport

WHAT Reclaimed furniture

COST RANGE Varies based on project

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Made-to-order furniture

Chad Weilbacher took a hobby and turned it into a business, first started by building "tchotchkes" and "little projects," he says. In business for nearly 15 years, Weilbacher says he takes down antique barns (mostly upstate, but some on Long Island, too) and resells the old-growth lumber as architectural salvage or he creates custom pieces like tables, bars, doors, cabinetry and mantels, all for the home and for businesses. Coming from a construction background, he says what he does now is "like reverse construction," adding, "I know how to take down the barn because I know how to build it." A project can be turned around in four to six weeks.

INFO 230 Laurel Rd.; 631-525-9940; reclaimeverythingny.com

Co-owners Dan and Danielle De Melfi in the wood-working shop at Simple Little Detail in Brookhaven on Sept. 29, 2021. Credit: Raychel Brightman

WHERE Bellport

WHAT Recycled, refinished made-to-order furniture

COST Varies based on project

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Tables, entertainment pieces, farmhouse home décor

The husband-and-wife duo behind Simple Little Detail, Danielle and Dan DeMelfi, launched the brand in their Mastic Beach backyard in 2014. Today, they sell farmhouse-esque home and décor items and recycled furniture out of a 3,000-square-foot space in the Bellport Outlets. Most of the recycled and made-to-order furniture is made from wood that comes from old barns, whiskey barrels and doors from estates. At a Brookhaven woodworking shop, Dan creates made-to-order items for clients, which include consoles, bars and tables. Off-site, the DeMelfis can also build walk-in closets, reface kitchen cabinets and more. Custom orders take between 12 and 18 weeks.

INFO 10 Farber Dr., suite 16 (between Carters and Gap); 631-803-0945; sldthemarket.com

At upscale consignment shop Valley Attic in Locust Valley, shoppers will find sofas, tables, chairs and the like.

WHERE Locust Valley

WHAT Consignment

COST RANGE $20 for a vase to a few thousand for furniture pieces

WHAT YOU’LL FIND Home furnishings

"We take what we can sell. Not what we like." That's what owner Cathy Barry says she sticks to when bringing in inventory at Valley Attic, a spacious store with a rotating mix of furnishings, including sofas, tables, chairs, wall art, light figures, swivel club chairs, custom pillows, book shelves and dressers. "We try to focus on bespoke stuff," she adds. A majority of Valley Attic's products come from local estate sales, which is then picked up by the everyday customer and the likes of HBO, Netflix and Hulu, plus interior decorators, she says. Profits are divided 50/50.

INFO 9 The Plaza; 516-945-3722; valleyattic.com

The Long Island market that focuses on secondhand and repurposed items is a vast one comprised of many elements, like thrifting, antiquing, vintage, consignment and upcycled finds.

So, how do you know where to turn to first? For starters, "antique is anything over 100 years old," explains Bill Balalaos, co-owner of JB Vintage Goods in Mineola, adding that "vintage is anything that's 20 years or older."

Meanwhile, a thrift shop is one that collects donations and resells them, with profits going to the store or charity; a consignment store collects articles, but the customer sees a return profit; as for reclaimed and repurposed goods, those are products that once served a purpose, but have been transformed into something else.

Joann Vaglica joined Newsday in 2015, covering lifestyle and entertainment news. She's now in pursuit of finding tasty and unique foodstuffs on Long Island for FeedMe and covers the general lifestyle scene.