my 4 antique store shopping tips

Found this beauty at The White Rabbit. Several years later and it is still one of my favorite mirrors in my collection--now on display in our dining room.

If you haven't noticed, I love gold mirrors ;) These all came from various antique stores across St. Louis and St. Charles. And yes, I'm still going to add more to that wall.

Antique shopping is my love language. I just can't stop. It feeds my soul. (I lean dramatic).

​I realize it's not for everyone, but for me it's pretty much the most fun thing I've ever done (besides getting married and going to Greece and birthing a child and such). 

Alright birthing a child wasn't fun, actually, but nevertheless...

So, when we recently moved into a house with a little more space, that meant more reasons to dig through antique stores, naturally. After posting some pics of my finds on Instagram, I've decided to share my top 4 tips with you for finding the hidden gems buried in antique stores:
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1. Hunt for the good stuff. Don't look at the obvious things on display. Dig through the racks. Look at the walls. Touch everything. Mirrors (like the one above) are usually hanging on the walls in antique store booths, which is exactly how people overlook them. Your brain is used to shopping the things on shelves and tables like you would in a regular store, so the mirrors hanging on the walls often go overlooked as store decor. 

See a rack full of what you think are old, ugly clothes? Don't skip it. Look at and touch every single piece. I've found that many of the people selling in these antique stores are elderly (or close to it) and don't think twice before selling an old designer piece they have for cheap, presumably because they have no use for it anymore. Digging through racks is exactly how I found this real fur jacket (pictured below) for $35. 

I found this mirror on the ground of an antique booth, leaning up against the wall with several pieces of art in front of it. It was practically hidden. I noticed the top of it peaking out and fell in love with the art deco detailing.

2. Hit antique stores in less-trafficked areas. There are so, so many amazing antique stores/malls in St. Louis and St. Charles. A few of my favorites are Warson Woods Antiques Gallery, Treasure Aisles Antique Mall, St. Charles Antique Mall, and The White Rabbit. With that being said, the best luck I've had was at antique stores that were less frequently visited/shopped.

For example, antique malls in the more pricier parts of town have decent inventory, but fairly high prices, while antique stores in more rural areas may only have 2 or 3 gems in the whole store, but are amazingly priced. For me, it's worth hunting through a bunch of so-so items to find that one priceless piece. 
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I found this chair a few years ago in an antique store and loved the blush colored upholstery and intricate detail in the wood, but didn't purchase it because it was a little pricier than what I was willing to pay. Fast forward to Valentine's day and Chris surprised me with it :) (History: it was built in 1926 in Alabama).

I saw this lamp at the St. Charles Antique store and FELL IN LOVE. It's a 1978 Westwood Industries lamp and I snagged it for just $30 !

3. Research labels/brands. After shopping antique stores for several years, I feel like I have a pretty good gauge of telling whether or not something is a quality piece, but I'd be lying if I told you Google wasn't my friend. So, do some quick research!

For example, I found this insanely beautiful lamp (pictured above). I knew I wanted it, but wasn't totally sure where it would go in our house. When I walked back by to look at it for the 11th time, I saw the label on it and decided to Google it. Turns out, 1978 Westwood Industries lamps are hard to find, and they usually go for a few thousand dollars. Deal done. I bought the lamp and it's now my husband's favorite find of all my antique shopping. 

Two weeks after purchasing the lamp, I was back at an antique store (yes, my husband is aware of my addiction) with some time to kill and noticed a rack of clothes that hadn't been there at the time of my last visit. As I was sorting through them, I found this beautiful, calve-length coat in perfect condition (pictured below). 

"Look", I told myself, "St. Louis winters are brutal. Every girl needs a long coat. It's just practical." Again, my husband is aware. 

I tried it on and I could tell it was a quality piece. Out of curiosity, I looked inside the neck to see who made the coat: Christian Dior. CHRISTIAN DIOR. I think I gasped audibly in the middle of the store. I then proceeded to march my happy self to the front of the store, clutching onto my new, prized designer coat with a tighter death-grip than a working mom on her glass of wine. 

Moral of the story: check the labels. Did I mention I got the Christian Dior coat for $36?

Vintage Christian Dior calve-length coat that I snagged for $36!

4. Be creative. You may find something--an awesome lamp, for example--but hate the shade. If you can tell it's a quality lamp and you love the base, then buy it and swap out the shade for something more modern. Find an awesome mirror, but the glass is in poor condition? Get it and swap out the glass. 

My husband and I found this beautiful, vintage bed frame at the Vintage Market Days in Chesterfield last year--perfect size for Graham to grow into--but it was missing the slats. We bought it anyway. Why? Look at the wood.

It's burl wood. Burl wood is very hard to come by and increases the value of a piece.  (Burl wood comes from those odd growths you see sometimes on the side of trees. It can only be caused by mother nature, and when the growth is removed from the tree, the tree does not survive. Therefore, acquiring burl wood is difficult and costly.) After purchasing the bed, Chris simply built slats for it himself. The cost of the bed frame? Only $125!

Personally, I love keeping vintage items exactly the way they were made, but if you're not opposed to modernizing them, then antique stores are the best places to find that missing statement piece for your home that you've been searching for. The best part? You're pretty much guaranteed not to find it in anyone else's home. Pretty special. 

I hope you found these tips helpful! If you have any questions, leave a comment below or comment/message me on Instagram (I'm always posting pics of our home and antique finds there). Happy shopping! 

​XOXO, Courtney