Join me for a virtual trip to go antiquing & thrifting for home decor on the Seacoast. We took a ride up the coast to York, Maine, and also stopped at my favorite thrifting store on the New Hampshire seacoast.
Visiting York Antiques Gallery in Maine
A short drive up the seacoast from us is the Maine border. The weather was gorgeous but cold on Saturday which made it the perfect day to do a little browsing through an antique store.
Our destination was The York Antiques Gallery in York, Maine. (746 US-1 York, ME)
It’s in a big ‘ole New England barn building and has 4 floors of antiques to browse through.
I love places like this! The kind of antique store where there are things just everywhere you look! Every nook and cranny has something cool squeezed in it.
The gallery has I think around 50 different sellers so there is a wide variety of types of items. There were lots of pieces from the 1700 and 1800s. One of the neat things about living in New England is that you can find antiques dating back to colonial times pre-revolutionary war.
Most of the items were way more expensive than what I was looking to spend that day. I was on a mission for interesting home decor pieces that I could use inside.
French antique finds
I loved the French flea market pieces one seller had in their booth. Now that is on my bucket list…visiting the French flea markets!! It sounds dreamy to me.
One thing is for sure…you could never sneak up on anyone in this place!! The old wide planked floors are soooo creaky!!
My favorite thing is coming up next, can you spot it in the back of this booth???
If you guessed this absolutely gorgeous blue cabinet you would be right!! Hold on to your hats…because you will die when I tell you what the price tag said!!!!
Are you ready? $11,955!!!
It is a French piece from the 1700s and I can’t tell you how beautiful it was in person. The finish was so smooth and the color was perfect. I seriously couldn’t stop touching it and opening the doors (there are wide shelves inside). It makes you wonder about the owners for the past 300 years.
I also loved this set of antique botanical framed prints. The colors were so soft and pretty but they were $250!
Do you know what the wooden things are in the metal basket? I had no idea but they are wood dumbells!! I’ve never seen them before. FYI they weren’t very heavy!!!
shipwreck treasures & world pieces
If you know me then you know that I’ve never met an old vase I didn’t like…or jug, vessel etc.
Not only was the look of this clay (I think it is some type of clay) vessel so cool looking but guess what…it was part of a shipwreck! This seller had lots of pieces that were recovered from a shipwreck.
I actually felt like I was in a museum only I could touch everything and not get dragged out by security!
I couldn’t get over how some pieces had barnacles and other gifts from the sea growing on them. Somehow I am going to try and make a dupe of this one and I already have an idea for how to get the look of the white stuff on the outside that looks like silly string.
This table was filled with African artifacts and other really interesting pieces. I actually ended up purchasing one of the things in this picture…stay tuned!
This Chinese Kendi pot was another gorgeous item but more than I was looking to spend today. In the background, you can see a jug with barnacles attached to it.
I had no idea what these brown wooden containers were…and I bet you don’t either!
They are Himalayan milk bottles from Nepal. The patina on the outside is amazing and the prices were low. The tall one in the back was only $30. I found them selling on eBay for close to $200.
Another neat find was the handled bowl in the back. It was a native American artifact from our area.
what i bought
I left the York Antiques Gallery with 2 items: a set of African spindle whorls and one of the Himalayan milk bottles.
Savers Thrift Store
Not as enthralling as the antique gallery was our stop at Savers thrift store in Newington, NH. This place has been hit or miss for me lately…and mostly miss!
Do you ever see something and get transported back in time? Well, when I spotted this bowl on the back of the shelf I couldn’t believe it, it was the dishes we had when I was little! So even though it was only 2 bowls I had to get them (after I sent a pic to my Mom).
Thrift Store Botanical Prints
After seeing the $250 antique botanicals earlier in Maine I remembered that I had a couple of thrift store pictures down in my basement that I found a while back but hadn’t used yet.
Bonus, they are very Springy looking and had soft colors like the expensive antique store ones.
One of the frames was pretty scuffed up and had a couple of chips in the frame. I didn’t want to paint them because I really liked the neutral tone of the frames.
I decided to use my antique gold Rub n Buff and used a small paintbrush to add a little bit of gold onto the frames. All I did was tap the paintbrush into the Rub n Buff and lightly brush over the frames.
If you love the look of botanicals then you have to see my botanical gallery wall I did in my kitchen and grab the set of free botanical printables so you can make your own!
DIYs in this picture
Styling Bookcase with Antique & Thrifted Finds
Now that the flower prints were hung it was time to restyle a few other things in my living room with the antique finds and a few of my thrifted and vintage finds… a couple of bargain finds.
Oh, and DIYs, I can’t forget my DIYs!
Starting with my large bookcase. (This one is similar to mine but the wood is lighter)
After I bought the milk bottle I knew that I wanted to display it somewhere that I could see it all the time. So I put it on the top shelf of the bookcase that is in the back of the living room behind my sectional.
To balance out the brass candlestick holders on the opposite end of the shelf I added one of the Magnolia Inspired Planters that I made from thrift store finds last year. Still a favorite project of mine! This pothos plant was in my office but I don’t think it was very happy so I’m moving it here to see if she likes it better here.
Another favorite decor piece of mine is this teak bowl from Bali that was given to me by my son’s girlfriend. Isn’t it so cool looking? I am such a fan of using natural elements when I decorate my home and I love the warm tones of the teak.
To keep with the natural theme I have going here I added a few moss balls and assorted wood and jute bowl fillers.
This vase was a thrift store find a couple of years ago. It’s actually made out of paper. The colors work with everything that I am using on this bookcase.
This set of green vintage books gets moved around the house each season. They are my favorite color and are a great decor piece. So next time you go to an antique store check around to see if you can find your own set of books to use! They usually aren’t very expensive either.
Even though this terrarium looks vintage it is new. This terrarium is from the Better Homes & Gardens line at Walmart. I bought it last Spring and it’s under $20 so check your local store to see if they still have them!
On a stack of vintage books, I placed my DIY terracotta bead garland on top with a dried flower stem.
My favorite plant is my silver pothos…isn’t she pretty?? I popped her into an $8.97 Walmart planter. You have to grab one, they look like they came from a high-end store like Anthropologie!
On my coffee table, I placed a green Ikea vase with fake white tulips on one side. These are the best artificial tulips and I have them in a few colors.
On top of a couple of my favorite home decor books is where I placed those cool-looking African whorls.
It’s so fun to find interesting pieces of home decor to give your home that unique look. That’s why I love shopping in vintage and thrift stores and of course flea markets. You never know what you will find while you are out exploring that will be just the thing to bring an area of your home to life!
See What My Friends Found!
Now I would love for you to check out what my friends found this month in their parts of the country! The four of us are from different parts of the US and I enjoy seeing what they found in their corners of the country. Kim is out in Washington, Lora is in Minnesota, Stacy is an East Coaster living in New Jersey, and I’m in New Hampshire.
STACY | BRICKS N BLOOMS
Stacy is on the hunt for pieces she can use to update her bedroom in their New Jersey home and is sharing some thrift store decorating ideas and cool finds today.
Shiplap & Shells
Kim is sharing how she using architectural salvage finds to refresh a hallway in her coastal PNW cottage. You will love how she decorates with vintage finds to create the coziest home.
Lora | Create & Ponder
Lora is sharing the coolest project this month. You have to see how she repurposed an old vanity and turned it into end tables! I think you will love this one!
See More of My Thrifting Ideas
Jennifer Howard
cottage on bunker hill
Thanks for stopping by today! Being able to share my projects, DIYs, and decorating ideas with you is amazing. Leave a comment below; I love hearing from you! Feel free to drop me a note here if you have any questions.
pin for later
Thanks for the antiques store tour…I loooove the French cabinet! Unfortunately it’s out of my price range by about $11,855. The photo is a great inspiration though as I paint furniture and am always looking at wear patterns to mimic. Looking forward to seeing your dupe of the shipwreck pot- I wonder if paperclay run through a garlic press would give a semblance of the growth on the pot?
Melissa that is an amazing idea!!!! I think I have an old playdoh press around here somewhere too!! I’ve been looking for a vase at the thrift stores to use so hopefully one turns up soon.
We’ve driven by the York Antiques Gallery but have never stopped in, looks like an awesome shop. I wondered if you would try to dupe that vase from the shipwreck! I was thinking that curly stuff looked a lot like spanish moss – maybe covered with gesso? I know you’ll do a great job whatever you use. I loved the French cupboard, what a beautiful piece. And the milk bottles from Nepal! Just beautiful, so nice to bring one of those home! Hope you didn’t get too much snow from this last storm, we’ve got 5″ or so. The weather people said to expect and inch! Jan in MA
Jan, I just came back in from shoveling. We only got about 3 inches but it was heavy and kept getting jammed in the snowblower for my son. Oh Jan, I have to go back and visit that cupboard and get more pictures of the paint because I would love to do a color match and have some paint made. I’ve been thinking about that shipwreck vase all week!! First I have to find a cheap vase that has that shape and I might try embroidery thread. If you are ever up that way stop in, even my husband liked it & didn’t complain!!
What a wonderful place to go antiquing and thrifting. The blue cabinet took my breath away! I’m always inspired by how you display your beautiful finds, Jennifer.
I know Kim!! I have to go visit it again and get a better picture of the color.
Wow Jennifer don’t you love York Antiques Center? It’s so inspiring and we’re so lucky it’s just down the road from our home. I’ve found some amazing deals there too like my sailboat curtains🙌🏻
It was fun Ann and Chuck didn’t even complain about how long we were in there!!! So many interesting pieces and I loved how one thing you picked up was $300 next to something that was $25…it was like a game guessing how much it would be.
So many fun things. That blue cabinet is amazing! Crazy price though.
Oh Renae, it was so beautiful but I guess that’s the price you pay for something in such good condition that’s 300 years old.
My husband and I have spent many hours in the York Antique Gallery along with leaving a considerable amount of money there. It truly is one of the BEST in Maine. It has that museum quality to it. Enjoyed visiting the gallery again with all of your photographs. Thank you Jennifer.
Even my husband didn’t pull the “I’ll be in the car, take your time” number!! It’s funny how it’s set up too, you can pick up a piece and it’s $30, and next to it is something for $400! I’m still swooning over the blue French cabinet
OK i’m loving the shop you visited – they have great stuff! How neat that it struck up memories from your childhood too. Love the picture frames and those vases!
I have the wheels turning on how to dupe the shipwreck vase, just have to find the right thrift store vase.
What an amazing place to poke around in; totally like a museum! But the prices-gah! Glad you were able to find a few fun things; they’ve got such great texture. And love how you displayed them!
What a fun shop to explore! I’m sure it was fun to find memories from your childhood too! Always a pretty view, Jennifer!