Jenni Yolo’s 10 Favorite Thrift & Antique Shops in Milwaukee!! – 2020

DIY PROJECT, Home DIY

I am SO EXCITED about this series of Milwaukee Guides we have been working on for 2020, and I could not wait to kick it off with My Top Ten Thrifting & Antique Shops in Milwaukee!!! You all have watched me decorate our Barnhouse and Airbnb’s with second-hand goods (Check out this thrifted room makeover and this one too) and I always get asked about my GO-TO spots. Now you have my faves in one handy guide! Are there more than 10 great ones here in the city of Milwaukee? YES! But I wanted to narrow it down to my favorites I currently have on high rotation. I also wanted to stay within the city limits, but if you have a place I MUST check out, let me know in the comments. I see some thrifting roadtrips in my future. 

Before we jump in to the list, may I offer a suggestion? I might be a little biased, but I believe the perfect weekend in Milwaukee would be to stay at one of our Airbnbs in Walker’s Point, The DIY Duplex or I SPY Abode, (All the listings here ) and check a bunch of the antique stores off the list! Six of the ten are in the Walker’s Point neighborhood!

Drumroll please…. 

Jenni Yolo Presents: My 10 Favorite Thrift and Antiques Shops in Milwaukee – 2020

Antiques on Pierce 
1512 W. Pierce St., Milwaukee
Antiques on Pierce is by far the antiquing mecca in Milwaukee. It is a three-story giant warehouse with a bunch of vendors — hundreds of vendors, actually! You’ll find a little of everything. The vendors have everything from jewelry to furniture to art. There are many booths with different styles. If you can only go to ONE antique store when visiting Milwaukee, this is it.

Serpentine Salvage 
835 W. National Ave., Milwaukee
Serpentine Salvage was formerly Antique Addicts, and now run by a super chic woman who has a great eye for vintage clothing and home decor. I have purchased some beautiful accessories for myself and my home here! Keep up with their Instagram for new items @SerpentineSalvage.

Good Land Antiques
3391 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee
Good Land Antiques is a hidden gem that’s SO GOOD, and the owner is the sweetest! If she wasn’t so sweet, I would have kept this one for myself, because I never leave there empty handed. This is definitely one of my go-to places. Prices are low so things will move quickly, which makes for constant turnover. I’m often swinging into Good Land Antiques just to see what’s new (and if you see something you love, you have to buy it because it won’t be there next time)!

Goodwill on Oklahoma Ave.
153 W. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee
I love Goodwill. Period. Their mission is wonderful and I love supporting them. For home decor, each store can be hit or miss. But at this specific location in Milwaukee, I have had more hits than misses. The Goodwill on Oklahoma Ave. is my fav, but try to hit up ones all over the city. The key to Goodwill is stopping by often. Goodwill, unlike a lot of the antique stores, you get into the nitty-gritty of thrifting. This means you really have to dig and imagine the pieces in your space. Here in Milwaukee, the rows of tchotchkes are color-coded which is amazing, but often paintings are just piled on a shelf and you’ll need to pull things out and take them out of the chaotic context that they’re in. A lot of the antique stores will curate and set them up in a way that you can visualize them in your house. Goodwill offers great value, but you have to visualize it on your own. You can do it! 

Habitat for Humanity Restore Walker’s Point
420 S. 1st St., Milwaukee
If furniture is what you’re seeking, the giant Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Wauwatosa is what you’ll want. But if you want to stay within the city limits, check out the Restore in Walker’s Point. The Walker’s Point location carries mostly furniture, doors, and kitchen cabinets from renovated homes. The Walker’s Point Restore has a small section of knick-knacks, but I’ve had the most success with furniture. My favorite scores have been a kitchen table and chairs I refinished for the Barnhouse, fireplace mantel (project TBD!), vintage trunk, and an old dresser I restored for a guest room. Restores also have live-edge wood (LOVE!). This is how I made the Barnwood ledge and Live Edge coffee table. The live edge wood can range from $40-$400. 

Third Point of View/Antique Center-Walker’s Point
1134 S. 1st St., Milwaukee
Third Point of View and Antique Center-Walker’s Point are two stores in one building. The space has multiple levels and both stores carry a ton of hidden gems. There is A LOT of stuff in a tight space. They. Are. Packed. But, if you zero in on your vision, you can find a lot of good items. In particular, Third Point of View has been a place I’ve found fabulous art pieces.

Dandy
5020 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee
Vliet St. is an up and coming area in Milwaukee where you’ll find Dandy. A husband and wife bought this warehouse that they use as an antique store and venue for weddings, comedy shows, etc. They carry mid-century modern antiques and have an impeccable eye for style. You’ll find great treasures at Dandy. And they even have an Airstream inside! 

Clinton Street Antiques
1110 S. 1st St., Milwaukee
Clinton Street Antiques is only a recent find of mine. The guy who runs it has a great eye for curated, unique pieces like antlers, pennants, glassware, and nostalgic items. I’d say Clinton’s pieces have a more masculine vibe. It’s a smaller shop that’s definitely worth a stop. And, it’s right next to Third Point of View!

Farm Girl Art and Antiques
803 S. 5th St., Milwaukee
Farm Girl Art and Antiques is a must visit. If you are into the farmhouse style, you will likely find the perfect decor items. Because it’s a consignment store you get varying aesthetics from the different vendors, which I love. It’s an amazing place to shop for art and small furniture like benches and stools. I’ve lost count of how many benches I’ve bought from here. And all my antlers come from here to. During holidays, they have seasonal decor that’s constantly changing.  

Riverview Antique Market
2045 W. St. Paul Ave., Milwaukee
Riverview Antique Market is a multi-level store that has a ton of gems in it! Riverview Antique Market has a bunch of vendors with a little bit of everything, which is amazing for browsing without purpose. In the past, I have had success with lighting, and found some great chandeliers for the Barnhouse! 

OUTSITE THE CITY LIMITS
Chattel Changers
2520 E Capitol Dr, Shorewood, WI 53211
Chattel Changers is technically not in Milwaukee, but it’s worth heading right outside the city limits to visit this 40 year Antique Store. The walls are covered with art, and I leave with at least 3 painting every time I go!

I am working on a big ‘ol post with Thrifting Tips and Tricks, but here are a few answers to Frequently Asked Thifting Questions!

How often do you go thrifting?
It really ebbs and flows. If I’m decorating a house, I’ll go every few days. Otherwise, I try to avoid it if I’m not currently working on a project so that I don’t pick up things I don’t need. Sometimes I set aside hours and make it a full-day adventure, but not always. Sometimes I pop in and out in 15-minutes, oftentimes walking out with at least one thing I love. My advice is don’t be afraid to make a quick lap and decide there’s nothing there for you that day. The joy of thrifting is going often and seeing what’s new. 

What are your top thrifting tips?
It sounds crazy, but thrifting involves some strategy! My tips include:

– If you’re looking to find something specific, go to a larger store with multiple booths so you have more options to find what you like. 

-The best way to thrift is to not have a gameplan because finding exactly what you’re looking for can be challenging. The more you go, the more likely you’ll find pieces that fit your needs. 

-It’s totally acceptable to ask for a better price. Just see if there’s any wiggle room. 

-If you love something, you should get it because there’s a good chance it won’t be there the next time you go back. There are still a few things that haunt me that I wish I had purchased. Ugh, the regret! 

-When you walk into a store and see something you like, put it in your cart or have it marked sold before someone else scoops it up.

Enjoy finding the diamonds in the rough! Happy Thrifting!! And let me know in the comments if there are any other guides you would like to see on I SPY DIY!

Map by: Good Land Creative

DIY DUPLEX | Bathroom Before & After plus DIY Light Upgrade

Before & After, DIY PROJECT, Home DIY

It’s time for another DIY Duplex bathroom Before & After!! I have to admit that after the One Room Challenge bathroom upstairs I was creatively spent, so this bathroom ended up being a lot of the leftover supplies… and a lot of design-on-the-fly. But it turned out better than I imagined!! Plus, I partnered up with a Wisconsin company, Broan-Nutone to combat the major lack of light this time of year, and show you a super simple 5 minute update to get more light in your bathroom with their  Quick-Change LED Grille Upgrade! I’ll show you all the details later in the post, but let’s start with the before bathroom pics.

The BEFORE: This level of the duplex was interesting because we initially thought we would be able to keep a lot of the work the former owner had done, but on closer inspection, there were quite a few problems that needed to be addressed. We tore everything out and started from scratch! Also removing a hidden stairway in the kitchen meant the ceiling no longer need to slope, which was a big win!

THE PROGRESS: The layout stayed the same, but we made the window smaller for safety, laid all new tile and upgraded the outdated bathroom fixtures. We also added ventilation in the bathroom, because there was none before…yikes! During the process I realized the bathroom was lacking light, so we needed to make a quick fix!

The AFTER: Ta Da! Not bad for a “leftover” bathroom! I mentioned before that we used leftover supplies to pull this bathroom together….the paint was Behr Dark Pewter exterior paint we ended up not using, the tile was extra backsplash tile from the kitchens, and the vanity was the one that did not work in the One Room Challenge bathroom. And to fix the lighting problem Broan-Nutone came to the rescue with the Quick-Change LED Grille Upgrade, built for DIYers of any skill level to upgrade their non-light bath fan to a fan/light with bright, efficient soft LED lighting! It was SUPER simple, and took less than 5 minutes to upgrade the grille to the fan/light combo. Game changer right??

How much better does this look?! Plus, there will be more light to see yourself in the mirror wall, ha! And for those that hate when dust builds up in the vent grille (pretty sure that is everyone!), their CleanCover™ has fewer vent slots so it stays clean much longer, which makes me very happy as an Airbnb host, because you never want guest complaining about dust! 

More after the break!  (more…)

DIY DUPLEX | 2-Day Thrifted Room Makeover 

DIY PROJECT, Home DIY

This post was made in partnership with the Behr Paint Company, Thank you for supporting my amazing sponsors!

ROOM MAKEOVER TIME! I’m super excited about this makeover for two reasons: 1) I partnered up with Behr to try their new online paint shop BEHR® Express, where you can have paint and supplies delivered RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR! 2) I challenged myself to only spend 2 days to paint, thrift the decor, and pull it all together! The most fun part was that I could not really have a design plan, because who knows what I would find at the antique stores! 

I am SO happy with how it came together, the room feels so darn cozy! Let me tell you a bit about the process! 

The Before: First, this WAY before photo is how it looked when we started this renovation this Summer, since then, we painted the walls, Behr Swiss Coffee 12, and the trim, Aged Beige PPU7-09. We also ripped up the floor and added carpet.  Picking the paint color:  I knew I wanted something bold for this room, and since we had already painted the trim, I wanted a color that would complement the Aged Beige PPU7-09, plus work well with Swiss Coffee 12 because I only planned on painting part of the wall. I checked out BEHR Express and their 55-color curated palette  (the colors they picked are SO GOOD, it would be hard to go wrong) and I narrowed it down to three colors: Riverdale N410-3, Iron Mountain N520-5 and NYPD N480-6. And if you have no idea on what color to pick, the website can help you find your perfect color, and even suggest coordinating trim colors. After I had my colors, I ordered their Peel & Stick samples, which are a game changer! Instead of buying paint samples, the Peel & Stick samples are great for testing a bunch of colors, and you can move them from wall-to-wall to see how they will look in different light. Check out my IG Highlight of the process @ISPYDIY! After opening it up to you all for a vote, the winner was BEHR NYPD N480-6, which I absolutely love because of the moody blue/gray vibes. I went back to BEHR Express to order a gallon, and in a couple clicks the paint plus all the painting supplies I needed were on their way to be delivered to my front door!
Painting the room: After the paint was delivered, it was go time! And the two day time limit to paint, shop for, and decorate this room started. If you were following along on @ISPYDIY, you saw that I played around with how high up to paint, and changed my mind 3-4 times, until I landed on painting about ¾ up the 9ft walls and adding trim and hooks to hang pictures. I just LOVE how it accentuates the high ceilings in this room! 

Decorating the room: I challenged myself to thrift as much as possible for this room in one day. The things I ordered ahead of time where the bed, bedding and pillows, because I have not had a ton of luck getting a vintage bed that did not need repairs, and bedding is one thing I don’t buy second hand. My first antique stop was SUCH a score! It was like all the thrifting stars aligned and I got the desk, chair, rugs, stool and map art, all for about $200! I was honestly pretty set after that haul, so I ran home and shipped my own stash of thrifted items including mirror and gold lamp from Goodwill, and the little bench I found at an antique store months ago. 

The beautiful vase on the desk and bells hanging came from a local shop URSA, made by local women, so not technically thrifted, but I love supporting Milwaukee women doing amazing things! I brought back the little bowl on the side table from our recent trip to Croatia. And all the books and vases came from my thrifted collection. I will admit, the little lamp on the desk is from Target, I saw it a while back and loved the size, and when I started decorating I knew the more modern shape would keep the vintage desk from looking too dated. More after the break!

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