Guide to Home decor shopping in Providence
From Antique Desks to Little Useless Window Turtles…
As the new year rumbles on and we must adjust to new spaces – whether it’s a dorm room or a deluxe off-campus dwelling – new places require cozification. With the academic ‘shopping period’ now over, the ‘home-decor’ purchasing phase of procrastination is becoming increasingly less acceptable, so I figured I better post my ‘home shopping guide’ now.
Here we go.
THE CLASSIC: Nostalgia (236 Wickenden St)
If you’re looking for a cute poster or trinket, this is definitely the most convenient start to your search. A nice stroll’s length away from campus, this antique store (or emporium as it calls itself) is pretty on the cheap side of things and situated conveniently between two great havens of food and drink: Coffee Exchange and Amy’s. From vintage mirrors to full sets of chairs, as well as utterly purposeless shelf decorations, all can be found at Nostalgia.
Some things are randomly super expensive, like a $200+ bust of Sylvia Plath that must be highly coveted, but generally the pricing is quite reasonable. While you’re on Wickenden, I’d also recommend popping into Urban Threads (great vintage clothing shop), NAVA (good array of all things candles and mugs), or Round Again Records if you’re in the mood for some vinyls and an inexplicably grumpy shopkeeper.
BOUTIQUE ROBBERY: The Main St Trio
GOOD DOG ANTIQUES: 357 S Main St
On my first day back I naively decided to take a browse through this Midcentury modern furniture store just off Benefit St, only to learn the harsh news that the chair I picked out cost a humble $9000. I wouldn’t say this is the best store for college home shopping…
ASTER FIELDS: 251 S Main St
About 30 steps further along Main St (right by Jolly Roger) is a slightly less extortionate boutique with a weird half-upside down sign I can never read, but it’s findable eventually. Aster Fields has some great decorations, tableware, towels, and rugs ect. and describes itself as a ‘purveyor of vibrant muses for home, body and the space between’ which I feel says everything you need to know about the vibe. It also turns out the owner (Nicole) is married to owner of Good Dog Antiques! After (biased-ly) suggesting I try her husband’s store, she also recommended Rocket to Mars and Bangled Tiger.
BANGLED TIGER: 200 S Main St
If you head another minute down Main St you’ll land upon a shop called Bangled Tiger which is by far my favorite of the three. It has a really cute collection of vintage and modern clothing and — while it’s honestly not that great for furniture — it has adorable trinkets and accessories, like some earrings I bought made out of repurposed Victorian buttons. While perusing here, I also learnt that this store owner (Jess) is good friends with Nicole of Aster Fields and was promoting her stuff in her window. So, even if you don’t find any good decor on Main St, you’ll at least witness Providence’s thriving boutique-owning community scene. Jess also had great music reccomendations and insisted that I check out Rocket to Mars as well.
ROCKET TO MARS: (Federal Hill) * WINNER
Inspired by my new friends Nicole and Jess, I made the trek to Federal Hill and have to agree that it is probably the best antique shop on this list. You could describe it as a sort of elevated Nostalgia alternative — more expensive, but with a more curated collection and better-quality goods. From trunks to wall shelves to Kimono Robes, it has a great array of oddball items and a unique mix of clothes from mostly the 60s and 70s.
The dressing room was also particularly snazzy which I felt the need to mention and — like Nostalgia — the store is wondrously located right by Nitro Bar (magnificent coffee shop) which is justification enough for the journey.
NOW IF YOU HAVE ACESSS TO A CAR
THE DEPRESSING HUGE DEPARTMENT STORE ROUTE: bleak, yet functional
Taking a break from the ‘cute little vintage and boutique store’ world, I have to acknowledge the soulless but useful strips of department stores our neighboring towns have to offer. If you have a car, or a benevolent friend you can convince to drive you, its worth taking the 15-minute(ish) trip to either Cranston or Seakonk for rival accumulations of stores that I’m not sure if I can refer to as malls. The Cranston strip has The Container Store, Bath&Body Works, L.L.Bean, and Anthropology. The Seakonk journey will include a very large Target, Home Depot, Walmart, HomeGoods and AtHome. None of these stores I would recommend for the ‘cuteness’ or ‘coolness’of their stuff obviously, but in terms of efficiency, they’re great for finding home essentials that transcend the offerings of the Thayer St CVS.
FACEBOOK MARKET PLACE: The oasis
If you're down to do some driving and some pleading messaging to Providence locals, Facebook Market Place is by far the best place to find afforable furniture. All three of my roommates this year managed to find beautiful antique desks for under 50 dollars and we got to meet some eccentric Rhode Island families along the way… You may need to engage in some serious car trunk rearranging and squeezing, but the process overall is shockingly easy.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
RJL Furniture Gallery: Yard Sale Furniture store where I got a great desk for $70 (before I learnt the ways of Facebook Market place.)
The Providence Flea: By the river on Sundays, but mostly just clothes.
There’s always Etsy
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK SCAVENGING!
Cheers,
— Miss. R Sélavy
Little useless turtle from Nostalgia that guards my window: