As we get SO close to moving into the school that we’ve been turning into our house for the last 3 years, one of the things I’m really excited about is *finally* getting to source old furniture to put in our old schoolhouse. Right now the majority of the furniture I currently have is either made by my brother @GrizWoodwork, found on the street in NYC (it’s crazy the antiques we’d find for free on the Upper East Side!), or trekked from Indiana out east back in 2012 when we initially moved here.
Antiquing was a huge hobby of my parents when I was growing up in Franklin, and I explored a ton of central Indiana shops while I was in college. (Actually earned a ton of spending money buying and reselling Polaroid cameras online, and my grandparents owned an antique store and furniture stripping business in Mitchell!)
I wanted to put together a list of my favorite antique and salvage shops in the area so that they get the credit they’re due. Indiana is such an amazing place to find old gems at affordable prices, and these are the best places I’ve found so far. 🙂
ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE SHOPS
Madison Street Salvage
350 E Madison St, Franklin, IN 46131
I wanted to start with architectural salvage shops so that I could highlight Madison Street first. If you’re looking to have an afternoon of exploring antique shops and boutiques, I cannot recommend Franklin enough.
Madison Street was started by my childhood friend, Danny Causey, who was the Director of Historic Preservation for Franklin Heritage Inc. (Danny is also creative as heck and has helped us brainstorm and create renderings for our schoolhouse construction!) Today it is run by Christine, and the entire Madison Street team is so kind and lovely. They are incredible resources for anyone restoring an old house.
Madison Street Salvage is a 50c3 non-profit antique shop that functions primarily on donations of vintage and antique items. They sell the donations to raise funds and continue historic restoration projects here in Franklin.The shop has amazing architectural elements like doors, windows, and hardware, as well as lighting and an assortment of antiques. You never know what will pop up in the shop… like recently they salvaged a TON of enormous doors and trim from an old bank in Greencastle, IN that was robbed in 1933 by John Dillinger! Follow them on Instagram and browse their online shop here.
We recently got this antique schoolhouse-style pendant light from Madison Street and I cannot WAIT to get it hung in the schoolhouse! Will have a whole Youtube episode talking about the old schoolhouse stuff we’ve sourced soon.
Tim & Company’s Another Fine Mess in Indianapolis
2901 E 10th St, Indianapolis, IN 46201
Tim & Company deal primarily in architectural salvage of pre-1960 houses and buildings, and they post a ton of inventory on their social media as well. I wanted to include Tim’s business here because they were the spot where we bought 6 doors from the Little Flowers Catholic school that we will be using as kid and bathroom doors in our schoolhouse!
They have a TON of old hardware, and I went in there a couple weeks ago with some parts where I had no idea what they were called. The ladies working were incredibly helpful and helped me find all of the screws, escutcheons, and hinge pins that I needed.
ANTIQUE SHOPS
Salvage Sisters & Thanks for the Thyme
398 E Jefferson St, Franklin, IN 46131 (Right next door to each other!)
These two shops are some of the OGs in Franklin, and I’ve gone to them for years. They don’t have a ton of large furniture, but you can always find a good deal in here and the booths are updated often. If you want to spend the afternoon in Franklin, you can also visit the other shops like FrenChic, Farmgirl Mercantile, Eclectic Jade, and so many other boutiques around the square. Don’t forget to pop over to Wild Geese, our bookstore, and get a bite to eat at Main and Madison cafe. (Main and Madison was actually the town’s first hospital and the restoration of this building is so inspirational.)
Midland Antique Mall
(Downtown) 907 East Michigan Street Indianapolis, Indiana
I’ve gone to Midland many times over the years, and it’s such a fun place to explore. This place is not only HUGE, but there are so many wonderfully-curated booths with decent prices. Some of the items are a bit pricey, but Midland has incredible furniture and some well-known art mixed with doctors’ bags and a room full of chandeliers. Seriously a room full of them.
Gilley’s Antique Mall
5789 E US 40 Plainfield, Indiana
One of my favorite haunts during my DePauw years, Gilley’s has an insane collection of furniture, clothes, hats, trinkets, dishes, everything. Most things have very fair prices– this is where I bought my favorite pair of vintage lace-up boots you can see here on my blog. I love, love, love Gilley’s and it is totally worth it to make the 30-minute drive out to Plainfield.
Yellow Moon Antique Mall
8 West Main Street, Mooresville , Indiana
Finally, another one of my favorite shops- I used to come home from New York and Yellow Moon would be the first stop on my way home from the airport. Yellow Moon has wonderful vintage dresses, table cloths, home goods, and cameras.
I’ll continue to update this post with more shops, and definitely leave a comment if you think I’ve left off a hidden gem in the area!
