Need Furniture? 4 Thrift Stores to Visit

I just got this email from a reader:

I’m a fairly new follower to your blog, and a very new thrift store junkie…  so I’m hoping you can help me out! While my house is currently full of “affordable” Ikea, I’m starting to look for pieces with a little more love and a lot more character. Right now, I’m in desperate need of a pair of (matching) nightstands, and I’m hoping I can find something that I could potentially paint and turn into little statement pieces for my bedroom. Problem is – I’m in Oak Park, and the stores out here just don’t have much. We have a (small) Brown Elephant that I’ve been checking constantly, and a Goodwill that has a teeny overpriced furniture section. Can you recommend any stores in the city with big furniture selections that I can check out this weekend?

Why, yes. Yes I can.

I understand the desperate search for the right furniture piece at the right price. It’s frustrating to try and drive all over the city looking for the just right piece of furniture on the second hand market. It’s so much easier to go to a one-stop shop like Ikea, but where’s the character in that?

Whenever someone asks me for a one-stop furniture recommendation in the Chicago thrift store scene, I recommend these places:

Jubilee Furniture – a literal warehouse of used furniture that’s only open two days a week and is located in Carol Stream. Limited hours, long drive — but highly, highly recommended. They even recently started a blog!

610 E. North Ave., Carol Stream, IL 60188

See my Flickr set from Jubilee here.

St. Vinny’s Thrift Store — Milwaukee – It’s time we all realized Milwaukee is just a far north suburb of Chicago — at least where your thrifting is concerned. I’ve sent countless people up to Badger country to find furniture at this mother of all thrift stores and they’ve all agreed: worth the drive.

2320 W Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53215

See my Flickr set from St. Vincent DePaul in Milwaukee here.

Urban Thrift – whine all you want, The Ark on Lincoln is no longer. Urban Thrift has taken its place. But this means this mothership of a  Lakeview thrift store is now open on Saturdays. And if you saw my recent Tweet about the vintage metal lockers I found while shopping there last, you’ll agree that you can find some pretty sweet furniture deals here.

3345 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

See my Flickr photo set from Urban Thrift here.

Stop! Look! isn’t a massive thrift store but it’s a decent bet you can find a good plant stand, bench, end table, stool set or side chair here if you stop by frequently enough. It’s centrally located on Western Ave. in Ukrainian Village, too, so it’s easy to — um — Stop! Look!

1307 N Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60622

See my set of Flickr photos from Stop! Look! here.

Those aren’t all the stores in the city where you can find a decent selection of furniture second-hand. I think both the Oak Park and Andersonville Brown Elephants have a fair amount of decent furniture and fast turnover, although they’re heftily priced. And I’ve seen interesting pieces pop up at the South Kedzie Unique and the Unique on Sheridan (my personal favorite).

To hit up a number of thrift stores in one day, check out my handy driving map.

Last bit of advice: don’t overlook estate sales as an awesome place to find furniture. Visit EstateSales.net to browse through photos of current estate sales or sign up for my weekly BackGarage Garage Sale Hotlist to get tips on the best bets for finding furniture and more every weekend in Chicago.