Shotgun!: Asheville, North Carolina (Part 1)

One of the many, many benefits of living in Greenville, South Carolina is our close proximity to Asheville, North Carolina. A pretty drive north through the mountains leads one to Asheville, a fun, funky, cosmopolitan town with a free spirit and welcoming arms for an upcycler like myself.

In fact, Asheville is truly a junk destination- there are so many amazing vintage-based shops, from salvaged junk to the highfalutin finery, that there really is a shop for everyone, regardless of taste. My husband and I go to Asheville more infrequently than either of us prefer, he for the beer, me for the pickin’…and since I have many more shops to explore for the blog, we’ll just go ahead and call this Asheville: Part I.

I’m pleased to say that we hit some old favorites as well as some new spots, all of which were fun and fruitful in their own way. Asheville truly never disappoints!

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Stop 1: Antiques at Riverview Station

Riverview Station, a converted warehouse in the River Arts District, houses more than 50 artists, entrepreneurs, and schools…and an antiques store! We happened upon this shop by pure accident and I am SO GLAD I took up Jon’s offer to stop. This is a junk shop at its finest- an endless collection of old, neglected bits that just need to be adopted (and/or repurposed) by the right vintage lover. I could have spent an hour or two pouring over everything, digging through piles and making my way through each booth with a fine-toothed comb. This is the kind of shop when you are looking for *something*, even if you don’t yet know what that something is.

Be still my heart, pretty cabinet…

Treasures galore…

Pit stop at the salvaged wood pile!

Stop 2: Care Partners Estate Services and Hospice Thrift Shop

Now, if you pick the right weekend, this can be a very fun, very fruitful “twofer”- An estate sale (or 2) plus a large, clean, full-of-goodies thrift shop, all in the same building! You can sign up for email alerts to learn of new estate sales, but if you wait until Saturdays, the estate sales often go to 50% off! The selection is less- obviously- but the deals are amazing. And then…you walk a few yards further and find a huge thrift store with more housewares than I can even mention! And we all know that Hospice thrift stores tend to have more vintage pieces than the average thrift shop…which means you’ll likely come home with a treasure or two.

Day 1: Full tables, full price.
Day 2: Slimmer pickins’, half price.

More estate sale treasures…

The thrift store of thrift stores.

Stop 3: The Screen Door

If any of Asheville’s antiques shops are famous…or infamous, as the case may be… then The Screen Door would likely be at the top of the list. Talk about a vintage lover’s dream destination!! Booth after booth of wonderful, eclectic vintage treasures- you’ll find lots of architectural salvage, yard/garden iron work, and unusual antique treasures throughout this massive store. Plan to spend a bit of time at The Screen Door- and here’s a bonus, it’s just up the hill from Care Partners/Hospice!!

Hello, Lovelies…

A labyrinth of love.

Stop 4: Sweeten Creek Antiques

Sometimes you try out a new shop and you come away thinking you won’t need to go back…but then other times, you check out a new shop and immediately know it’ll be a place you return to again and again. That’s what happened for me at Sweeten Creek Antiques! It reminded me of Sleepy Poet in Charlotte– a very good thing, I assure you- and best of all, I finally found my perfect antique globe! Maybe not a big deal to you, but it’s been on my “need to collect” list for a long time and I couldn’t pull the trigger until Sweeten Creek made me an offer I couldn’t refuse!

MINE!

An inviting booth…

Stop 5: Eight London

Another new-to-me shop that we stumbled upon- Eight London is so fun! Part antiques shop, part painted furniture studio, and part upcycled art, it’s a gorgeous destination that I highly recommend! It’s in a really cool space and is filled to the brim with beautiful treasures…and OH the shop cats! Two of the friendliest felines we’ve ever met…it’s a wonder Jon didn’t try and smuggle them home with us.

Building past life- hangar? Car dealership?
Either way- it’s filled with goodies!

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And how did we cap off our day of junkin’? Well, with a fabulous (and adventurous) meal at Nightbell… if you have an open-minded palette, then Nightbell needs to be on your culinary list!

So where to go for my Asheville Part II? I have a few places in mind but I’m DEFINITELY open to suggestions- so please let me know what YOUR favorites are!

Explore on..!

S