Vintage, Consignment, & Thrifting in New Orleans & the North Shore
Brass bookends from Merchant House Market
Foot stool (used as plant stand) from Painted Pelican
Bedroom furniture from Patina Interiors and Painted Pelican
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We love buying used and second hand pieces. What started as a necessity (we were broke but wanted cute furniture) has turned into a full on hobby. One of our favorite ways to spend an afternoon is hopping around between shops, and since a lot of these spots are constantly getting in new stuff and cycling out the old, there’s always something fresh to be found. Whether it’s little boutique vintage stores, cluttered thrift shops, or consignment warehouses—there’s a special feeling in finding a perfect gem, even better if it’s a good deal. Not to mention how environmentally friendly it is to buy secondhand!
We get asked often on Instagram about vintage pieces in our home or wardrobe, and it’s always kind of a bummer to share that the thing in question was a secondhand find and that we don’t know where to steer the person if they’re looking for something similar. But secretly it’s such a good feeling to know that you’ve got something that’s unique and special, and even if it isn’t completely one-of-a-kind, it’s not like… something just anybody can go grab from a big box store. Highly recommend this feeling! So below we’ve got a few of our favorite vintage & consignment stores in Southeast Louisiana. We’re not professional vintage buyers, so this is by no means exhaustive, but we’ve found some incredible pieces at these places that we’re sure we’ll hang onto for years.
New Orleans & Metairie
Magazine Antique Mall (Garden District, New Orleans)
We love a good treasure hunt. Walking into the Magazine Antique Mall is like walking into an antique version of Forever 21, there’s piles of shit everywhere. It’s so much fun to just slowly weave in and out of the different sections, and sometimes you come across something really cool. There’s not a ton of furniture here, but instead keep your eyes open for vintage decor, lighting, and art.
Merchant House Market (Lower Garden District, New Orleans)
Talk about good curation! This little market has items by a few of our favorite collectors in the city, spanning from furniture to decor to vintage clothing to plants! The space itself is very cool, an old warehouse in the Lower Garden District that’s been given a face lift. Prices here are pretty reasonable but span the range, so you can find something for any budget.
Consign Consign (Lower Garden District, New Orleans)
Right next to Merchant House is this truly great consignment shop that’s full of cool little things. We always leave here with something. They’ve got somewhat limited space and so there’s not a * ton * of furniture, but the vintage area rugs are usually very cool and at a decent price, and there’s a lot of little decor pieces and art, which is what we normally end up getting.
Renaissance Interiors (Metairie)
Take a trip out to Metairie for a little stop into Renaissance, where you’ll find gorgeous vintage and mid-century furniture, rugs, art, and lighting. They seem to be selective about what they take in, and so they’ve got a lot of incredible pieces without much clutter, which is nice. The price point is a bit on the higher end, so if you’re looking for a bargain you’re better off checking out other on this list.
St. Tammany Parish
Drive about an hour north of New Orleans to find some of our favorite consignment stores! These are all within a twenty minute drive of each other, so you can hit them all up in one afternoon.
Patina Interiors (Covington)
One of our absolute favorites. In fact, our bed AND our dresser come from here, and the total for both came out to under $400. We absolutely love coming to Patina, particularly when looking for furniture. It’s not a huge space but they’ve done a great job of taking in great pieces. Besides furniture, they’ve also got a good selection of mirrors and lighting.
Retreat (Covington)
A very cute spot! Mostly for living and dining room furniture. They’ve got a little of really one-of-a-kind, sometimes even whimsical, pieces. The prices here can get a little high, but the markdowns they have can result in a real budget find.
S & S Consignment (Mandeville)
The fun part about this spot is that it looks pretty tiny from the outside, but once you make your way in you find a warehouse full of furniture to bob and weave through. Some of it is kind of meh, and there is a bit of clutter, but a lot of the pieces are very cool. We scored our friend Hayli’s dining room table and chairs here at a great price! Next door there’s an adoption center for kittens so also go in there and look at them and meow at them.
White Elephant (Mandeville)
So to be honest, this spot has a pretty limited selection and a lot of it like randomly new, kinda meh, furniture, but they’ve usually got a great selection of vintage and antique dressers, side tables, and bedroom furniture. You’ll only need like ten minutes to twirl through here, but worth checking out!
Painted Pelican (Covington)
Open Friday-Sunday only. We found our favorite ever bedroom pendants here—those little vintage basket ones! It’s a big spot with multiple vendors, some of which have really cool pieces and some of which sell…less exciting stuff like Live, Laugh, Love signs. But hey life is a journey. It’s a big space so you can spend a good bit of time here really looking around!