40 Places to Shop Vintage Online for a Sustainable Home
You may not realise it but choosing antiques to furnish your home is actually a really sustainable choice. Every year the UK throws away around 300,000 tonnes of furniture and of the furniture that is sent to landfill 3 million pieces could actually be reused without needing any repairs. So I’ve gathered the best places to find reasonably priced sustainable vintage homeware online. I’ve grouped them into community marketplaces, independent dealers and Instagram sellers.
Why shop sustainably?
Creating, shipping and buying new furniture uses a a lot of energy; research commissioned by the International Antiques and Collectors Fairs showed that a new chest of drawers made in China has a carbon footprint 16 times higher than an antique equivalent per year.
There is a reason why you can still buy furniture made decades ago. Antique furniture is usually far more robust than cheaper modern pieces. Most are built from solid wood, whereas your average mass produced chest of drawers is made from laminated chipboard which is far more likely to break or show signs of wear. Antique furniture usually holds on to its value too, meaning you can sell it on down the line if you ever want to change the design of your home.
So I’ve gathered the best places to find reasonably priced sustainable vintage homeware online. I’ve grouped them into community marketplaces, independent dealers and Instagram sellers.
Read on for the 40 best places to shop sustainable vintage online.
Community marketplaces
The first place to start if you want to find yourself a bargain sustainable antiques are one of community marketplaces online. There are those where anyone can sell anything, like Ebay and Etsy. You may need to do a little more trawling to find antiques here, but it will be worth it when you nab yourself a gem for a cheap price. Then we have the antique only marketplaces like Decorative Collective that provide any easy platform to find antiques often direct from various dealers across the UK.
Decorative Collective
Best for: Furniture Art
Created by an antique dealer this online marketplace connects those looking for a second hand piece of furniture with vintage furniture and art dealers around the UK.
Discover Vintage
Best for: Mid-century Furniture, Accessories
Discover Vintage was founded in 2020 in response to the pandemic. Usually organising Vintage Home Shows in Manchester, Leeds and Coventry and the Festival of Vintage owner Keeley Harris wanted to create an online version of the popular vintage fairs.
Ebay
We all know and love the original auction site Ebay for second hand bargains. You may need to do some trawling but most of the charity shops have online Ebay shops that are worth checking out for great homeware pieces.
Etsy
You’ll likely know this one already but it’s great for handmade items, but more recently it has also become an important platform for vintage shopping. You’ll find plenty of bargains here.
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Facebook Marketplace
Best for: Everything
The ultimate location for bargains. You may need to do some scrolling but I’ve found so many great pieces from this part of the web. Offering to pick up same day might sweeten the deal and I would never normally offer anything below 25% of their asking price.
Love Antiques
Best for: Furniture, Silver, Mirrors
The fastest growing online antiques portal, Love Antiques has tens of thousands of antique listings by certified antique dealers.
Preloved
PrelovedBest for: Furniture, Upcycling
Online platform specialising in second hand goods. You’ll find plenty of bargains here.
The Salesroom
Best for: Art, Furniture
An online global auction marketplace for art and antiques. You can set alerts for things you are looking for and be notified when matching items come up for sale.
Vinterior
Best for: Furniture, Lighting, Accessories
Connecting independent furniture dealers across the UK so that you don’t need to travel all over the county to find your perfect piece of vintage furniture.
Independent dealers
There are hundreds of antique dealers but not all of them have moved online. Here I’ve found a selection of the best and most accessible dealers for your antique needs. Some even offer sourcing services where you can ask them to find something for you if you’re after something specific
The Blanchard Collective
Best for: Art, Chairs, Lamps
Going for over 10 years, The Blanchard Collective is a collection of 19 renowned antique dealers all under one roof in a huge 6000 square foot space in Wiltshire.
Brownrigg Interiors
Best for: Storage, Linens, Cushions, Tables, Garden Antiques
You’ll find an ever changing mix of antiques and decorative pieces in this interior shop in the Cotswolds. They stock a variety of antiques from the mid 17th century to the 20th century. They also exhibit in the annual Battersea Antiques and Decorative Fair in London.
Ceraudo
Best for: Affordable antiques
Ceraudo is a London-based interiors brand offering both antique and contemporary furniture and accessories. Founded in 2016 by sisters Emily and Victoria Ceraudo to source vintage and antique pieces at affordable prices – a great place to find sustainable vintage online.
Church Antiques
Best for: Pews, Chairs
One of the largest suppliers of antique ecclesiastical furnishings, furniture, fixtures and fittings in Great Britain based just outside of London.
Dudley Waltzer
Best for: 20th century Tables, Sideboards, Chairs
Specialising in 20th century furniture Dudley Waltzer sources, restores and sells unique homeware in their shop and online.
Fontaine Decorative
Best for: Accessories, Mirrors, Furniture
An established and experienced antiques dealership, based in Herefordshire. They have twice been voted one of the Top Fifty antique shops in Homes and Antiques Magazine.
Hutt
Best for: Furniture, Lights, Textiles
Bristol based antiques shop run by Mollie Riach. All the items they sell at Hutt are carefully sourced for a unique collection of beautiful pieces.
Kernow Furniture
Best for: 19th & 20th century furniture
Huge online shop based in Cornwall selling all kinds of beautiful antiques – one of my favourite places to shop sustainable vintage online.
Lorfords Antiques
Best for: Choice
Lorfords Antiques has over 5000 pieces in their 35,000 square ft retail space in Gloucestershire. If you want a big choice, these are your guys. You even have the option to try before you buy with their super concierge-inspired service.
Mason & Painter
Best for: French Cafe Furniture, Paintings
This store is part of an old upholstery workshop on Columbia Road, east London. Voted on of the ShopKeepers Best Vintage & Antique Shops worldwide.
Mood & Hue
Best for: Pottery, Paintings
Cotswolds based shop stocking a beautiful and eclectic selection of vintage art, pots, vases and homeware.
Puck Haber
Best for: Mirros, Paintings, Furniture
A mother and son team based in London who have been going for over 30 years. You’ll find gorgeous antique furniture at Puck Haber, with lots of distressed French and Swedish furniture, paintings and period mirrors.
Punch the Clock
Best for: Furniture
Antique dealership specialising in mid-century furniture and accessories.
RE-Found
Best for: Ceramics, Furniture, Linens
Northumberland based shop selling a selection of recycled, rescued or recused furniture and homeware.
Retrouvius
Based in Kensal Green, London this salvage company select interior.
Starched and Crumpled
Best for: French Textiles, Haberdashery
Instagram based antique fabric seller . Think gorgeous French pelmets, Ottoman textiles, vintage silk thread and ribbons. First to comment ‘sold’ gets to buy.
Tat London
Best for: Accessories, Art, Ceramics
Born from a love of antique and second-hand homeware that is usually overlooked – things of little financial value and not by any well-known names, but bursting with charm and beauty.
The Cart House
Best for: Furniture, Textiles, Garden
Bristol based vintage furniture shop stocking an eclectic mix of English and European furniture.
The French House
Best for: Period chairs and sofas, Mirrors, Lighting
Long established family business in the heart of Parsons Green, London. This antique shop has acquired and restored beautiful furniture for over 10 years, with the largest range of French antiques in the country.
The Shop Floor Project
Best for: Paintings, Prints, Ceramics
Award winning online gallery created my mother and daughter artists Denise Allan and Samantha Allan with the aim to curate a selection of extraordinary pieces from around the UK and further afield.
HILHIM
Best for: Strroage, Sofas
A sustainable home brand that plants a tree in the Rajasthan Thar Desert, rejuvenating the Mangrove Forests and rehabilitating the farmland, with every order.
Vintage Boathouse
Best for: Chests, Tables, Mirrors
Virtual online antique store with some well-pried furniture.
Instagram sellers
The newest way to shop sustainable vintage online; a number of antique dealers have started popping up over Instagram to sell their wares. Think of it almost like your best friend, or a personal shopper finding the most unique pieces. Some of websites too, but most are Insta only. You’ll need to keep a keen eye on their pages though as the pieces often go quickly with items selling to the first to DM or comment. Good luck!
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Becky Wilson, the founder of Bohome Interiors worked as an interior designed for 15 years
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Owner of Albie & Pearl, Marie Pontefract traded in her fashion career in London for antiques in the Kent countryside. She sells antique decor on her Instagram via weekly drops. You’ll have to be quick for this one as they go on a first come first served basis.
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Tarn London was set up by Tanya Zendra who launched the account in 2020 when she was looking for antiques for her own home and feeling like a lot of the old antique shops were completely inaccessible. To her, Instagram felt more informal and a more inviting place to find unique pieces without feeling unwelcome.
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Elizabeth Kemp sells beautiful vintage fabrics, pictures and china all via her Instagram account Perfect English Stuff. Having come from the London art world she moved to Somerset with her husband and created a space to sell things she would want i her own home. Her mother is an interior writer and her grandmother an antique’s dealer, so it’s in the blood.
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Petit Tresor started as a hobby for Hollie Clark has spent much of her childhood collecting treasures and unique antiques of her own. Now you can purchase gorgeous pieces via her Instagram account or new online store.
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One Off Piece London, founded by Sophie Douglas when she was made redundant from her PR and marketing job at the start of the pandemic turned her obsession with finding quirky one off pieces for the home into a career.
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