apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've been a few times... It's PACKED full of some interesting stuff.

Also... This church was designed by James Renwick, Jr... He's the architect of Grace Church on 10th and Broadway, St. Patrick's Cathedral... and a super small church that was originally St. Martin's in-the-Fields Annex just on the north corner of Thompson Sq. Park... Now it's a Russian Orthodox Congregation. This is a great collection of Gothic Revival ecclesiastic architecture...

He also did a church in Riverdale I've never visited and the original building for the Smithsonian, in D.C.

Each site is well worth the trip... Grace Church was his first commission, and it's a sublime little sacred space.

God may smite me for saying so, but the times I've been inside I've been astonished by how high the prices are for really old lady-ish, Ethan Allen-type furniture.

I just noticed... there was no mention in the original post that this thrift shop is part of the Calvary Church complex on Park.

Up until two weeks ago, I actually lived only a block away from this place. I only stopped in a few times (I have too much stuff to begin with), and while they were certainly expensive, they had really beautiful pieces. When I waited for the bus in the morning, I would often see folks who looked like antique shop proprietors carting away vans full of stuff. I think it can certainly be hit or miss, especially if you are looking for a particular style, because their inventory is obviously dependent on donations, but I've often walked by and seen certain items that I wished I had room for (and FYI, I'm a mid-C modern devotee). I've also sent friends down at various points whose tastes diverge wildly from my own because I saw some little side table or something that would look great in their places.

The place may look good but it smells really awful!

Someone I know found a really amazing couch there. I thought it was new, but I guess it was so retro it looked new. It was a simple shape covered in blue-green nubby fabric. Probably sounds horrid, but it was really great.

I bought a very high-quality, super well built wing chair there a few years back. It was a whopping $250 (expensive for a thrift store), but it is a very well made piece of furniture. I had to reupholster, of course, so the total cost was about $1300.

I could have bought something for a lot less, but I doubt of that quality.

Now it's too big for my current apartment but too well made to give away or sell. I may never own something that well made again.

Yes, expensive and old-ladyish Ethan Allen is about right, along with a mix of interesting things. My wing chair may be old-ladyish and Ethan Allen-ish, but it's one of the best pieces of furniture I own. Give me quality any day.

It's a little hit or miss in there, and the prices aren't thrift store prices. However, they do get in a lot of good pieces. Around the corner is a more ordinary thrift store in the basement that seems to get more ordinary pieces.

My mother bought my birthday present here. A beautiful art deco bedroom set. She paid $850 (+$90 for delivery and set up) for a bed frame and headboard, 2 dressers (one with a mirror), and a vanity. You can barely purchase a dresser for $850, let alone an entire room's worth of furniture.

I enthusiastically recommend this store if you have the time and patience to make repeated trips and wait for the good stuff.

Check out the store's sponsored listing on our site.
I'll be building them a website soon too.

Michael

http://www.TheThriftShopper.Com

Some beautiful pieces for those of us who have a sense of history and prefer warmth (wood) to cold (the steel/glass/high-tech-looking furniture that is so popular today) in our homes. The stuff is pretty pricey, though, for thrift-shop furniture -- but it does seem to be in decent condition for the most part.

Speaking of consignment shops in NYC- any advice where I could sell/consign a large, gold carved, wood, antique looking mirror?