The Crompton Collective

A few blogs ago, I wrote about a road trip out to Signature Finishes in No. Grafton to pick up some Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. While there, I also traveled into Worcester (pronounced “Woos’tah, for those of you not from the Boston area) to visit the Crompton Collective,

a collection of local artisans and vintage vendors housed in a beautifully renovated brick mill building in the canal district. The Collective is the brainchild of Amy Chase,

who also owns Haberdash Vintage, America’s very first mobile vintage shop and she is a co-founder of The Swapaholics-quite a resume! You enter the Crompton Collective store through the pretty fancy lobby of Crompton Place, go down the stairs (just follow the antique signs), but once inside the Collective you feel as if you have stepped into someone’s vintage home

and an antique parlor wrapped in the warm glow of lace and lamplight.

The store is separated into 70+ loosely defined vendor spaces,

each one offering unique,

vintage

repurposed

re-loved

items for sale.

At every turn, I spotted lovingly repainted,

refurbished furniture

and home decor accessories,

as well as one-of-a-kind pieces (cocktail table from an old drum? Brilliant!)

and this bit of Americana created from old license plates.

One of my absolute favorite spaces was The Junk Drawer

The owner created this cozy, welcoming booth that was completely packed with inspired goods.

Have you ever seen a vintage lamp with a shade made of crumpled old sewing patterns?! Perfectly poufy Beehive ‘do!

How about a hot pink deer head? (Had I seen that first, I might have altered my color palette for the bathroom reno…)

From there, I ventured into the Haberdash space,

chock full of fabulous vintage clothing and accessories.

Of course, this was back in October, so the fur coat seemed unnecessary, but after those snow flurries yesterday, I may need to return to grab it! This is a co-operative shop that you need to walk through at least a few times,

there is so much to take in! Stopped short in my tracks when I spotted these letters in the window.

Offered for rent for weddings and showers and happy occasions, I can imagine that they are well-used and LOVED in each venue they are featured. No gift purchases made today, it was Halloween season, but I did grab my Eulalie’s Sky Milk Paint from the Signature Finishes booth.

But now that the holiday shopping season is upon us, it is definitely worth a trip back to the Crompton Collective to see the shops decked out in their holiday finery.

They are at 138 Green Street, Worcester, MA. Have a wander-ful Wednesday everyone, and if you happen into the Crompton Collective, tell Amy that Sue from Country Design Home sent you! Susan