Vintage Finds off Route 14: A Vintage and Antique Store Crawl

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A couple years ago, before my children were involved in lots of sports, my husband and I went on a memorable date that wasn't a football or soccer game.  If "Fixer Upper" stars, Chip and Joanna Gaines, lived in my neck of the woods, I am sure they would do this for a date as well.  It would be a fun ladies day trip with your friends or family and if you are really wanting to, you could even book a motel along the way, and make it a two or three day event.  Vintage Finds off Route 14 is an opportunity for a unique road trip for a fun day of looking for the perfect antique or vintage item to decorate your home with.  This tour showcases the wide variety of diverse antique and vintage shops all along US Route 14 in Chicago's Northwest Suburbs.

This year's antique and vintage crawl happens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 11, 12 and 13, 2020.  Visit their website to find all of this year's participating stores and a map showing where they are all located.  If you hit all the stores participating, you will be visiting the towns of Woodstock, Trout Valley, Ridgefield, Palatine, McHenry,  Lake Barrington, Fox River Grove,  Crystal Lake, Cary, Barrington and Arlington Heights - all in the state of Illinois.  If that's too much, just pick a couple of towns to visit and make a more relaxed time of it.  That's what we did.

All American Reclaim - one of the stores on this tour is filled with tons of barn wood ready to be repurposed into something amazing.  Just looking through all of the different woods makes you wonder about all the history these barn woods carry with them.  While it is sad that these old barns are falling apart, it makes me happy to know that people are repurposing the wood and making items to be treasured.  How fun to buy a piece to do even a small project with.

This road trip is a real treat for your imagination.  It is a fabulous way to start off the autumn season because almost all the stores are decorated for fall in some fashion.  The variety of stores will just keep you so excited.  There wasn't one boring store on the entire map.  Each store we visited had my imagination sparked with new and interesting ideas.  I even found a couple treasures that I absolutely love.

At each location, you can sign up for a drawing for a gift certificate or other promotional item.  The year that I did this, I won two certificates and they were from my two favorite stores on the trail.  I still adore the pieces I bought with my certificates.  One was a floral bouquet attached to a piece of repurposed barnwood.  Another was this antique iron magazine rack that will never break.  The thing is sturdy as can be.  They sure don't make things like that these days.

Most of the stores have snacks, cookies, cider, hot cocoa, etc.  Things that make you feel welcome and comfortable to linger and spend a relaxed time shopping or just admiring all the displays of vintage items.  To be real, my husband loved that part.

The outdoor displays at all the stores are worth making this trip for.  Most of the stores had piles of things outside to pick through.  I found so many things that reminded me of my past and my relatives.  It's a great time to spend reminiscing with your friends or family.

Quite a few of the stores not only have antique and vintage items, but many of them repurpose things to resell and display in such a way that you will go home and look at your own stuff in a new way.

If nothing else, this tour gives you a chance to discover some towns and what they have to offer you that you may have never noticed before.  We found a few stores that were not listed on the map that we loved just as much.

A few of the stores also offer workshops and classes to help you learn how to recreate your vintage finds into something useful for your home.  You may just find yourself signing up to take a class and learning a new skill.

Many of the buildings themselves are unique examples of old architecture.  Some of the house type stores have many rooms filled with treasures to explore.  When you finish one floor, you find out the upstairs, attic and basement are also open for you to explore.  It's almost like traveling to the past in some of these places.  A time where things seemed to run at a slower pace than our high tech society we live in now.  A time of embroidered hankerchiefs and handwritten letters decorated with Victorian refinement will have you remembering with fondness a time when things weren't so digitized.   A time when people sewed and embroidered by candlelight or oil lamps.

The things people make and decorate with will have you saying, "I could do that with "such and such" an item that I already own.  In fact, I saved the interior of a mattress for over over a year because I saw something in one of the shops I wanted to do.  I never did do it and ended up taking it to the dumpster, but I was inspired and held onto it thinking one day I would.  So there is that dangerous effect too.  This is the perfect trip to make right before you decorate your home for the holidays.  I gaurantee you will find at least one idea that you will go home and be excited to recreate or arrange a certain way, like tying tiny Christmas trees to your kids matchbox trucks to decorate your fireplace mantel for the holidays.  Or maybe you'll be like me and hang onto some item you would normally throw away with hopes of doing that thing you saw, one day.

Along the way you will also meet many store owners who are happy to share stories of the things they have for sale.  Many of them are the artists who repurpose the items and they take much pride in their work.  Some of them are interior designers and their stores are just so beautiful that you never want to leave it.

What You Should Know Before You Go

Make sure you download this list of all the participating stores and their websites, hours of operation and addresses.

Having a GPS will help you to find each location.  Even though they are all off Rte. 14, there were a few that were more hidden away and the GPS came in very handy.

Make sure your car and trunk are cleaned out for all the treasures you will find.

Many of the stores have breakable items and would not be suitable for young children, so keep that in mind when planning your day.  It may be a good time to find a babysitter.

Even if you can't do this on the days listed, you could still do it on your own convenient days.  Check each stores website to get their hours of operation.  You won't be able to enter the drawings and they may not have the snacks and beverages, but don't be discouraged if you are busy the weekend they are hosting the crawl.  These stores would love for you to visit anytime they are open.

When You Get Home

Country Living Salvage Style: Decorate With Vintage Finds by Leslie Linsley will help you to decorate with your new vintage items that you purchased. It will help you to infuse your home with warmth, charm and your own unique individuality that will help you feel cozy and comfortable.

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines is one of my favorite home interior books.  In it Joanna teaches you how to incorporate all of those rare, unique treasures into your decorating to make your space speak to you of your own family history in a way that looks like it has always been a part of your home.

If you decide to do some or part of this tour, I would love to hear about your time and what your favorite store was.  Please leave a comment below.

Until next time, always choose the scenic life.


Hannah Babiak is a stock photographer and travel blogger.  For writing assignments or ideas for future posts, please contact her at alwayschoosethesceniclife@gmail.com or leave a comment below.