Salvage One, Chicago, Illinois

As a frugal designer and former resident of Chicago, there’s no where better than Salvage One, an architectural salvage shop in Chicago’s West Loop area. The multi-floor warehouse space is filled to the gills with everything from architectural pieces (friezes, stone columns, etc) to doors, door knobs, windows, rescued modern furniture, and more. It’s the go-to place for interior designers who value both the thrill of a great find and the green-ness of reusing old treasures in new ways.

Let’s face it: we can buy bamboo coffee tables all day long, but are they really greener than a gorgeous antique embedded with history and stories? My graduate thesis focused on the inherent sustainability of heirlooms and old objects, and how we might design new things to carry that type of sentimental connection, and here’s a great entreprise that’s found a way to make that sentimental quality both marketable and beautiful.

Any Midwester designers who haven’t discovered Salvage One yet should head over there immediately. Did I mention they host events, weddings, and more? It’s a gorgeous space and a great design resource.