The Australian Vintage Furniture Curators You Must Follow On Instagram
When it comes to bedroom décor, we believe the only thing as good as fresh set of sustainable linen bedding is a unique piece of secondhand or vintage furniture. And it's not only us who thinks this, either; the demand for secondhand furniture has excelled in recent times, thanks to the Millennial masterminds behind incredible online shops that are practically goldmines for rare goods.
These visually aesthetic, on-trend curated vintage stores are run by real creatives who have a skilled eye for secondhand and the stamina required to hunt for treasure at all of the bigger online forums—Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, Craigslist and eBay—as well as IRL op shops and auction houses. For the vintage décor obsessed who don't have time to scour shops and online groups, this is truly akin to God's work.
What they're able to deliver to us at a fast pace are must-have vintage gems like a Kartell mirror, a Wassily chair, an incredible bouclé sofa or a rattan headboard — all items that dream spaces are made of.
So, whether you're looking for a new secondhand furniture shop to follow on Instagram or you're interested in possibly starting your very own vintage furniture store, here we present a handful of the most successful furniture sellers doing incredible things in the secondhand furniture market.
6 Millennials Thriving in the Secondhand Furniture Market
1. Pip Newell, Curated Spaces
Pip Newell has become a vintage furniture icon. The 29-year-old started purchasing and selling secondhand finds as a hobby back in 2015 through Facebook Marketplace, and soon realised that was her career calling. It promoted her to start Curated Spaces on Instagram in 2017, which has now grown to boast a following of over 130k at the time of writing. Since launching, the immensely popular Instagram shop quickly outgrew the social media platform's selling model and now Newell facilitates all purchases through a dedicated website. Known as one of the most coveted marketplaces with over 20 selling partners sourcing secondhand gems from across Australia, Newell uses the store's Instagram account as more of a shopfront.
Not only has she helped people furnish their homes with timeless and unique pieces, but she's also contributed to a more sustainable way of living.
“Vintage furniture represents three wonderful things to me — being second-hand, the pieces are both accessible and affordable," she said in an interview with The Latch. "Curating vintage furniture also allows me the creative outlet to handpick pieces and transform my home into someplace special, and thirdly, shopping in this way is undoubtedly the most ethical way to create a home.”
2. Holly Thompson and Stephanie Lane, Goodspace
When friends (and single-mums) Holly Thompson and Stephanie Lane moved out of share houses, they didn't have the budget to purchase designer goods nor did they want to settle on IKEA. So, they turned to buying and selling vintage furniture online as a way to not only get access to affordable and unique pieces for themselves, but to also make extra money on the side. This saw the birth of Goodspace, a homeware and vintage furniture store that operates primarily over Instagram.
"Selling on Instagram is both a full time job and a passion project for us," Lane previously told Bed Threads Journal. "It was really important to both of us to find a way to be able to balance working, while also being able to focus on mama life. As solo mums we really wanted to be able to sustain ourselves and our girls financially but also have the flexibility of being our own bosses."
3. Manuela Leigh, Gracias Madre
Seller Manuela Leigh created Gracias Madre in accordance with permaculture principles: earth care, people care and future care. She has implemented a number of practices into her selling method to uphold these principles.
"All my packaging is secondhand and I always ask my buyers to dispose of it properly—I'm a big fan of RedCycle and I always ask buyers to either keep and reuse, or to recycle," she previously told Bed Threads Journal.
In addition, Manuela also donates a percentage of sales to charity: "All product drops have a certain percentage donated to different charities, which means I am able to consistently give back," she says. "I want all of us to take care of Mother Earth and I want Gracias Madre to embody all the values I have around love and respect."
4. Athena and Haidee, Sauc.d
For duo Athena and Haidee, the burgeoning micro-influencers behind Sauc.d, their business approach resonates well with younger customers. The vintage furniture and curated homewares destination operates on a public first-come, first-served basis. Priority goes to the user that comments "SOLD", prices and dimensions are listed in the caption and everything that is posted sells out almost immediately.
5. Sam McClaren, SODA Objects
Sam McLaren never meant to open a furniture store dedicated to vintage secondhand finds. But after being dragged along to go vintage shopping with his wife who owns clothing boutique Pineapple Vintage, he developed an eye for sourcing secondhand furniture that deserved a home — and thus, Soda Objects was born in 2018.
He began collecting furniture when he was still working in the corporate world, and would dedicate his weekends to buying, refurbishing and selling furniture on the weekends. Now, he runs his business full-time and sells all his pieces on Instagram where he details the product description, price, dimension and condition all in the captions. McClaren also has his own showroom, located in Adelaide, South Australia, for those after a more hands-on shopping experience.
6. Georgia Smedley, PlayGround
Founded in 2020, Georgie Smedley sources special pieces from all over the world and photographs them beautifully to sell via her Instagram shop PlayGround.
Her business account is one of the best right now, combining inspiration posts with items for sale. Just like most of the secondhand shops listed here, buyers comment "SOLD" or they're able to DM to purchase items.
Lead image from Instagram @curated_spaces.
