Best Furniture Store

A steal of a deal is a growing rarity in this city. Unless you know where to look. And in this case, finding vintage wares is easier with a bit of tech savvy. ATLANTA USED FURNITURE boasts a social media showroom that brings antique shopping into the new millennium. From its Instagram account, cybershoppers can sneak a peek at classic pieces from an era when furniture was designed to make a lasting statement. Whether its snug leather chairs at $185 a pair or a velour tufted sofa and matching high-back seat ($500 a set), the prices are as throwback as the furnishings. Visits to its Chamblee showroom are by appointment only and delivery usually comes free with the purchase of most items. They even accept digital payments via Venmo. Whether you favor a French provincial bench upholstered in red velvet or a laminated art deco coffee table, there’s something to complement your style — and your budget. Appointment only: 236 Marray Drive. www.instagram.com/atlantausedfurniture. less...

Back in 2011, RECLAIMED ATLANTA was still the dream of two girls who love and know their way around power tools. Local woodworkers and designers Kristen Consuegra and Sara Spafard envisioned a business through which they could find and convert recycled materials into repurposed home decor. From dilapidated walnut, white oak, and pallet wood transformed into brand-new coffee tables or work benches, to a rusted, metal tire jack reimagined as a lamp, Consuegra and Spafard are masters at breathing new life into relics Atlantans have left for dead. The Indie Craft Experience market regulars also make custom pieces. The duo also takes its service to the people, literally, by personally delivering each piece to their customers. Prices can range between $50 and $300 for their handcrafted products. Oh, and 15 percent from the cost of each item sold is donated to organizations that fight human trafficking. less...

Days before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention swung a wrecking ball into old buildings that were probably health hazards themselves, volunteers visited the decommissioned labs and offices and started unscrewing furniture. Instead of a landfill, the desks, filing cabinets, and shelves, all in usable condition, traveled to southwest Atlanta to the Lifecycle Building Center. The all-volunteer nonprofit is housed in a nearly 100-year-old mammoth warehouse where the salvaged items are resold at low cost to homeowners, artists, and businesses, or sometimes given free to qualified charities and churches. The project, a partnership with several intown design firms, building companies, and greenies, aims to tap a potential gold mine and source of unnecessary waste. According to the center's figures, Georgians tossed out an estimated 2.9 million tons of wood, gypsum wallboard, metal, and other building materials. By interrupting the process before demolition, they're able to reuse the items, thereby reducing the amount of waste that goes into dumps. Their efforts also offset the need to cut down more trees to build another bookshelf. less...

If you get ditzy for Danish Modern or go nuts for Knoll, then CITY ISSUE is your one-stop shop for furnishing your loft with a stylish, mid-century vibe. Sectional sofas, teak cocktail cabinets and funky Lucite lamps? Check, check and check. The store, expanded since relocating to Inman Park from Buckhead, also carries colorful vintage rugs, abstract paintings from the ’50s and such vital home accessories as rocket-shaped seltzer bottles and space-age table-top planters. If you’re into names, how about Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames, and a bunch of guys with names like Jens and Hans? There’s something to be said for living in the past. 325 Elizabeth St. 678-999-9075. www.cityissue.com. less...

With more than 100 dealer stalls and an emphasis on affordability, KUDZU ANTIQUE MARKET is likely to have several versions of whatever it is you’re looking for — from dining tables and easy chairs to bar cabinets and floor lamps. Granted, you’re unlikely to find a Louis XIV bureau or a Chippendale desk, but if you’re willing to settle for an American primitive bookcase or a brushed-steel shelving unit, you’ll probably be in luck. And Kudzu is a good place to find unusual items — we’ve even seen a full-sized Catholic confessional for sale. 2928 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 404-373-6498. www.kudzuantiques.com. less...

Relocated from Buckhead to Inman Park, CITY ISSUE has evolved into a sanctum of midcentury furniture design. The store offers sectional sofas, sleek dining tables, curvaceous teak chairs, cocktail cabinets and space-age lamps from the '50s, '60s and '70s – either in mint condition or meticulously restored to all their vintage glory. Decorating flourishes include abstract original paintings, metallic wall hangings, Lucite sculptures and a selection of Floraline planters. Browsing in City Issue is the next best thing to having a time machine. less...

In addition to providing a new drooling venue for contemporary-furniture enthusiasts, CONTEXT has taken the pioneering step of opening its spacious downtown showroom in a historic 1930s building that originally housed a car dealership serving nearby Sweet Auburn. The store specializes in monochromatic modernist pieces - such as a series of overlapping drawers that looks like a bright-red, free-standing spiral staircase - as well as designs that make innovative use of natural fibers and organic materials, as with floor fans fashioned from chrome and woven rattan. Just in is a line of exquisitely restored vintage chairs from such masters as Marcel Breuer and Eero Saarinen, proving everything old is new again. less...

Merchandise spills out into the parking lot from MELROSE ON PONCE’s loaded front porch. Weathered benches, plant stands and peculiar lamp bases hint at what awaits inside the quirky bungalow-style home-decor store. The shop is a maze of hallways and rooms littered with new, antique and vintage housewares, as well as local arts and crafts. Make grandma proud with a dainty wood bedside table, painted black with mismatched knobs and skinny legs, on sale for $20, or create a patchwork wall with worn wooden picture frames at $7 a pop. less...