Pre-owned or Pre-loved call it as you wish. One of the greatest joys of our urban existence, as ex hunter-gatherers, is to roam those semi-obscure back of the house rooms in search of those few precious items that have yet been placed on sale in your most preferred furniture consignment store. All while desperately clinging to a semi wrinkled cup of a locally brewed coffee, now cold, in the company of that one equally obsessed friend that shares your perverse greed for beautiful objects. Sound familiar? No? Well you have no idea what you’re missing! That primal feeling of unspoiled joy when you find that one of a kind, out of mass production, unattainable to all others, thing you needed to adorn your humble abode…or, that you did not need at all, but discovered you cannot live without. That feeling can only be topped, by a triumphant feeling of ecstasy, when you display your spoils to your fellow home dwellers and announce you managed to acquire it for a mere price of a weekly self service car wash!
The joy of the hunt or the joy of finding hidden beauty is unparalleled.
In an age where instant gratification is a norm and compulsive consumerism is not only encouraged, but ingrained from an early age and sustain through the daily bombardment of ads targeting your wants and needs with the precision of a mother who knows her own child - refusing to kneel before marketing forces greater than ourselves is an act of rebellion. Recognizing that buying once, buying well, being a curator of items that are well designed, made with care, and expertly crafted from pure materials and honest intentions is not only an act or rebellion, it’s an expression of deeper values not commonly shared in today's world. Oftentimes in search of this quality and unique beauty in furniture and objects to enrich our homes, one is simply forced to search in places that are not of this day and age. The places that carefully curate and gather objects of real value are not always as far as Les Puces de Saint-Ouen or as distant as my memories of Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, but can often be found in even the smallest of hamlets.
As such, here are a few of our favorite local gems that share our love of well made soulful objects, as well as the thrill of a good find. 
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Each of these places allow you a ticket-free entry into the small microcosm that each of the owners passionately curate and lovingly share with fellow minded believers. Each object tells a story and exudes its unique, unreplicable energy that will call on their human. The synergy between the object that wants to be found and the human that will recognize, is quite special. So be the lover of the craft, worshiper of centuries old techniques, and good steward of our planet that is brave enough to be unique, and rebellious enough to reuse and repurpose pre-loved pieces by giving them a newly found life.
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