Looking for hidden treasures? Local pros share the best antiquing spots in southwestern Ontario

With spring cleaning season over, summer redecorating is in full swing. And one person's trash may be another person's latest home decor treasure. 

Antique shopping pros, including interior designers and collectors, say southwestern Ontario has a bustling antiquing scene. With a combination of both brick-and-mortar stores and outdoor markets, local pros say there are plenty of options to find your home's next conversation piece.

Here are six antique shopping destinations to check out this summer. 

Memory Lane Antiques 

Sabrina Barouei said she scours garage and estate sales, thrift stores, and antique markets to find conversation-starting pieces that suit her clients' needs at INDZGN interior design studio.

"Once upon a time, a lot of people were willing to spend money on new designs," said Barouei, who is also a Fanshawe interior decorating instructor. "Now, with what the economy is doing, a lot of people are looking to either recycle, reuse or purchase thrift."

She said her favourite London antiquing store is Memory Lane Antiques, located on Hyde Park Road. 

Barouei describes the store as a "maze," filled with furniture, wall decor, dishes and figurines from the front door to the back wall. She said she often visits Memory Lane Antiques when she is looking for a piece that is no longer in style at modern-day furniture stores. 

The store is open seven days a week and is often open on holidays. 

Pinery Market

Marie Douglas says she has been a collector since she was 16, a hobby she picked up from her grandparents and great-grandparents.

"My grandparents had their children when the Great Depression happened so they didn't throw anything away," said Douglas. "They had all these things they could tell a story about and that really was a connection with them and my past."

While Douglas recently started selling some of her collectibles, she still shops for antiques at places like Grand Bend's Pinery Market. 

"It's more flea market-ish, like a bit of a yard sale but better quality," said Douglas, who added the market also has an artisan section for handmade finds. "It's great people watching and just a neat place to go."

The Pinery Market is open every Sunday until Thanksgiving and admission is $2.

Land and Ross

Shakespeare, Ont. is a lesser-known antique shopping town that interior designer Susan Jory likes to visit. 

Her favourite destination is Land & Ross Antiques. Jory said the store has fine furniture and Canadiana antiques from a range of time periods. 

"Walking into the store, you would immediately be greeted by a lot to look at, a visual feast," Jory said. 

She called the store "eclectic" and said its target customers are people looking to go beyond modern-day pieces. 

"I believe that the vintage, secondhand market is blossoming because people understand that fast fashion and fast furniture is not sustainable," said Jory. 

Land and Ross is closed on Mondays, but open the rest of the week.

Cobbletog Antique Market

Antique sellers in London are supportive of each other, according to Mary Hinton, the owner of Back to the Fuchsia.

"There are a lot of characters out there who love vintage," said Hinton, whose vintage furniture store shares a space on Elias Street in the city with a vintage clothing store and antique bookstore.

She said that London's tight-knit secondhand community often calls or messages each other when they see antiques that would be better suited for the other person's store or collection. 

Hinton said one of her favourite places for local antiquing is the Cobbletog Antique Market, located in the southend of London. 

"Some people like to dig and some people like everything perfectly merchandised, and [at Cobbletog] there's a perfect cross-section of both," Hinton said. "Plus, I like the people."

The market is open seven days a week. 

One of a Kind Antique Mall

There are two reasons Kristen Jeanveau enjoys antique shopping: to help the environment and work on her research.

Jeanveau is a history PhD candidate at Western who goes to antique stores to find items like books, maps and diaries from the World Wars. When it comes to shopping for clothes and decor in her everyday life, she said she looks for secondhand options to be sustainable.

She often heads out to Woodstock, Ont.'s One of a Kind Antique Mall, a family-run business with three floors and over 600 vendors filling the space. Jeanveau said shoppers should plan ahead of their antiquing trips. 

"It can be very overwhelming if you walk into a massive place and you have no idea what you're searching for," said Jeanveau. "But ultimately, if [you find something] that you think you'll love, go for it."

The mall is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. 

Aberfoyle Antique Market

Bailey Grewal took over the One of a Kind Antique Mall four years ago after growing up around a family of antique shoppers.

When he moved to Guelph for university, he continued his passion for antiquing at the Aberfoyle Antique Market in Puslinch, Ont. 

It's an outdoor market where a diverse range of vendors set up along the grass, Grewal said. 

"I like variety so I would say the best antique stores have a good mix of stuff," said Grewal. 

Visitors can stop by the Aberfoyle Antique Market for $5 every Sunday until the end of October, with occasional Saturday events.