Faded Finds in Fort Thomas specializes in unique gifts, home items and more
Looking to start your holiday shopping early this year or for a spooky homemade Halloween decoration? Look no further than Faded Findst, where you’ll find everything from vintage clothing to antique furniture.
Faded Finds, which was a finalist in Best of NKY this year for both Best Antiques and Best Thrift Shop, is a one-stop shop for all things rustic, restored and refurbished. Owner Heidi Barrett says she personally paints and restores most of the items that flow through the shop.
“I do all the painting of the furniture myself,” she says. “I paint lamps, I create different types of items from like recycled doorknobs and things like that.”
Barrett says that her favorite items to sell in the shop are those she restores personally because of the personal connection she has with those items. She says many of the items remind her of the past and she loves restoring them to their former shine.
If you’re looking for a small gift for someone, perhaps nothing would be better than a hand-painted figurine. Barrett says antique and vintage items are popular among customers buying a gift for a friend or loved one.
She sources 100% of her items locally, usually from flea markets and yard sales. Barrett says she also uses some online resources like Facebook Marketplace.
While Barrett sometimes sources her wares from online sources, she makes sure to avoid catalogues. In short, she wants to make sure her customers have a unique experience.
“I like to use local or Kentucky-based companies for some of my home accessories,” she says, “because I want my customers to not have what everybody else has.”
By differentiating where she sources her items, Barrett ensures customers will walk out of her store with unique merchandise they can’t get anywhere else.
“My most fun thing that I do is I when I go to flea markets,” she says. “I might find a box of just odds and ends and then I just bring them into the store.”
Barrett describes herself as a jack-of-all-trades—she does everything from sourcing materials and products to restoration and refurbishment, and, most importantly, creating unique items that keep her customers coming back.
She says her customers often feel a deep personal connection to her items, especially for those items they remember from their childhood.
“[Customers] go through the shop they always say, ‘Oh my grandmother had that, or my mom had one of those,’” Barrett says.
These personal connections, Barrett says, keeps her customers coming back and makes her job really rewarding.
“Every single thing is unique every single thing is different,” Barrett says. “It’s kind of fun when you get a gift that no one else has ever gotten before.”
