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(860) 809-4454
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Now Open Saturdays 10-2
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49 Maple Street Somers, CT
We're an antiques shop and full-service interior design firm with a focus on vintage and nostalgia. We believe in creating a unique, comfortable and collected look for your home!
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Custom Furniture
Now offering Interior Design Services!
Design Services
We buy and sell vintage furniture & Decor.
Through our sister company, Down the Hill Woodworkers, we also refinish and paint vintage and antique furniture. These two businesses together make us your one stop shop!
We can help save you hours of searching for that perfect piece.
On our expert sourcing trips, we use uniquely qualified skills to find those specific, sentimental and coveted pieces that keep our clients returning again and again.
We Love our planet.
We save pieces that would otherwise get tossed in a landfill and give them a new life. Through shopping with us you can feel good about the impact you are making when adding special pieces to your home.
At The Vintage Bee Collective, we offer interior design with a focus on vintage and nostalgia. We believe in creating a comfortable, collected, unique and timeless look for our clients! We utilize vintage and antique furnishings as much as possible. Have treasured pieces and heirlooms? We would love to incorporate them into your design! We tackle all design projects, from new builds to decorating a bathroom. Click below to schedule your free phone call or consultation!
Interior Design Services
We never know what we’re going to come across on our sourcing trips. Let us know if there is something that you’re looking for, whether it be vintage furniture or decor, and we can do our best to find it for you. There is no additional fee for this, just a little bonus for our clients!
Product Sourcing
Contact Us About Sourcing
Schedule a Free Phone Call or Consultation
Furniture Refnishing & Painting
Our sister company, Down the Hill Woodworkers, offers a furniture refinishing and painting service. If you have a piece that you’d like finished, we will discuss your vision and all of the customization options. We also have furniture available for custom work if you’re looking for something “new”.
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Click Here to Request Custom Work
Services
our
I’m the owner of The Vintage Bee Collective and Down the Hill Woodworkers. I’m a wife, mama, dog mama and daughter. If you told me 5 years ago that I’d own two businesses, I’d think you’re out of your mind.
I’ve always been a shopper, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved and collected vintage items. I vividly remember my dad taking me to auctions for years before he passed away. He had a knack for finding great things, and I really enjoyed those special times with him. He also taught me how to refinish furniture. A friend and I refinished a dresser when I was in college, with his instruction and supervision. “Every job needs a supervisor”, he’d say.
Hi! I'm Melissa.
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2009
One day, I picked up a little chair at an estate sale. I just saw it differently, and knew it needed a new life. So I got to sanding it, and somehow that turned into refinishing and painting a table for my mom. Then that turned into painting a couple pieces for clients of the design firm I was working for at the time.
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2020
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2021
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2022
I graduated college with my Bachelor degree in Interior Design. I enjoyed learning about historical decor and furniture. Little did I know I’d be putting that education to use in this way!
I worked in many different aspects of design after school, and never really felt satisfied.
In September of 2020, I unexpectedly lost my son, Zachary, at 5 months pregnant. That event turned my world around. Instead of crawling in a hole (which I desperately wanted to do), I wrote in a journal, turned it into a blog, started exercising and eating healthier, lost 50 pounds and gained a lot of confidence.
I got so busy, I quit my job in the early summer of 2022.
I worked 3 days per week doing furniture, and the rest of the time I was home with my daughter. I felt like I needed another way to earn some money while I’m at home, so I created The Vintage Bee Collective and began selling some of the items I’d collected over the years.
“…I’ve realized that the two businesses go hand-in-hand, and my vision is finally becoming a reality. It makes me so happy to be able to offer someone an item they love, turn someone’s treasured furniture into a new-again piece and create homes that express my client's personal taste! I’m SO excited to be sharing my journey with you all! Thank you so much for being here.”
Love, Melissa
My journey...
Mary d.
“Just wanted to let you know that we love how the table turned out! It belonged to my husband's mother and is unique in size and style, so I was a little nervous having it painted, but you did SUCH an awesome job! Can't thank you enough!”
"You did such an awesome job! I can't thank you enough!"
matthew f.
“Our family inherited an older corner hutch that didn't match our kitchen. Melissa did an amazing job bringing the piece back to life making it match perfectly in our home, while allowing us to revel in a special part of our past. Great communication and awesome experience all around!”
"Great communication and awesome experience all around!"
michelle s.
“Melissa refinished our bedroom set; and it came out beautifully!!!! I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I just knew I wanted something more modern and updated. I sent Melissa some ideas from Pinterest and she worked with us to create the perfect finish. Melissa was extremely professional. She was super responsive to my texts and emails. She was reasonably priced; and the project was finished on time. Our set now looks brand new!!! I can’t say enough good things about Down The Hill Woodworkers.”
"Our set now looks brand new!!! I can’t say enough good things about Down The Hill Woodworkers.”
