Repurposed Artisan Designs
Bill Leach and his wife Tracy have been running Repurposed Artisan Designs for about five years now. It began as a passion project, but about two-and-a-half years ago, they found a perfect space to open a retail showroom.
The small corner building, which was once a feed mill and still retains its original cherry and white oak striped flooring and unique crown molding, has the perfect blend of charm and history to house a business that is all about charm and history!
Repurposed Artisan Designs is all about finding antiques and selling, refinishing, recycling or upcycling them. Bill sells the good ones or usable ones as is, but he is passionate about keeping as much as possible out of the landfill. Any that he finds in what he calls “hurt” condition, he finds a way to restore or repurpose them.
In addition to the retail space, there is also a large off-site warehouse that houses the larger items that are waiting to be rotated into the store, as well as the quantities of reclaimed barn board, beams, flooring and brick that Bill has found. The warehouse also doubles as a workshop where Bill does the restoration work.
His regular customers have come to love the primitives that he has a knack for finding. Bill’s primitives are unique, one-of-a-kind items that were built out of need like a table, toy or tool.
While the antiques and repurposed items are his passion, it’s the stories that get Bill animated when talking about the store. He loves the people who come into his shop to have a look around and take a trip down Memory Lane. The antiques “bring out the stories”.
When you stop in, make sure you have time to look around. You will be caught off-guard by the variety of items that he has in stock. Many of the items are unusual and non-standard antiques, because that is what most often catches his eye. 79 Albert St, Clinton. www.antiquesrad.com.