New Vintage Furniture Shop Feels at Home

Kelly O’Malley’s hand-painted vintage furniture and antiques shop has a new home.

Patina opened at 10 South St., on the Westborough rotary, in early December.

“The town has been phenomenal. December was a great month for me,” O’Malley says.

“People stopped and introduced themselves. They were thrilled that a shop like this opened, and very receptive.”

O’Malley says the business moved to Westborough after a year as the Patina Barn, at her Sutton home.

“I had a brand new barn that we built. It was two businesses in the barn: my husband’s business and my business,” she says.

“However, it would have been a destination spot for people – no drive-by traffic, no foot traffic.”

Her search for a more visible storefront took her through the area.

“A lot of this type of painted furniture, vintage items are in big group shops and antique malls,” O’Malley says.

“I’ve been there and I’ve done that. I didn’t want to continue doing that.”

O’Malley says she has collected “new and vintage home accessories” for about 20 years.

“My house started to get inundated with furniture. So, then I began to sell to family, friends, (and on) Craigslist,” she says.

“Then I went to group shops, because it took off from there. But (at) the group shops, you don’t interact with your customers. I really wanted to interact with customers.”

The Westborough location appealed to her for a few reasons: “the rotary, other businesses around me, knowing that there would be foot traffic, drive-by traffic,” she says.

O’Malley says “I scout everywhere” for items to sell.

“I have a summer home up in Maine. Sometimes, I’ll go up there and go to auctions. A lot of auctions. I have a lot of people that do house cleanouts. I have people that call me and say, ‘I’m done with this piece. Do you want to buy it?’” she says.

Community members may call her with items, too.

“I look for good quality pieces. They do have to have some vintage feel,” O’Malley says.

“It’s ‘re-purposed, reused.’ I take a piece of furniture that looks sometimes like something you’d put at the end of your driveway for the trash guy to take. I love those pieces, because they still have good bones to them. I’ll fix them up.”