Homesteader

I really like this place and have been coming here for years.
The store is small in size, but filled to the brim with unique, and affordable items for the kitchen or home in general. Beautiful furniture, knick knacks, gift ideas galore.
The owner is a very pleasant, helpful fellow.
It’s a near guarantee that you won’t be able to leave empty-​handed :)

This was a very quaint store with an eclectic assortment of mostly unnecessary trinkets and nic nacs. I stopped on after seeing several Christmas ornaments on display through the window. I looked through the store and ended up buying two felt ornaments of a moose and polar bear made in Nepal. Both were pretty inexpensive, especially when compared to similar ornaments being offered up by chain stores like Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn.
The store was full to the brim, but had a typical Berkeley/​Oakland feel. It was also so small you couldn’t be overwhelmed.
The store owner was very nice, told me about the ornaments, and helped me promptly. I may return next year for another ornament depending on where life takes me.

I love this shop… the freshly painted vintage furniture, décor items and gifts are always charming and cheerful… beautiful, seasonal, surprising and priced to tempt… very hard to leave Homesteader empty-​handed!
I just found a charming vintage fixture to light up a dark living room… can’t wait to see what I find next!

Small, cute shop on College with a nice business owner. Good selection of home furnishings and a great selection of Bauer pottery. This is the kind of business you like in your neighborhood. Browsing there is the kind of experience you just can’t get online.

This place always has great finds, whether salvaged and restored furniture or new things for around the house. We have two dressers and two nightstands that Brian found and fixed up for us, which are amazing, we love them. The collection of Bauer Pottery is nice and the holiday decoration selection is huge. Brian is the nicest guy, we love giving him our business. Highly recommended!

Wonderful selection of quality furniture… sweet pieces lovingly restored by the owner, Brian, who is a pleasure to work with. A very neighborhood-​oriented store worth our patronage.

Shop has a lot of cool things for the kitchen and home but so many that it is overwhelming to look at. I really liked the vintage cabinets and now know where to go to get this type of storage.

The owner does an excellent job refurbishing furniture!
He has a talent for choosing such desirable pieces. It’s actually
Nice to just go in a chat with him time to time.

After reading so many wonderful reviews about this store, I was so excited to visit… but am sorely disappointed I had.
I finally was able to convince my husband and son to make the trek with me to this store in Oakland — a good 45 minutes from our home. It was the weekend and the parking was horrible. We drove around and around, and finally found a spot in the lot behind Crossroads Trading, located across Homesteader. As we neared Homesteader, my excitement grew and I told my son that this place was going to be so awesome. The three of us walked into the store and discovered we were the only customers in the store. While there were some cute things that caught my eye, what was really off putting was the man behind the counter didn’t so much as acknowledge us. It was like we were invisible. The store is not large and he knew we were there but did not so much as even smile at us when we walked by the counter.
It is interesting about reviews, most often if a store gets a low rating it is due to poor customer service, more so than any other reason. I don’t know if this man is the owner, but if he was, shame on him. It was an uncomfortable feeling being the only ones in the store and not even being acknowledged. A friendly hello goes a long way. Even a smile. We got neither.
The positives: cute stuff and lots of it in a small store. Great place to find unique gifts.
The negatives: horrible customer service (actually a complete lack of customer service), over-​priced, poor parking options on a weekend.
While I stayed and took some time to browse through the store, my husband did a quick walk through and then went across the street for ice-​cream. When my son and I joined him, the first comment my husband made (and this was before I said anything) was about how unfriendly the guy was at Homesteader. It made him uncomfortable, too, and he is probably the most easy going guy you will ever meet.
Hopefully when you go you will be welcomed and find something awesome. We may have caught him on a really off day, but it only takes one time to turn off a customer. For now I have no interest in returning.

interesting painted furniture and lots of great gifts. Love browsing and buying here.

love this place! home décor and knick knack heaven, something for every price range and taste. check it out when you are strolling on College ave! if you love cats or dogs, they have so many cute things for indulging your love for your pets. go and fall in love with the place the way I did.

When I started dating the Mr., my room freaked him out. It was kind of shabby chic — aka, girly (also AWESOME). But when I moved in with him, he was terrified I’d stick bows and doilies all over his house. I wasn’t allowed to hang so much as a picture without tense summits and preapprovals. It was as enjoyable as a bikini wax.
Several years later, we just moved into a new house, and while the Mr. loves mid-​century (all boys do, right?), the house is a Craftsman. So too much ironic/​Swedish/​plastic stuff looks odd. I’ve been trying to balance things out with some older pieces with character. Aw, let’s face it: I’m girling things up. SUCKER!
Homesteader has tons of vintage furnishings and décor that perfectly suit an older home. The shop is packed with cabinetry, dressers and side tables that have been beautifully restored, plus lovely reproduction home décor pieces. And they’ll deliver your furniture for a nominal fee. After going to tons, and TONS of vintage furniture stores, which all featured our already over-​collected mid-​century stuff, Homesteader had several items that were exactly what I needed. And a lot of other stuff I didn’t know I needed but had to have. (Like I’m going to pass up a little cast-​iron Scottie dog. Let’s be real.)
And when the Mr. saw what I bought, he actually really liked it all. Even Scottie. Because the merchandise, while perhaps on the feminine side, is also totally tasteful. Thanks for saving me a box of money on marriage counseling, Homesteader!

I adore this store because:
–the man who runs it is sweet
–he refurbishes all of his vintage finds with the care of a craftsperson
–he keeps a very well-​behaved dog behind the counter
–the prices for the quality of furnishings are far more affordable than anything else on the street
–he stocks a really diverse, tasteful inventory that includes shelves, dressers, lamps, dishes, mirrors, coat racks, vintage country kitsch art… you name it. I found the most gorgeous metal fleur-​de-​lis book ends there, a fantastic deco style clock, and a great small vintage bookshelf for my boys’ room.
I love just browsing in this store, It’s a great sensory experience.

Such a cute little store and friendly gentleman working there, very chatty and helpful. Great statuettes of pigs and chickens, fun signs with very «apropos» sayings, lamps, chandeliers and books. Full of great stuff from top to bottom, so take your time looking. Perfect gifts for a friend or a nice little nummy nummy for oneself. Made our girls day out for lunch and a stroll quite lovely. I found the perfect plaque for my kitchen.

A little shabby chic, a little country, a little boho… something for everyone! Unique pieces for the home, gifts, good ideas which can then be replicated DIY (do-​it-​yourself). Even if you leave with nothing, its fun just to look around.

I just absolutely love this place! It’s so cozy and contains just the best array of decorative items, candles, natural themed décor and some amazing kitchenware as well.
There were some great throw rugs and I almost bought one of the kitchen, but had already had my hands full with some of their amazing little decorative birds (just $ 4.50 each!)
This is place is the first place to go when you’re decorating in an «earthy» way and Brian is such a nice guy. He was telling me today about all this themed Christmas trees and the ideas he has for next year’s decorations.
If you see something you like, GET IT. It may not be there the next you come back. I think they’re closed on Mondays, but otherwise please stop in here and check it out next time you’re in Rockridge. Great local business, unique items and reasonably priced

We love The Homesteader. Just love it.
The love affair began when I moved from the city to the East Bay to live with The Boyfriend (now Fiancé). I went from a large large bedroom of my own to a not-​so-​large one, and still had to cram my clothing into a dresser (also not-​so-​large, as I had to get rid of my ginormous beauty).
Enter Homesteader. Brian, the owner, takes gently used wood furniture (various types) pieces and shows them a little love– strips them (probably buys them dinner first), repairs, then paints.
For the most part, he uses the same off-​white paint (might be called something like Antique White, I don’t exactly recall) for each piece, and puts new drawer pulls (again, clear glass, same type, various colors) on. Each piece in the shop is unique, as Brian finds pieces at various places (estate sales, garage sales, antiques places, etc). So, you’re guaranteed to have something that you won’t find in Crate & Barrel or other mainstream furniture stores.
I found a highboy, I suppose perhaps a chiffonier (highboy type piece with 3-​drawers on the bottom and doors on top w/​smaller drawers inside), that measures about 43″ wide– perfect for the smaller room in that it takes up less floor space but has more height.
This piece worked out so well for me that we went back and eventually picked up a small desk and a bookshelf for one of the kids’ bedrooms. For the desk, Brian didn’t have the piece on site in the store, but when we described what we were looking for, he let us know that he had a desk in his workshop and let us come see it (he was right, it was perfect).
Homesteader also offers delivery for an incredibly reasonable price.
Other than furniture, Brian keeps the store stocked with candles, dishes and fun tchotchkes that give the store a fun, homey feel. Brian and his employee were super friendly and helpful, never pressured us to buy if a piece wasn’t right, offered to keep an eye out for that perfect piece for us, etc.
I’m a huge fan, and just wish I needed more furniture right now, because that’s the first place I’d look.

This is the place to go if you’re into lovely white-​painted furniture and charming knick-​knacks (candles, bowls, etc.). My husband and I bought bedside tables here a couple years ago, and ever since I’ve been trying to ignore the call of the Homesteader because we’re pretty broke. Today I could take it no more – we snapped up the most gorgeous large chest of drawers/​cabinet thing and adorable bookshelf with drawers, for waaaaay less than we would have paid anywhere else for furniture that comes from — gasp!– real, unprocessed wood. Pretty amazing these days! And I love the colored glass knobs (you pick the color) on the furniture – so pretty. The bedside tables a couple years back were about $ 250 for the pair, the dresser/​chest thing we couldn’t resist today was $ 400 and the bookshelf was about $ 200…so worth it (especially after a month of scouring Craig’s List hoping for great finds and coming up with nada). Plus, the awesome owner/​furniture-​renovator Brian and Raoul, a super friendly guy who works at the store, delivered it for just $ 25 bucks extra, and even put it in our bedroom. Homesteader rocks!
My advice if you’re looking for furniture and live nearby is to go often – things come and go quite quickly and they’re all unique. Enjoy!

Homesteader doesn’t need another 5-​star review, but they are so worthy, so here goes:
I’m a stickler for customer service, and this store EXCEEDED my very high expectations. Friendly, professional, helpful, flexible, and prompt.
The space is considerably bigger than you’d think from the window. There’s loads of great stuff inside!
I purchased two bookcases and the world’s cutest nightstand. The pricing was incredibly affordable. The pieces have been given a fresh coast of paint but still have their original vintage flair. 3 cheers for recycling! Bryan even provided me with the paint info, should I need to touch up in the future. That’s love.
They were willing to hold merchandise for me, and were open on a Sunday. I appreciate retail businesses that are open on Sunday, for us M-​F working slaves.
I will be back, again and again.

I have been shopping at Homesteader for years now. The owner (Brian) is passionate about his work, loves what he does, and it just shows with every perfect little «bookstand» he finds and turns into the most amazing piece of art! I have his furniture in almost every room in my house, people always ask where I got this or that. His pieces are one of a kind and your not going to get better prices at the Alameda antiques fair.
Brian has a talent for seeing a unique piece of furniture and seeing a vision for it no matter the condition (a true craftsman!). If you have a dull empty space in your home that needs that «special something», take a picture and tell him what you are thinking and he WILL find the perfect piece. Love it!