What’s a Creative Reuse Store?
It’s a place that keeps good stuff out of landfills. They’re often not-for-profits and may specialize in selling home improvement supplies or art and craft supplies that might otherwise end up in the landfill. Many stores offer hands-on workshops as well as shopping.
Chicago is blessed with many creative reuse stores, here’s a list of all of them in Chicago, the Chicago suburbs and the Midwest.
Photo of The Waste Shed in Chicago, IL. This was their second location, they’ve since moved to a larger space and added a second store in Evanston.
The Waste Shed
Chicago’s premier creative reuse store! Now with a larger location and space for workshops! They’ve added new products to their line up as well, in a possible first for creative reuse stores. Since opening, they’ve diverted 50 tons of great stuff from the landfills! (They weigh everything that comes in!)
Zero Landfill
is a national organization with a chapter in Chicago. They collect designer samples that would otherwise be thrown away and host two giveaway days (one in fall and one in spring) where anyone can pick up delightful samples including fabric, wallpaper, tile, and untold additional surprises. Bring your own bag! Bags. Though they have a website, the best place to find information and pick up dates is their Facebook page.
BASE at Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
This small, but mighty shop is nestled in a gorgeous, quiet forest. Visiting is a mini-retreat in itself. They sell art and craft supplies including scrapbooking supplies, rubber stamping, fabric, sewing and yarn, kits and more. They offer classes in addition to shopping and a tool library.
See below for more Illinois creative reuse stores!
Creative Reuse Stores for Home Improvement
The ReBuilding Exchange has a warehouse full of parts of buildings, including trim, lumber, appliances, radiators, doors and windows, kitchen cabinets and plumbing parts. They have a lovely selection. If you like old stuff, or are trying to repair/improve your old house with period parts, you’ll love this place.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
is a national chain, check their website to find one near you. The Chicago store is at 6040 N. Pulaski Rd. and sells furniture as well as appliances, tools, home improvement supplies and all kinds of other stuff. Their suburban location is in Chicago Heights.
ReUse Depot
in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, this large, dusty warehouse is full of wonderful, wonderful odds and ends, from antique door knobs to bathtubs and even complete kitchens, with cabinets and high end appliances. They have plenty of doors and windows and sometimes complete sets of stairs!
And they even share their excess land with a not-for-profit farming group that grows cucumbers and makes Knockout Pickles! – Update, sadly they lost their grant funding in 2025 and closed forever.
Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse You get the idea by now, : ) they sell building parts for your home improvement projects, providing usable materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. – Update, sadly they also lost their grant funding in 2025 and closed forever.
Creative Reuse Stores in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin
Illinois
Greener Good, Arlington Heights, Illinois
www.greener-good.org
Chicago Creative Reuse Exchange, Chicago, IL Make an appointment online to shop in person. Unusually large and well organized. It’s a whole warehouse.
www.creativechirx.org
The Waste Shed, Chicago, Illinois
www.thewasteshed.com
The Waste Shed Evanston, Evanston, Illinois
www.thewasteshed.com/evanston
Pound and Inch, Moline, IL fabric only
www.poundandinch.com
Stock & Pile, Rock Island, IL Located inside theSkeleton Key Antique Store
www.skeletonkeyqc.com/about-1
The MAC Thrifter, Staunton, IL
https://macart.org/thrift
The IDEA Store, Urbana, Illinois
www.the-idea-store.org
Indiana
Art Remains, Bloomington, IN
www.artremains.org
Good Job Creative Reuse, Indianapolis, IN
https://www.instagram.com/goodjobcreativereuse
Iowa
Create Exchange, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
www.thecreateexchange.com
Repurpose Rising, Des Moines, Iowa
repurposerising.org
Make It Yours Upcycle Center, Maquoketa, Iowa
www.facebook.com/MakeItYoursUpcycleCenter
Michigan
SCRAP Creative Reuse, Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.annarbor.scrapcreativereuse.org
Arts and Scraps, Detroit, Michigan
www.artsandscraps.org
Learning from Scratch, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.lfs.com
Ohio
Indigo Hippo, Cincinnati, Ohio
www.indigohippo.org
Scrap 4 Art, Toledo, Ohio
www.scrap4arttoledo.org
Scrap It Up, Cincinnati, Ohio
www.scrapitupcincy.org
Upcycle Parts Shop, Cleveland, Ohio
www.upcyclepartsshop.org
Wisconsin
Hello Happiness Creativity Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Offers free kits for teens!
www.hellohappinesscreativitycenter.com
Hello Art Hatchery, Stoughton, Wisconsin Also sells new art supplies, washi tape, handmade paper and has a floor to ceiling shelf of candy!
www.helloarthatchery.com
National List of Creative Reuse Stores
Not in the Midwest? Or traveling? I’ve added a blog post that lists all the creative reuse stores I can find, in the U.S. It’s here.
Chicago Creative Reuse Exchange offers this list of additional resources in Illinois and beyond: https://www.creativechirx.org/other-resources
Always double check hours of operation before you go! Creative reuse stores are often small not-for-profits that aren’t open every day of the week and sometimes, sadly, they go out of business.
Artist Who Work With Upcycled or Recycled Materials
Gina Lee Robbins
Bryan Northrup
Eleanor Ray
Alix Mikesell
and me! Elaine Luther. Click over to Portfolio to see my work. Not all of my art includes upcycled bits, but a good amount of it does.
And I wrote a manifesto on the use of recycled materials in art classes with children. You can read it here: https://www.elainelutherart.com/manifesto-on-use-of-recycled-art
Can you recommend a creative reuse shop in the Midwest? Please post in the comments. Same for if you’d like to share about an artist who works with recycled or upcycled materials. Thanks!
Photos are of The Waste Shed in Chicago, the IDEA Store in Urbana, IL and ReUse Depot in Maywood, IL.
This post was updated on July 28, 2025 and July 10, 2026, to include new stores!
❤️ Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me! That's amazing! I hope you get to experience…
Hello Elaine, a while ago I was having a blah day when suddenly your healing quilts popped into my mind.…
Thank you so much Lauree! I appreciate that!