Omaha couple open vintage furniture shop

Schaecher and her husband, Jeff Schaecher, just wanted their new house to feel a little more like home. They wanted to find sturdy, childproof furniture that fit well with the architecture of their 1958 house.  

Three years later, the Schaechers have made their house a home and in the process found a shared passion for finding, restoring and now selling vintage furniture. After opening an online store in 2021, they opened a brick-and-mortar store at 38th and Dodge Streets in September.

“We found out we were more compatible than we expected, I guess, because we both really have the interest in it, and we enjoy the research and seeing the pieces go on their journey of restoration,” Elise Schaecher said.

The store’s name, A Little More Like Home, reflects the original intention of their journey. 

The Schaechers specifically sell mid-century modern furniture from the 1960s and 1970s.  Elise Schaecher said furniture from that era has clean lines and lacks the fuss of other design styles. 

“More traditional things will have more frills and embellishments, but mid-century modern was like just focusing on the form and the function,” Schaecher said. “Geometric shapes. Just like bright colors.”

Inside the store last week, Schaecher had vintage lamps, artwork, desks, couches, dressers, dishes and coffee tables for sale. One lamp was bright yellow. Another lamp hung from a chain attached to the ceiling and looked like a fluffy snowball. 

“They’re just really well-made pieces,” Schaecher said. “There’s dovetailing in the drawers and solid-wood components so they’re just made to last. And they look nice too, so it’s like a win-win.”

Photos of the entire inventory can be found on alittlemorelikehome.shop. The website is also where Schaecher shares what she calls “furniture history deep dives” on furniture makers. She spends time researching the items they sell and shares the information she finds with customers in blog posts.

Since opening the online store in May 2021, the Schaechers have had 675 orders. They have shipped furniture and decor to Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, California, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and Tennessee.

Schaecher often finds the furniture at estate sales or online, but sometimes people reach out to her as they clean out loved ones’ homes. The amount of restoration required varies by item and is done either by Jeff Schaecher or by a professional refinisher. 

“It’s a lot of restoration so the things that lasted a lifetime can last another,” Elise Schaecher said.

Schaecher said she “almost always” finds mementos from the previous owners of the furniture tucked away in dresser drawers or desks. It might be photos, foreign currency or receipts from the original purchase of the furniture. 

“I think people just stash things in their drawers over time,” Schaecher said.

There were love letters in a drawer that chronicled the relationship between two people starting when they were teenagers in the 1960s. They eventually got married. 

“The husband must have just kept the letters throughout his life,” Schaecher said. 

Schaecher hopes to return the letters to the family.

In the store’s bathroom, Schaecher hung photos she’s found inside furniture. A woman in red pajamas looks at the dog on her lap in one photo. In a black-and-white photo, a man holds a child on his lap, their faces partially in shadow.

Hanging next to the photos is the “Recipe for Living” handwritten on an index card. It includes, “1 cup of good thoughts,” “1 cup of elbow grease,” “2 cups of good logic” and several more ingredients.

Many of Schaecher’s customers find her store because they’re in a stage of transition and trying to find their own recipe for living.

“They might be moving or have recently moved, expecting a child, new relationships, downsizing, updating their furniture now that their kids are older,” Schaecher said. “Home is a source of comfort during times of change, and I feel privileged to help make their spaces feel the ‘a little more like home’ that they are seeking.”