To Rummage, To Ransack

I’ve been meaning to plug Rannsaka for a while now – probably months – ever since I discovered it back in the late autumn, and especially since I discovered that the word “rannsaka” is Swedish (I'm a proud semi-scandie) for “ransack” – or “rummage, pillage, search, rummage sale.” Rannsaka is all of those things. A delightful shop stocked from floor to ceiling and in every nook and cranny with attic and vintage delights.

On the main floor, one will find furniture: large wooden cabinets, shelves, stuffed chairs, drysinks. Also, pillows, old cracker tins, vintage mixing bowls, toiletry sets, decorative pillows, antique games, salt & pepper shakers, dried & bagged herbs, potpourri, a glass case of old jewelry, teacups and saucers, baking pans, cookbooks, stemmed glassware…

In the stairway leading up to the second floor, one will see framed needlepoint and pictures and mirrors, and some empty wooden frames for sale. This leads into a hallway between three separate rooms. The hallway is also full of curios and pictures and mirrors.

The room on the right is set up as a sitting room, with smaller chairs, handkerchiefs, old hats, pictures, dolls, crystal & cut glass.

The room straight back from the hallway is a linens room, full of doilies, vintage aprons, tablecloths and table runners. It also has more kitchen wares like tins and baking pans and such.

The last room off the the hallway is almost like an attic. It has handmade afghans and quilts, beer steins, books, more curios, and miniatures shelves.

Rannsaka is like rummaging through your neighbour’s attic or your grandmother’s closets, where you never know what you might find. And since it’s run like a community lawn sale, there are lots of things to look at in a wide variety of tastes and styles, with more appearing all the time. Worth a visit, if you're into that sort of thing.

Rannsaka: 115 N Main Street, Belchertown

(Right next door to Belchertown Antiques)