Aspen Ridge opens in Princeton

Mary Vinson offers aspen log furniture and other decorative items at Aspen Ridge Furniture. The new Princeton retail store is located at 522 S. Main St. (BCR photo/Lyle Ganther)

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PRINCETON — Homeowners wanting to have that rustic cabin feel can now have it without having to travel hundreds of miles.

In fact, Aspen Ridge Furniture at 522 S. Main  St. in Princeton can allow homeowners this feeling without leaving the comforts of their own home.

Owner Mary Vinson opened this store selling all kinds of aspen log furniture.

“It is the top of the line log furniture in character and quality,” she said. “For those who like cabin or lodge-type decor, we have home furnishings to make their home like a cabin.”

Vinson also sells candles, rugs and other decorative items.

Vinson has drawn on her 16 years of experience in the furniture business to get the quality furniture from Utah and Colorado to sell at her store. She has run seasonal stores in malls in the Quad Cities, Peoria and Bloomington and had a store in Utica she closed two summers ago.

“This is my first full-time venture at a permanent location,” said Vinson, who grew up in rural Kewanee and now lives in a log cabin in Lake Thunderbird.

Vinson decided driving 70 miles to the Quad Cities was too much, especially in the winter, so she decided to get something closer to home.

“I wanted to be able to go home earlier than I could in a mall,” she said. “I love the look of a log home. It isn’t for everyone, but we can make rooms in a home (have a) cabin-like feel. We can make a person feel like they are getting away to the woods or mountains, even if they don’t own a log home.”

Many people remember going to the woods or Colorado for vacations. “We want people to feel they don’t have to go to Wisconsin Dells to get this feeling,” she said.

“We have items shipped here, and we then finish them with two coats of a natural stain and use catalyzed varnish to protect the wood from water,” she said. “The varnish insures a better durability and easier to care for in the long run.”

Vinson also sells oak furniture display cases, reproduction curio cabinets  and quilt display cases  for those customers liking this kind of wood more than aspen.

All of this furniture is made in the United States by smaller operations to insure the quality is there, she said.

Vinson said she will cater to hunters and fishermen at her store, especially with outdoor paintings and other decorative items to put up in hunting or fishing cabins as well.

She also sells crystal lamps that are hand carved from natural rock salt crystals that have accumulated for millions of years in salt mines of the Himalayan Mountains. These lamps are designed to enhance the air quality and assist in optimizing a person’s health through cleaning or purifying the air inside a person’s home

Hours at the store are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Persons wanting to contact Vinson can do so at (815) 875-2280.

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