Three consecutive Gold awards for Best Antiques/Collectibles (2022, 2023, 2024) is a statement, and Distressed by Me Designs has been making it from a storefront at 108 West 4th Street in Watkins Glen. This is not a dusty antique shop where you rummage through boxes hoping to find something worth buying. It is a curated boutique built around the specific aesthetic of upcycled and distressed furniture — pieces that have been given a second life with paint, hardware, and a design eye that turns castoffs into conversation starters.

The inventory goes beyond furniture into handcrafted jewelry and one-of-a-kind gift items, which gives the store a broader appeal than the name might suggest. But the furniture is the draw. Each piece is individually reimagined, which means the selection changes constantly and no two visits are the same. The distressed-finish trend has been having a long moment in home decor, and Distressed by Me rides that wave with credibility because the work is done by hand rather than mass-produced to look handmade. There is a difference, and anyone who has seen both can spot it immediately.

Watkins Glen draws enormous tourist traffic for the gorge and the racing, and the downtown 4th Street corridor has become a genuine shopping destination in its own right. Distressed by Me is one of the anchors of that stretch — the shop you walk into because the window display caught your eye, and walk out of carrying something you had no intention of buying when you woke up that morning. Three Gold wins in a row means the locals are not just browsing here. They are buying, returning, and telling their friends.