I have memories from the time I was five years old and Santa gave me a large dollhouse that resembled my grandmother’s house. I spent hours and years decorating that house with furniture, curtains, and lots of love. Then came the day that I left the dollhouse behind. I thought my mom would keep it for me when I had children. But one day I came home after getting married and setting up my own home expecting to find my dollhouse to take with me. Mom had given my special dollhouse to my cousin. I get it because I’m sure she was running out of room. That dollhouse gave me my start to building memories with fabrics, design, and how to place furnishings in a room. That is not all of the story. My uncle developed MS and found a way to help with income loss. He started going to auctions, purchasing furniture, refinishing it, and selling it. I became interested in what he was doing and the furniture he would purchase. I started going with him to auctions and I bought my first antique at 15 years old. I treasured that piece of furniture. My uncle taught me how to repair and refinish. Over the years, I continued to go to antique markets to purchase for clients and for our retail store in Clemmons. I can usually tell you what kind of wood is in an old piece and possibly where it came from. For about ten years, traditionally became less valuable to our clients. But over the past two years, antiques have gained popularity again. My home is full of antiques from my family and collecting over many years. Each antique in my home is a piece of art to me and that is how I treat it. I love modern fabrics mixed with antiques. I also collected art and love adding abstracts to the equation. The mix is quite beautiful. Our vendors in High Point and Atlanta started integrating antiques in their décor. I can’t wait to see what they have done when we go to the next market in Atlanta in January. I’ll take photos, post, and write about trends I see. Go out and shop local antique stores/vintage for great ideas.
