Atlanta Market and Scott's Antiques January 2014

"Nothing comes cheap though the educated eye

 will always spot very nice things for the least money."

                                             Albert Hadley

The Atlanta Market for me always begins with a trip to one of my favorite antique sources-- Scott's Antique Markets on the South side of the city near the airport. It is the perfect destination for loading up on furniture, paintings and other accessories. The best time to attend is during the Atlanta Furniture Market downtown at America'sMart in January and July, as more dealers participate to accommodate the design congregation.  It is a huge and I would allow time for shopping Thursday before market. It opens to the public at 1:00p.m.

This bucket made my list. I was looking for an attractive container for firewood for my family room as I am converting my fireplace back to its original old school function.  For under $100.00, it was a no brainer.

O.K. so shoot me now. I saw this map in a booth and was quite taken with it. My picture is terrible so I uploaded this image for you. It was unbelievably fascinating as it maps the largest engineering project of  17th Century Europe. The Canal Languedoc Royal which connected the Mediterranean to the Atlantic provided safe inland passage for cargo that was endangered by rampant piracy on the high seas--yes maties, the Barbary Pirates.  The cross sections along the perimeter depict the numerous locks, aqueducts, tunnels and dams. The circular emblems flanking the center medallion illustrate the heraldic crests of the families contributing to this massive project. The royal landed houses of the region had compelling reasons to finance and provide labor for the endeavor. Le Midi is dry and their crops and other commodities were precarious at best. Other than navigation, irrigation was possible by managing the water assets that could be moved at will, or stored in reservoirs.

People think shopping and collecting is a flibbity-gibbet activity. The price for the map was $1,800.00 at Scott's. I am not making a purchase from Sotheby's or an established dealer. While the price is low for a potentially fabulous possession the question is: Is it worth the gamble? Do I want a fake print in a bad frame? Not one article or auction resource described the underlying material. It was not hand made paper and it looked like velum to me, but I couldn't quite confirm. So, I walked. I regret it and should have trusted my eye. One finally sprung up for sale on Monday for $10,500 so I am a tad ill. I saw that one sold recently at auction for $2.300; a fairly wide spread in price. So much for the drama of collectibles. I know a great deal more because of my agony than I knew yesterday. The highly vertical AmericasMart is on the docket for the next day. While horizontal High Point Market is my metier, I am braving AmericasMart for the third time by scheduling design events.

Annie Selke image via Pinecone Hill/Haskell Harris image via CalderClark 

I could not resist the Annie Selke, textile genius founder of Pine Cone Hill  and Dash and Albert, interview with Haskell Harris, contributing editor to  Garden and Gun and author of the blog Magpie by Haskell Harris. Who can resist a discussion titled: "Great In Bed?" I met Annie at The Design Bloggers Conference a couple of years ago and she is hilarious and brilliant company. Annie is one of those authentic people whose taste and style goes repetitively viral. I honestly think her secret is that she lives fearlessly with enthusiasm, has personality and is always delighted by seemingly random passions. For example: visit Annie's YouTube video's  documenting her new love for tractors, chainsaws and other heavy equipment.  Haskell, I have known since she was an adorable toddler--legacy to a delightful, eccentric Southern family. The interview could only be symbiotic and entertaining--birds of a feather and all of that!

The Atlanta Market launch for Bunny Williams new rug collection for Annie's Dash and Albert line is a marriage made in heaven. The quality of Dash and Albert combined with Bunny's exceptional taste and livable elegance will make this line hopefully eternal. It was riveting to hear about the photo shoot at Bunny's beautiful home in the Dominican Republic and her incredible hospitality--hint: anticipate guests every need! Visit Annie's blog to see more tropical eye candy from B.W.'s gorgeous get-away.

I also attended the Steven Stolman/Scalamandre event sponsored by their Port 68 collaborators. Steve has been the president of Scalamandre since July 2011 and has written an iconic history of this eponymous fabric house. Scalamandre Haute Couture is a must-have book for your design library. I will say Port 68 is greatly enhanced by the iconic fabric patterns. I need those tiger ottoman/cocktail tables.

On Saturday, I wandered around Building 2 to view the beautiful table top options. I started on the ground floor of the gift building to taste all the food, which surprisingly gets old rather quickly. As I ascended through garden and outdoor, I found myself delightedly in the D. Gaber and Associates showroom and had the great good fortune to meet the renown equestrian artist, Julie Wear, as I admired her beautiful china. I have seen a great deal of sporting art over the years, and Julie's work defines the apotheosis of this genre in our time.

Photo by John Nation

 Julie Wear's painting for Queen Elizabeth II of her beloved Stallion

The Broodmares of Woodford County

Since I seem to have gotten on to an animal riff, the Lacefield Designs dog beds are the best--ever. 

They are not quite up on the website yet, but call us if you want them!! 

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Eclectic Style Using Fresh and Traditional Elements

I met a kindred soul at the gas station on the way to the High Point April Market. Each of us had sister-in-laws as passengers who wanted to see designer driven showrooms, learn from the maestros and find inspiration, not to mention a few very special items. We were introduced on the fly and ran into each other all over HP town. It  turns out Mrs. S. and I are cut from the same piece of cloth. There is the slow food movement and there is the slow design movement. Because we shop all the time, we rarely buy anything for ourselves unless we cannot live without it.

A cheerful entry hall greets us with a subtle Scalamandre print wall covering and an antique bench that was the find of the century, as it exactly fills the space.

A stunning and perfectly narrow reproduction chest is layered with an antique mirror from Caroline Faison of Greensboro, N.C.

The house flows with a consistent eclectic mix of European, Asian, modern and English pieces. It looks like there is a subtle vine pattern on the wall, but its my camera doing funny things. See below to get the actual color.

I have always loved the Scalamandre Shanghai fabric that Mrs. S. uses for her window treatments. The abstract painting keeps the room young and fresh.

I cannot resist adding it makes a terrific wall covering as illustrated below in Meg Braff's dining room.

via Chinoiserie Chic

The paint color is Farrow and Ball Blazer

The best shade of red--ever!

An Italian cupboard, also from Caroline Faison Antiques of Greensboro is guarded by a pair of Chinese military horses. If you scroll back up to the first image you can see that the larger scale of the horses keeps the room from floating away and becoming too feminine--rooms need Yin and Yang. 

Covered in a luminous gray velvet this O.Henry House sofa anchors the space with subtle neutral tones repeated in the rug. The extremely talented Patrick Lewis of Circa in Charlotte, N.C. helped with the big picture, and Mrs. S. did the shopping.

 Layering without cluttering is a fine art. Flowing throughout the house are box pleated shades that are harmonious in style, and vary in color.

Mrs. S. finds lots of her accessories by repeatedly popping into to some very dirty window antique stores. I was impressed.

Juxtaposing contemporary and traditional elements, maintains a consistent fresh theme throughout the house. Mrs. S. replaced the glass top on the coffee table with stone to keep the room grounded and warm. Walking you through the door to the family room...

This room had a dark red cherry finish, which naturally her husband wanted to keep. What is it with men and their dark wood and gigantic televisions, speaking of which I did not spot a television in this house. A gaping fireplace is obscured by an antique hobby horse with great patina.

Pickling the wood made the room visible. Dark rooms with large windows are a terrific blinking strain on the eyes. The window treatments are the same simple style throughout the house. Note the large antique copper pot beneath the sofa side table. If your room is getting leggy, find a wonderful basket or accessory to live beneath it. I collect these monstrous remnants from great house kitchens. I imagine the chef at his massive wood burning stove and all the hustle--it makes me happy. Stepping into the sunroom, we are greeted with streaming light on three sides. 

I like the large scale of the lamps that Mrs. S. found for her sunny room. Dinky lamps look, well...dinky. Grounding the room with a chic animal stark carpet keeps the yin and yang in balance, as do the matchstick blinds. Since we are next to the kitchen, Mrs. S. scotchguarded the daylights out of the upholstery. 

Mrs. S. sincerely regrets being talked out of marble counter tops, as her designer convinced her that they would stain and look terrible over time. A quick web search brought up this article in Apartment Therapy which admits that marble can stain from heat, wine, citrus etc.. However, you can seal marble which will protect it. I am guilty of placing hot pans on my granite counter tops, though so I may not be a candidate. 

We can help you source the antique copper pots in this post

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