Spring Antique Show, Comfort, Texas

I set up at the Comfort Village Antique show a month or so ago and have been remiss in posting my photos.  I love this show. It is the quintessential country antique show, set up in a small town park pavilion and in tents, with a variety of goods, from vintage jewelry to cottage furniture, vintage paintings and folk art, and local, Texas barbecue for lunch. Enjoy!

 My booth, full of tole trays, hooked rugs, old paintings, tramp art,  transfer ware, folk art and painted furniture.

I love seeing familiar faces at the shows. My cute friend, Marcia, enjoyed the show with her grand baby!

I loved these huge wings in the booth of dealer, Ann Sams! They would be wonderful to use as a headboard like those in the bedroom below designed by Rachel Halvorson of Nashville and Nest Egg fame.

 Ann always has the most amazing gathering of tole trays, old tins, and textiles.

I was thrilled to see Dallas designer and dealer John Petty from Dallas set up at the show. I loved this wonderful folk art box made of old dominoes.

John had all sorts of interesting fossils and coral pieces, as well as other stunning accessories.

Great industrial tables and carts, also by John Petty Antiques.

My neighbor at the show, dealer Nancy Carlo, of San Antonio, always has the best primitives - from antique trunks to old kitchen implements. She sells like crazy at these shows to lots of folks who relate to her country antiques with memories from the past.

Vickie Davis, dealer and owner of The Texas Rose Show, always sets up a gorgeous booth.

My neighbor on the other side of my booth was Wayne Ayers. Wayne is a very talented folk artist who sells antiques as well as his own folk art reproductions. He crafts amazing replicas of old weather vanes. He is also just about the nicest person you could set up next to at a show!

On the other side of Wayne were friends, and long time antique dealers, Jim and Sandra Sheffield. They always have an abundance of good country antiques and colorful, seasonal goods. Jim and Sandra travel to lots of different shows, and I am always glad to see them. Hard working and fun loving, they are the among the best of antique dealers.

Love this old red mantel, from antique dealer, Gracie, of Boerne, Texas.

Wonderful side table, lamp and painting, also in Gracie's booth.

Another favorite, Camille McCain, always has great garden antiques and vintage folk art.

Camille's cottage table and folk art swan......

I wish I had a picture of Jack Henson's booth, but a review of an antique show just isn't complete without mention of Jack. A seasoned dealer who sets up at Round Top as well as at all the hill country shows, and all around good guy, Jack gives Nancy Carlo his two cents on something.......something important, I am sure!!

 These bad boys had me the minute I rounded the corner!! Vintage garden chairs  - eight arm chairs, layers of old blue, brown and pink paint, and never met a scroll they didn't like! If only they could talk, the stories they could tell!

These belonged to my friend, Randy Nicholson, of Cypress Creek Antiques in Comfort. (Now they belong to me!!) They were coupled with a 12 foot wine tasting table from France - also part of the "stop you in your tracks vignette", and the whole setting was in the booth of Robert Barrett and Molly Johnson.
Molly and Robert always set up an extraordinary booth and can be found at Round Top in the big red barn every season.

Both of the above links are to a publication that featured the Round Top show and specifically my friends, Randy and Joe, and Robert and Molly - all the best of Texas antique dealers!

So, as the rule goes, "when something comes in the house, something must go out". With the arrival of the garden chairs,  I have eight vintage Windsor side chairs in old black paint, now FOR SALE, if anyone is interested.


In closing, I would like to thank all of the dealers who allowed me to take photos in their booths. One of my favorite times at the antique shows is getting to walk around right before the show opens to see the fruits of everyone's labor. Before the crowds and before the best of vignettes are dismantled as the buyers choose there treasures, I get to see the booths in perfect arrangement.  Setting up at antique shows really is a creative endeavor - hard, time consuming work, but well worth it.

Finding style at a Nashville tag sale!

Photos snagged from Kayce's blog post

While helping my daughter move into her new abode in Nashville for the summer, we decided to take a break on Saturday and follow up on a tip from Kayce's blog. 

Kayce has a great eye, and her blog post tempted us. She mentioned that the home where the sale was to be had been in several magazines. She included several photos to prove her point - this was not your average junky garage sale!

From the photos, the owners looked to be stylish and creative....and well....... you know the rest. Even if we didn't need a thing, a design junkie can't stay away from a possible peek into a great house!

We were not disappointed. The minute we rounded the corner to the backyard and patio of the house, I knew this was no ordinary garage sale!

Although we did not get there when the sale started, and we did not make the cut for the pre-sale the day before, my daughter was thrilled with the few purchases we did make! 

This pink metal folding table will come in handy for lots of things. Currently it is functioning as a space to hold her printer, some books, and various odds and ends.

The  two vintage bird plaques hanging over the table add a little fun to her cottage bedroom .

The owners of the home were most friendly and welcomed us into the backyard and the back of their house. All sorts of things were for sale, and their cutie pie little boy was selling donuts most enthusiastically.


After browsing a bit, (and buying a few donuts), we began to chat. I mentioned that we had heard about the sale from Kayce's blog,  and that we were trying to find a few odds and ends for my daughter's completely empty room in a big, old house in Nashville.

Just at the moment I mentioned Kayce's blog, who walked in, but Kayce herself! I had just mentioned oh so casually that I didn't actually KNOW Kayce...........I was just one of those bloggers who become familiar with other bloggers so much so that we sound like we know them when we speak of them!

Kayce could not have been cuter or more friendly, and it was great fun to put a face to her name and clever blog.


As our curiosity got the best of us after our successful outing, we did what all good design blogging stalkers do - we googled the last name of the owners "Sohr" .......that is all the info we had.

Photos from various magazines,  via  designer's  library 

Well, what do you know! Turns out they are quite a well known pair of creative individuals, Genifer Goodman Sohr and her husband, Ben Sohr. These two have a following and have been published more than once for their fabulous houses and design achievements. ( I might feel as if I were crossing some confidentiality boundary if they weren't already so publicized.)

Genifer and Ben have a great eye and sense of style. There were several items at the sale I am still wishing I'd bought. I will definitely want to keep up with when they have their next style change and tag sale!

Meanwhile, we bought a few goodies that will be put to good use for a young college girl furnishing her own room for the summer. She will be back in the dorm in the fall, so we are not really ready to make expensive purchases or buy pieces that are not easily transported.

I tried to find any photos that had been published that might have included the pink folding table. There was even one article all about how Genifer had used pink in her decorating..........but no specific photos of our new treasure!

The lighting makes it difficult to see clearly, but the little round bed side table was a steal, and was probably an IKEA find at some point.

We found a great papazon chair at Pier One with a Suzani print cushion - just the colors to work with Emma's favorite Pine Cone Hill bedding.

The house is in a charming, older neighborhood near Belmont University.  It has wonderful tall ceilings and hardwood floors, but a mish mash of paint colors, window treatments, and ceiling fixtures. A great rental for college girls, but one that needs lots of personal touches to give it pizazz.

Thanks so much to Kayce, Ben,Genifer and the precious donut salesman for helping us put a bit of charm into a plain jane room!

Nashville - Is Anyone Listening?

If you follow my blog, you know I LOVE to discover new places when given the opportunity to travel.  I love researching and planning my visits to museums, antique shops, great restaurants, and all sorts of places that make that particular place unique and special. I love exploring a new city and visiting with people, and when I can, posting about my adventures on my blog.

Since my daughter started school in Nashville three years ago, it has quickly become my favorite place to visit. I have found the city easy to navigate, friendly, interesting and just plain fun.

 I had a blast cruising the neighborhoods looking for this favorite Hugh Newell Jacobson home in Nashville. I had seen photos of it in design books, but to drive by and actually see it was a thrill for me. The only thing better would have been an invitation to come inside for a visit.

I got to visit my daughter AND go to the antique shows at the fairgrounds in Nashville in February. Talk about a treat.

I had the pleasure of taking these two cutie pies - very smart cutie pies who just completed their junior year at Vanderbilt, I might add - to the Loveless Cafe, a Music City landmark for yummy southern foods and folklore.

We got to have an amazing Easter Sunday with the cutie pies again, along with their charming, and of course also very smart, friends at the 1808 Grille of the Hutton Hotel on West End.

And, I have discovered one of my favorite blogs, Style Blueprint, over the last year, and keep up to date in all areas of fashion, design, and dining in Nashville through the lovely Liza and Elizabeth.

Another great Nashville blog I read is Kayce's blog, also about the stylish goings on in Nashville, her great clothing lines and her precious family who live there.  Kayce's home was in a recent Country Living and she has great style in clothing and home decor.

My daughter, who fortunately came home right before the storms began, has found a place in Nashville that speaks to her heart and will be working there this summer. We have worried about Daystar as we have watched the news these past days.

So, over the last few days, we who love Nashville and keep up with the pulse of the city, have been amazed at the devastation that the recent rains have created.

I beg you to read this - in fact, I can't just refer you to this article - I must copy it to this blog. It is unbelievable what has happened in Nashville and how little people have heard about it.

We Are Nashville

By

Patten Fuqua

Published: May 4, 2010

Allow me a moment to step away from the usual voice of this website.
What I am about to write has absolutely nothing to do with hockey.
If you live outside of Nashville, you may not be aware, but our city was hit by a 500-year flood over the last few days. The national news coverage gave us 15 minutes, but went back to focusing on a failed car bomb and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While both are clearly important stories, was that any reason to ignore our story? It may not be as terror-sexy as a failed car bomb or as eco-sexy as an oil spill, but that’s no reason to be ignored.
The Cumberland River crested at its highest level in over 80 years. Nashville had its highest rainfall totals since records began. People drowned. Billions of dollars in damage occurred. It is the single largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War. And yet…no one knows about it.
Does it really matter? Eventually, it will…as I mentioned, there are billions of dollars in damage. It seems bizarre that no one seems to be aware that we just experienced what is quite possibly the costliest non-hurricane disaster in American history. The funds to rebuild will have to come from somewhere, which is why people need to know. It’s hard to believe that we will receive much relief if there isn’t a perception that we need it.
But let’s look at the other side of the coin for a moment. A large part of the reason that we are being ignored is because of who we are. Think about that for just a second. Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No…you didn’t. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No…we didn’t loot. Our biggest warning was, “Don’t play in the floodwater.” When you think about it…that speaks a lot for our city. A large portion of why we were being ignored was that we weren’t doing anything to draw attention to ourselves. We were handling it on our own.
Some will be quick to find fault in the way rescue operations were handled, but the fact of the matter is that the catastrophe could not have been prevented and it is simply ignorant beyond all reason to suggest otherwise. It is a flood. It was caused by rain. You can try to find a face to stick this tragedy to, but you’ll be wrong.
Parts of Nashville that could never even conceivably be underwater were underwater. Some of them still are. Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel are, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. People died sitting in standstill traffic on the Interstate. We saw boats going down West End. And, of course, we all saw the surreal image of the portable building from Lighthouse Christian floating into traffic and being destroyed when cars were knocked into it. I’m still having trouble comprehending all of it.
And yet…life will go on. We’ll go back to work, to school, to our lives…and we’ll carry on. In a little over a month, I’ll be on this website talking about the draft. In October, we’ll be discussing the new Predators’ season with nary a thought of these past few days. But in a way, they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that it can happen to us…but also know that we can handle it.
Because we are Nashville. 

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About the Author

Patten's first NHL game was Tomas Vokoun's first career shutout in 1999. He has been a Predators fan ever since. A Nashville native and graduate of Belmont's journalism school, he has been a season ticket holder in the Cellblock since 2005-06. You can e-mail Patten at Patten@section303.com and follow him on Twitter @smashville.

I couldn't say it any better - in fact, my attempt at writing at all is put to shame by Patten's style and content . His words brought tears to my eyes , but made me feel good and hopeful about the people of Nashville. I can send my daughter back this summer for her first real job away from home knowing she is in a very special place, regardless of what the rest of the country knows or doesn't know.