From Captain's Daughter to Army Mom: Concord Antiques Show

One of the few Advantages to my trip to California being postponed until next week is that I was here for the big Antiques show in Concord this weekend. So we got up early and headed out to Concord... The sun was out and it was a Beautiful day!

So here is the back-story... I am on the hunt for a Cabinet. You see, I was invited to a Baby shower a couple of weeks ago for a Wonderful friend at work, hosted by one of her College girlfriends in a beautiful neighborhood not far from our house. As you know, I'm not easily Impressed. I've been into some of the most Beautiful homes imaginable, including many Castles of kings. However, this young woman's modest Collection of antique furniture and especially the way she uses it and has the pieces Situated throughout her home was Impressive!

Although the styles of our homes is very Different, we do have the same Dining room/living room configuration. And, until I saw her dining room Furniture, I had no idea just how much I was Under-utilizing the space we have. I am a Clutter-phobe, but seeing her dining room made me Realize that I can furnish mine without closing it in or Cluttering it up.

Our living room/dining room in California was open concept so I had space for not just the Dining room table and six or eight chairs and my China cabinet, but also for a buffet too. I loved that Buffet for three reasons... It was an older piece we Discovered together that matched what we already had, it was a Birthday present and it offered lots of Extra storage. I stored extra glasses and plates that didn't fit into the china cabinet, all of my Candles/candle holders and on top, I had a beautiful Lamp and a place to display photo frames and the decorations I have for just about every Holiday throughout the year. I really liked my dining room Furniture! As it turned out, so did the Sweet couple that bought our house because after we settled on Terms for the house, they came back to negotiate to Purchase not only our Bedroom furniture but the living room and dining room Furniture as well.

At first, selling the house in California mostly furnished Sounded like Fun,. After all, it meant less to move 3,000 miles away, and we were moving within 50 miles of the Furniture capitol of the world too! But the truth is that it hasn't been easy to Furnish this house. Sure, we could walk into any Furniture store in High Point and say, We want that, that, that and that, but I don't like everything to Match or for my house to look like a furniture showroom. That's no fun! Besides, antiques/older furniture has a Story to tell and I love that in my furniture. Now, my never-been-touched, Ernest Hemingway collection China cabinet by Thomasville has a story... It says, Before they discontinued me I retailed for $8,995 but at the Thomasville Outlet during a Memorial Day sale, Janet picked me up for only $695.00, and I love that story too! But I prefer older pieces with character... That's not to say I would ever buy a pre-owned sofa or anything with Stuffing in it - I'm strictly talking about Wood furniture here.

So I walked into this Lovely woman's dining room and was Immediately inspired! Before I stepped into her house I believed that because I have a large China cabinet in my dining room I was locked out of adding any more furniture to it. Oh, not so! In her dining room there was a Gorgeous buffet where my china cabinet sits too; but then, in one of the Corners by the window our Hostess had a petite corner cabinet where she displays a couple of pieces of her Wedding china and some of her Waterford stemware collection. But! And, this is the exciting part... In the opposite corner from the window, going into her Living room, she had a cabinet that sits about waist-high where she displays the most Beautiful serving platter with dome I've ever seen. Could be English, might be French but whatever it is, it looks Perfect on that cabinet in that corner. A corner I have too!

I imagined this cabinet was probably Used by our hostess to store other china Pieces, and it was big enough to hold Platters too. But as Much as I wanted to confirm it, I didn't want to be too nosey and I certainly didn't want to Distract her from her hostess duties by asking too many Questions about her furniture. Nevertheless, my visit to her home convinced me that I was missing a huge decorating and storage Opportunity by allowing the corners in our Dining room to remain empty! I miss my Buffet so much, and I'm especially tired of having to store all my Platters in the pantry in the kitchen. I have the Space so I will have a cabinet like the one she has. Now all I have to do is find it... But that's okay, because we all know that the Hunt is most of the fun!

Concord - the Hunt is on!