TOP 3 ESSENTIAL ANTIQUE SOURCES AT SPRING #HPMKT

 

Want to add a little soul to your newly designed space? Then the place to source is coming up this spring right here in the furniture capital of the world, North Carolina's High Point Furniture Market - And the elements to add are one-of-a-kind, 20th century antiques. From sustainable casegoods, unique seating and every table type you could possibly image to exceptional fine art, sculptures, rare rugs, and iconic lighting -- it's all here, in the neighborhoods at High Point Market.  

 

The antiques category has been growing steadily within the furniture and design industry, as well as here at HPMKT - just ask Karen Luisana and Amanda Kinney, the founders who launched the Antiques & Design Center in the fall of 2010. 

From that one source, two other antique authorities have risen within the "Russell/Green" neighborhood, adjacent to Market Square & Elm Neighborhood: 214 Vintage Modern, who relocated and expanded to their new space 314 W Russell Ave in fall 2018, along with opening just last spring, Chelsea on Green, who gave the neighborhood a boost transforming a 20,000 square-foot vacant building & lot (previously Antiques & Interiors in 2015) at 515 West Green Dr., High Point, NC.

 

 

Sourcing these gems comes with the added bonus of doors opening two days before market actually kicks off, which means you can hunt for treasures before the crowds arrive on Saturday - but run, don't walk to get the best of the best early! 

In addition to no lead times to wait on manufacturing, most vendors are cash & carry (which is great for locals) but designers can also arrange white-glove shipping for their cherished finds. Personally, this is one of the visual delights I get the most excited to experience and source during HPMKT!!

 

 

 

During your trip to HPMKT, be sure to add these neighborhood spots to your agenda. Remember to wear comfortable shoes and pack an umbrella as these three locations are separate, but still nearby to one another within adjacent neighborhoods - and on a lovely spring day (like today!!) it's an excellent chance to get outdoors for a bit and enjoy some sunshine in between showroom tours...

CHELSEA on GREEN  

New kid on the block, Chelsea on Green, located at 515 West Green Drive, not only carries 30 vendors representing antique and vintage home furnishings, but they also carry larger pieces of art and architecture... with the added bonus of a cafe inside their gallery plus an outdoor garden area to host your special venue.

 

 

 

Contact & Connect with Chelsea on Green:

 

336-464-5191

 

rejeanae@chelseaongreen.com

 

Follow at Facebook & Instagram

 

 

Chelsea on Green 

 

Chelsea on Green 

 

 

 

 Chelsea on Green

 

 

214 Modern Vintage 

Five years strong in this former machine shop turned showplace, 214 Modern Vintage, located at 314 W Russell Ave,  is High Point's Source for 20th Century Design, with 10 impressive dealers offering home furnishings and art from modern to traditional styles, industrial & artisan, and everything in between - a  curators haven.

 

Contact & Connect with 214 Modern Vintage

336-314-8082

hello@214modernvintage.com

214modernvintage.com

Follow at Facebook & Instagram

 

214 Modern Vintage

 

 214 Modern Vintage

 

 

 

 214 Modern Vintage

 

 

 

 214 Modern Vintage

ANTIQUE & DESIGN CENTER

The one who started it all - not quite as far back as the first furniture market in 1909, but still 13 years strong now - the Antique & Design Center, located at 316 W Commerce Ave, continues to thrive as an invaluable resource as more designers have come to appreciate the long-lasting quality and sustainability the antiques category has to offer. 

This must attend destination for designers is also host several educational seminars, bubbly & book signings, vintage vaults from Chairish, plus tours & events hosted by the Antiques Diva herself, Toma Clark Haines. Be sure to visit the Anitque & Design Center website to get a listing of scheduled events planned for this market.

 

 

 

Contact & Connect with Antique & Design Center

Karen Luisana 336-908-2735

Amanda Kinney 842-442-0316

e-mail - info@hpadc.com

Antique + Design Center

Follow at Facebook & Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My photos over the years of touring my top 3 sources of these antique showrooms don't do them justice. You have to get out there - and get there EARLY - to experience them for yourself!

 

 

 

Be sure to visit the HPMKT website at 

HighPointMarket.org 

for a full list of events, seminars, market tours, and exhibit directory.

 Hope to see you at market!   

 

 

Just a reminder: I'm still in the process of building my NEW website - which will be launching soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIME TO REFRESH, RESET & RENEW FOR THE SPRING SEASON

 

Welcome Spring! A time to refresh and renew our routines, our home, even our career - overall give ourselves a reset for a season of new growth. The winter season, for some can have been a hibernation period, and for others, the winter season can be a time of deep reflection. That's what this past season has been for me: reflection. 

Rather than fight the dislike of seeing many grey days out  my window and loathing the bitter cold, sunless days - that have been triggering extreme yearly bouts of winter depression (aka SAD - seasonal affective disorder) since moving here to North Carolina, combined with health issues and grief - this year,  I made a shift. I embraced this time to change my mindset and revise some pitfall routines I had gotten myself into. This period of reflection helped me to REFOCUS my time, my energy, my habits: an overall renewed awareness on my health & wellness... Something I'm sure many of us have been doing since COVID has come into our lives. 

With this upcoming seasonal change and personal reset, is my renewed interest in writing again. My topics, however, will be evolving from the focus on DIY projects I've written about in the past to a deeper dive into my experiences with the design industry - including market events, showroom sets & tours, small local business support, along with "how to" content for home organizing, plant care, interior styling, and a renewed focus on curating collections here in Carolina.

 

 

 

For this shift in direction - similar, but still a new path - I'll be moving... moving Focal Point Styling from blogspot/blogger over to my new .com website I've been building on Squarespace, which I will be launching shortly.

Just like the image above, I feel like this space has become a tired old barn I've neglected. Part of resetting habits and living in a joyful mindset is to create a change in your environment. We refresh, renew, reset our home whenever a season changes - so why not do a rest our digital footprint as well?

 

In the meantime, please take a look around (a good place to start are tabs like: About, Contributor, Press, Projects, Roomboards) as I continue to polish up and fine tune Focal Point Styling (.com) -- not to perfection but to get her up and running... I probably will make another post or two here (to get the SEO engines working again) so please just bear with me.😉

 

Here are a few archived, but continued helpful & popular posts I've written:

Home Decor Trends from High Point Furniture Market

How To Use a Moodboard for Virtual Online Home Staging

Organizing Ideas for Spring Gardening (my contributor post)

Rental Restyle: Small Bathroom Makeover

Storage Solutions: Small Pantry Update

Painting: How To Paint Interior Doors Black

Thank you for your patience during this 

reconstruction and restoration period. I'm grateful for you.

 

Stay connected with me via Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter

@fpsinteriors

Hope to see you soon,

 

 

 

 

 

10 Year #Bloganniversary

Hello - Yes, it's been a while. I've been wanting to jump back into blogging after my much needed hiatus, and this rainy fall day seemed like just the right time - especially since it was ten years ago today I wrote and posted my first blog post. It's hard to believe ten years have passed. So much has happened along the way - from exploring new industries (blogging/social media to thrift and luxury furnishings) plus applying my past experiences of retail visual merchandising to now showroom (and even a showhouse!) styling, attending industry events (bloggers conferences to furniture market weeks), redesigning client spaces, and criss-cross-country moves (from Florida to Arizona to North Carolina) and I'm grateful for it all -- especially all of the people I have met along the way. Some people have changed my life, some have passed away, and for some, I helped to changed their life. And to think, all of the connections started from stepping out of the retail box into a whole new world... and that world started with blogging.

Junior League of High Point Showhouse set & styling with Ray Langhammer for designer Libby Langdon, plus Scot M. Wood - adjacent Dining Room designer.

But that new world also came with a price - health decline from sitting too much, weight gain, eyesight loss, pinched nerves, neck, back, hand muscle aches (even tearing my meniscus while cleaning) and an uncomfortable lingering stress of keeping up with the Jones'. Health & wellness was furthest from my mind, until cancer struck a close friend (killed another), Parkinson's took another close family friend, my husbands sister was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (now stage 5-6), and my moms diabetes landed her in the hospital - now she's on dialysis treatments three days a week in Miami. Turning fifty had me heading into a downward spiral I didn't like, so I made changes to my lifestyle. 

 Salem Lake Trail - Winston Salem

Compound all of the above with my husband being let go at his job (after twenty years with the company - and the reasons for our moves, now feeling trapped). At this point, I was mentally drained. All strong reasons why I just had to STOP - stop everything, and reevaluate the purpose of it all (blogging and social media). Downing Cokes and sugary foods & Advil to power through sitting at a computer for hours on end, researching, resourcing, comparing, and striving for new daily content is not living. Taking NyQuil shots to knock me out so I could sleep. FOMO of events and worrying all the time if someone is going to copy or steal my content / photos (even after taking more time to watermark) -- plus documenting all the correct lingo + link-backs for copyrights of others, truly just drained all of the joy out of blogging - So yes, I stopped blogging for a while, and refocused myself to living with intent. 

 Reynolda Park - Winston Salem

My intent now is ensuring a work / life balance - practiced, not just preached. What started as stop drinking soda, a major cut back on sugary foods (alcohol too), and making sure I move my ass daily (counting steps + using tracking apps) lead to a major pantry purge and shift in the foods, not only I eat, but my husband and pets too. Together we also have incorporated a weekly nature trail walk in nearby parks, a great means of breathing in fresh air plus clearing a cluttered mind - and this past year, speaking of decluttering, I've been focused on 'letting go of stuff'. We've lived here now for five years - no moves in sight to prompt a purge, and things do accumulate. 

It's all still a work in progress, but I feel so much better than before - so much so that the second I slip up (over indulge in sugar, not eating enough leafy greens or getting enough sleep) I feel it right away - sluggish, nauseous, out of balance - and that's no way to live.

 SBC Innovation Quarter - Winston Salem

Pivot back to blogging, a task I have struggled with continuing during my hiatus, (is blogging dead?), and I believe, similar to sweets or anything in life for that matter, in moderation and with intent, it can still add value to the reader, as well as my life - or now brand - Focal Point Styling... especially since my husband and I are planting more permanent roots here in The Triad. Recently, I have even been taking some refresher classes on blogging, social media and business at Wake Forest's Innovation Quarter, Small Business Center here in Winston Salem.

Blogging daily as I was when I first began ten years ago I cannot do - but blogging a few times a month going forward is feasible. In 2020 though, I may need to step it up and make the shift to Squarespace or Wordpress. As for the content, I'll continue to focus on interior styling, layering in more home organizing tips & tricks, along with continued sharing local love for small businesses and industry events.

My sweetie & I at Greensboro Fashion Week

How have YOU been? What's new with you?

You can still find me on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram @nyclqinteriors.

Happy 10 Year Blog Anniversary to Focal Point Styling!

 Thanks for stopping by!

Catching Up & Spring Home Updates

Once again, the (new) year seems to be flying by! It feels like just yesterday I peeked out the windows to see winter grey, and today, the view is filled with blue skies, green buds, birds, bees, butterflies, and flowers! I truly love this time of year, and especially now living in a place where you can really see, feel, and appreciate the change of seasons. And with the change of seasons, comes a few in home changes over the past three months, including:
  

January - Winter Paint Projects (objects)

- Mirror Makeovers
- Trunk Revamp to Stripes
- Ebonized Dining Table
- Chandelier Update
- Emerald Buffet Makeover

 

 

I'd like to add ribbon trim to the shade, but in the meantime, the white candlesticks are painted antique gold.

February - Spring Cleaning Began

- Window Cleaning

- Window panel updates (DR, MBR, LR)

 - Wall Decor updates - Created an Abstract Painting

- Changed air filters

 - Kitchen & Bathrooms deep cleaning

- Closet purge = donations + consignment

- Closet organizing

 - Home Office purge & cleaning

 

 

March - Pre-Spring Projects

- Outdoor wicker cleaned & painted

 - Phase 1 outdoor living spaces - after winter clean-up

- Front Door Re-Painted (black gloss)

- Interior black door & white moldings (+fireplace) repainted 
 - Finished basement primed & painted

- Layering of Spring florals + greens (both faux and real)

- Guest Den Refresh - New daybed refinished

- Sheets & Towels renewed

- Brass & Silver polished

- Created New Spring Tablescapes

 

The satin black door was already fading - refreshed with two coats of (Glidden)  high gloss. 

The key to a crisp edge paint job is an angled brush.

The finished basement & bathroom were blah-builder-beige (since 2005!!) Easily  updated with Behr Gentle Rain - same color we used in our Master Bed / Bath and Guest bathrooms - keeps house cohesive, updated neutral, and still light enough for a basically windowless space. 

 

The metal Daybed I ordered was Oil Rubbed Brown - it wasn't available in black (but I really liked its style being vintage-like) - I built some sections, painted them, and I finished building bed inside, in the upstairs guest space. 

HomeGoods gift cards came in handy to replenish guest towels, along with create a welcoming Spa Tray in the Guest Room.

The daybed is actually a trundle bed, but rather than build the low trundle, the space came in handy for guest luggage storage. The arm-less sofa bed is being consigned.

 

Fresh flowers last so much longer here in NC than they did in AZ - and houseplants have been a great means of fresh greens all year long...

 

 

Good 'ol toothpaste works like a charm to polish silver I've collected over time (mostly from thrifting!)

 

 I'll post a few other tablescapes next - this was just a quick Spring - Easter brunch alfresco set outside on the deck - The table I refinished last year.The black wicker chairs I thrifted in AZ.

Hope you enjoyed a happy Easter weekend!

Along with these projects, all done within a small budget - reusing & refinishing existing items paired with a few new additions, we've also had guests over for a get-together in February, my family visited (just last week), taking in Spring around town, Jeff's family too will be coming this Summer - and we're going to have neighbors over for grilling season - plus also get the neighborhood together to have a Summer block party. Although I don't go out thrifting as much here as I did when I lived in Florida or Arizona, I've still managed to keep turning Harmon House into a home with a few shifts plus reselling items no longer in use via two local consignment shops.

 

My mom & aunt visiting for the week.

Chef Jeff preparing our good Friday fish meal...

Since I've taken a little break from blogging, most of my sharing has been with project updates via Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr (just quicker to still keep in touch). I need to share more details about some of the makeovers & paint projects here on the blog - but I really just needed a break from blogging. Of all the social media channels I share on (FB, TW, IG, G+, Houzz, Flickr, Pinterest), blogging by far takes the most time, has changed so much since Pinterest, and I was seeing the least return for the time invested. After spending so much time online, I started to get, RSI - Repetitive Strain Injury (hand, forearm, neck), and weight gain from not moving around as much as I used to. After being 115lbs. for most of my life, I shot up to 144lbs. Thankfully, now I've dropped down to 133, but being only 5'2", for me - that's still too high - not to mention, my blood pressure was some ridiculous sky-high numbers). I'm sure moving (to AZ and now to NC) has also placed on strain on motivation (major life change), but after now living back east for a little over a year, I'm starting to feel more settled &  grounded again.

Sitting IS the new smoking - GET UP and move around.

With Spring in full swing and April just around the corner, I'm so looking forward to getting back to being and living outdoors - especially gardening (hubs is too!) and taking walks after dinner. There are also several flea, antique and the furniture markets coming up to get out and explore - plus I made a list of local parks to experience on the weekends. Regardless of my back not being quite the same as it used to be, and as fun as blogging was when I started (back in late '09) - I can't stand sitting still anymore.

 

Old Winston in Spring Bloom!

Jeff's Raised Box - Vegetable Garden

I'm so ready to get back outdoors!! How about you?

Happy Spring!

Thanks for stopping by!