Inspiration, Imagination and Transformation

Ever wonder how we get our display ideas at the shop? Sometimes we see a picture in a magazine or decorating book that inspires us, or while on a buying or shopping trip in another town we'll see something that just speaks to us! Other times, a display comes together out of necessity -- working with whatever we have. Here's an example of a recent idea that is in the works --- we're calling it our Plaid Cabin (we always give our themes a name!!). While shopping in a quirky area of Chicago, we stumbled upon a store that was all about plaid! Plaid upholstery, plaid blankets, vintage plaid camping gear... you get the idea. That was all the Inspiration we needed to tweak the idea and make it our own little Plaid Cabin room for spring. A display idea was born, and now the fun, and the challenge begins: acquiring all the merchandise to put it together. We travel far and wide, from Ohio to Oklahoma, from Michigan to Missouri, shopping and searching high and low (literally) with this theme in mind, gathering everything we can find to make this room come alive. Then we clean it up, fix it up, spruce it up, pack it up and bring it into the shop where it all sits happily awaiting the Transformation.


In the meantime, our Imagination kicks into gear with unique ways to make this our own --- it's all in the details. For example, have you ever thought of using vintage thermos bottles as vases?? Minnow buckets as chandeliers?? Well, you will when you see our Plaid Cabin come to life. In addition to coming up with new ideas to use old things, the other key factor in designing a display is color. Every vignette has a color theme---nothing unifies a group of objects better than color. In this case, the main colors are the red and green found in the plaids with a splash of yellow to brighten up it up and make it more summery.

Our main theme for Paris Flea Market this year is Le Jardin --- The Garden (with lots of great garden antiques and vintage finds/green color theme). The Plaid Cabin and some other surprise themes will debut that Saturday as well ---- but we can't give it all away here!! We'll see you on April 9th, and hope you'll be pleasantly surprised!


written by Gwen Oldfield