Adirondack Antique Show

I've heard about Madison~Bouckville Antique Week forever. In fact, my mother in law went there when we first opened Down Home and sent some boxes of fun smalls to us!  I've wanted to go ever since so we finally made it happen! We flew into Syracuse, picked up our rental truck and drove to Madison~Bouckville to check out the lay of the land!  I was excited to start shopping! We evidently got there before most of the dealers - lots of tents set up but not much to shop from yet. So we checked out the local antique stores and found a few treasures! 

One of the shop owners told us about a show in the Adirondacks at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake!  Sounded good to us so we were off to the Adirondacks bright and early the next morning!  Oh my gosh!!! What a beautiful drive!!!  Lakes, streams, green!!!!!   

 We get to the Museum and we are not disappointed!  We shop from the 50 or so vendors set up around the grounds of the museum!  It was fun to see so many adirondack antiques in one place!

My favorite purchase was a wonderful 19th century adirondack twig rocking chair with remnants of old mustard paint!  I was trying not to hyperventilate over it!  We found a few more treasures - a child's chair, some snow shoes, and a few more smalls! 

Then we wait a few minutes for the museum buildings to open!  So we walk around the grounds and see all these beautiful buildings and surroundings!

The museum is beautiful and I always love learning something new!  We go through all the buildings and see early adirondack style furniture and boats! 

 

And the fun is not over!  When we leave the show, there are tailgate vendors set up on the street outside the Museum!  We found all sorts of treasures out there!!! 

                                  We load up and head back to Madison~Bouckville!



Don and I in the big adirondack chair in front of the museum!



xo, Peggy

Meet the Dealers at Down Home ~ Anita Mooney

Another one of great Down Home dealers is Anita Mooney.  She has been with Down Home for over 8 years,  and is a favorite of many of our customers.  Meet Anita!

Q.  How long have you been a dealer?
A.  Approximately 38 years.

Q.  How did you get started in the antique business?
A.  We started collecting and selling Americn Oak.

Q.  What do you specialize in?
A.  Early American Antiques from 1780 to 1890.

Q.  What is your favorite collection?
A. The furniture I have acquired dating c. 1780 - 1840.

Q.  What is your favorite piece?
A.  A pair of stepdown windors with original salmon paint and black stenciling.

Q.  What do you like best abour being a dealer?
A.  The discovery of a new item and then learning about it.

Q.  What do you like best about being a dealer at Down Home?
A.  Being around others with a similar interest.

Anita and her husband, Jim can be spotted shopping for antiques on most weekends and they travel up north frequently to find those special one of kind pieces that Anita is known for.  We appreciate her knowledge and she is an expert and cleaning and repairing antiques.  Thank you Anita!  Please stop by space #32 and see Anita's great display of early antiques!

xo ~ Peggy

Checkin' Out the LA Gift Show!

I have not been to the LA Gift Show in several years.  We usually shop in fields and garages, and dig around piles of old stuff!  Afterall, we are an anitique store and we love old stuff!  But, I like to add a little bit of atmosphere for the holidays and we carry a couple lines of candles and things that compliment old stuff.  So Tess and I went last week.  Tess was excited because she had never been before and I was excited to take her!  It's always fun to be in LA!  So we got to the LA Mart and before we even parked we saw the famous giant chair outside! 

We headed toward the door to get registered and we saw this beautiful succulent wall!  Quite striking, don't you agree??? 

Then we started shopping! There was some beautiful displays in the Mart and we had fun looking and getting inspired.  But, seriously, it was pretty difficult to find anything with a "Down Home" quality to it.  We did order some holiday items from a couple of different lines and we definitely found inspiration.  I love looking at the displays and finding a new way to merchandise antiques!

The amazing thing to us was how many companies used antiques in their merchandising and displays!  We saw several old harvest tables, lots of galvanized pieces, vintage dress forms, and other fun props! I mostly wanted to buy everything that wasn't for sale!  For any of you designers and decorators who are looking for authentic props,come to Down Home!

When our work at the Mart was done, we hopped on the shuttle and went to the Convention Center!  Lots of fun things, but nothing for us.  I was amazed that it had a cash and carry section but mostly clothing, scarves, and jewelry!  That was definitely not going on the last time I went to the Gift Show!  The thing I liked the most was our California sun coming through the beautiful architecture of the Convention center! 

 

Mostly, I love hanging out with my fun girl, Tess!!!  Can't wait for our orders to come, but next time, I'm heading to the gift shows in the midwest or on the east coast!!! We love LA, but it's just a bit too sparkly for us Down Home Country girls!

xo, Peggy

Hunting in Alameda

The last few months have been very busy for us at Down Home.  We went on two buying trips to Texas and New England;  had a space at two weekend antique shows - Three Speckled Hens and Remnants of the Past, and had our 13th Birthday Open House! Of course that means alot of preparation and planning and time! While it's fun, it can be exhausting too!  When the last customer left our store the day of our 13th Birthday open house, I thought, "We did it!!!!" Our busy string of events was over and we had a few weeks to relax a bit! 

Just days later we loaded up our trailer and headed to Big Sur, our annual camping trip with the kids and grandkids!  Of course, as we were planning the camping trip, my mind started to wander a bit...Hmmm, Alameda Points Antique Faire is not all that far from Big Sur!!! I guess I'm not that tired!!!  Our camping reservation started on Sunday, the day of Alameda, so wouldn't it make sense to drive up on Saturday, stay the night in Alameda, go to the flea market Sunday morning and then meet the family in Big Sur? Of course it would!!!  So we did it.


Our view from our hotel in Alameda - so excited for the next morning!





A bit cold and cloudy, but so excited to be shopping in Alameda!



That was only my second time going to Alameda, so I was excited to go and see what treasures I could find.  I started off my purchases with this adoreable galvanized metal pet house.  It originally was probably a dog house, but I was thinking it would be a cute house for my bunny, Sunday.




Seriously, soooooo cute!

 Then we found this great galvanized metal Church sign!  I love old church signs and I love galvanized metal, so you can imagine my excitement! I have another church sign for sale in Down Home right now -it's wood with old gold lettering! 


Love It!!!!!


As we continued our hunt, I found a beautiful harvest colored painting in a wonderful craftsman frame - I may save that for the Fall!  Then a boat paddle with green paint, and a blue and white quilt from a dealer who also had some embalming equipment.  I loved the standing embalming tool tray, but the thought of it made me a bit squeamish, so I utimately passed.

Don pulling my cart with my Fall painting!

As we continued, I ended up with an early child's rocker with old red paint, an Eastman/Kodak photograph paper cutter, a leather courier pouch, some vintage fishing flies, and a vintage corset. Yeah, I was sort of all over the board with my purchases that morning!  That's what I love about antiquing; you never know what you might find and what you'll come home with!

Our work at Alameda was done! So, off we went to Big Sur, where I found the best treasures of all!!!

The 4th of July in Big Sur!!! 

Down Home Celebrates 13 Years in Orange!!!!

Thank you to all our friends and customers who have shopped and supported Down Home for the last 13 years in Old Towne Orange!  We love you all and can't believe we're 13!!! Wow, Down Home is a teenager!!!  That's so exciting!!!  We had a wonderful party and we appreciated all of you who came! We're excited to see what life has in store for Down Home in the years to come! 

Our Birthday is always a great way to start the summer with all our beachy, nautical, and patriotic displays!
Our party started last Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and we were so blessed with a line of loyal customers waiting to join in the fun!

A huge thank you to all our dealers who brought in fabulous antiques and made their spaces beautiful!!!!  Congratulations to Penny and Jacky who were voted by all the Down Home Dealers as "Best of Show!!!"  Great Job!  Also, thank you to our employees who help before, during, and after the big event! Thank you to Ayla (our daughter), Janet (my sissy), Penny, Jacky, Christy, and Mindy!  An extra huge thank you to our daughter and store manager, Tessa, who helped us with EVERYTHING! I love and appreciate all of you so much!

Penny and me with our adorable Down Home totes for the first 50 customers!

The Down Home Family!

We have the best neighbors in Old Towne Orange who helped make the party fabulous!  Watson's supplied us with the best brownies on earth!!!!  I hope everyone got to have one because they were fabulous!!!  If you didn't get a chance to get one, or if you want more, go to Watson's right across the street from us on Chapman!  Be sure to go to the grand opening of Watson's USA starting with the ribbon cutting on Friday, June 29th at 4 p.m.  Their party will continue all weekend with fun, food, music, and tons of giveaways!!!!

Penny passing out tasty Watson brownies to our amazing line of customers!

Look at that line! We can't believe how lucky we are!

Linda Hodo, owner and designer of Julep's Floral and Gifts made our store beautiful with her fabulous floral centerpiece!!!  She's the one to go to for all your gift and floral needs and she's right next to us at 123 S. Orange Street!!!  Thank you Juleps and welcome to our side of the street!!!


And, our beautiful Birthday cake was made by Creative Cakes!!!  Not only was it beautiful, but it was so delicious!!!!  Make sure you call them for your next party and tell them Down Home sent you!!!  Thank you Creative Cakes in Old Town Orange!!!! 

We also want to thank Avila's Mexican Restaurant on the corner of Orange and Almond just a block away from us and Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant on Glassell for suppling gift cards to raffle off to our loyal customers who stand in line and wait for us to open!!! We are so blessed to have these wonderful businesses as neighbors and encourage you all to check them out next time you're in Orange!!!! Thank you all so much!!!

   

All our proud raffle winners!

Mostly we want to thank our customers!!! It's so great to see all our loyal customers in the store all at one time!  And I love seeing everyone having fun and finding a cherished treasure to take home with them!!! It's wonderful to share the love of antiques with so many people! Without our customers coming to our events and visiting the store on a regular basis, we would not be celebrating another year in Old Towne Orange - so Thank you!!!  We love you all!

And, a huge thank you to my husband, Don!  He helps make all my dreams come true. I could never do this without him by my side!  He's my partner in the store and helps me manage it, but also does alot of heavy lifting and alot of behind the scenes stuff!!!  Plus, he gets extra points for putting up with me for over 32 years!!! 

I Love You Donny!



If you didn't get a chance to come to our open house, please come on in and see our summer displays.  We have lots of nautical, beach related, and patriotic antiques, as well as all our fresh antiques from recent buying trips!  And of course, new antiques are arriving everyday!!!  We thank you all for a wonderful 13 years, and look forward to the future!!!  Yes, we could say it's Lucky 13, but I prefer to say we have 13 years of blessings!!!  Blessings to all of you!

xo, Peggy