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