Market 2014 Finds!

It's time again for another blog about Market!  In case you haven't read my past posts about Market (Here's my July post), we go to the Americasmart Atlanta show twice a year to order wholesale décor for our store.(Most of our goods are vintage but we love to mix the old and new)  It's a HUGE show where only store owners can go to see the new products for the next season.  We just finished up our full week at the January show where we placed our Christmas 2014 orders.  We also ordered things that will be in the store very soon.  I'm so excited about everything we saw!
First, I'll share some pictures of the everyday items we ordered and saw.  I will put the Fall and Christmas goodies in another blog because I have quite a few pictures and I don't want it to get too long.

The company where we order our books cut into the shapes of letters came out with these new letters on blocks of wood.  We ordered a ton of them because I think they'll make a great gift and they're a good size for a shelf.  We also got some of the signs with quotes like the one below this picture.  I'm loving the reclaimed wood look of them.

Just to give you an idea of what it's like, here are some pictures of a showroom overall.  Most of them are set up kind of like a store.  They actually decorate everything so you can see how to display it.  The biggest difference is that there are minimums and you can't just order 1 of anything.  You have to order in bulk.  Below is Park Hill, a very farmhouse inspired showroom.

We are hoping to recreate this big sweeping branch display above our checkout counter.

The next showroom is pretty much our favorite at all of market!  Creative Co-Op!  They have the best stuff for our store because most of it is vintage inspired.  Doesn't the urn below look old??  They do a great job with their finishes.  My mom and I don't understand why so many companies put such a shiny finish on their pieces.  Ick.  

****Update*** These vases are in the store now.

 We ordered Mr. Lion!  Isn't he cool??   *****Update*** We have the lion in the store now

 We also ordered these cool, old looking papers.  The one below has the image of a curtain on it.  They put a deer head over it and displayed some jewelry inside of the curtains.  They will look really cool in the store with our displays so I'm excited for them to arrive.

 Here's my mom showing one with a birdcage image.  She looks so happy!

 These are great prints.  I think they'd be amazing in a little girl's room or a pink boudoir. ***Update***Prints are in the store now!

 We ordered 90 of these wooden numbers.  The price was great and I love the finish and colors.  You could do so many things with them!

 We've been looking for reasonably priced King and Queen headboards for a very long time and we FINALLY found some.  The linen one with the wooden frame is a King and the tufted gray/purple one is a Queen.  There are some customers who are going to be so excited!  WooHoo!

****Update** Both headboards are in the store now!

I couldn't get a great picture of this bed but it's a wing back style with a footboard.  We ordered a king and queen.

 The style below is a burlap headboard with brass tacks.  Yay!  So excited!!

One of the companies with headboards also had some other furniture and lamps that we ordered.  I'm loving the ruffled slipcover on the bench.  People who have animals know that a good slipcover is worth its weight in gold.

One of my favorite finds at market was these lighted signs.  I will admit, they're pricey(like $360), but I fell in love with them and had to have a few.  Can you blame me?  They're awesome!!  Maybe someday I will find a more affordable version of these, but in the meantime, I MUST have them in the store.

****Update*** Dream, Love, and Paris signs are in the store  

I can't find a copy of the order but I think we ordered "LOVE", "PARIS," and "DREAM."  I'll be sure to post on Facebook when they arrive. 

My mom went to market hoping to find some things with arrows on them.  She is really into Pinterest and says arrows are getting to be a big deal.  We ordered these fun necklaces and the lamp below.

In the temporary section of market, we found a line of quilts that we think our customers will love.  The prices are great and the colors are perfect for Spring and Summer. A great, colorful quilt at the end of a bed can sometimes be the perfect finishing touch to a room.

Along with the quilts, we saw some gorgeous pillows.  I'm loving the graphic patterns and colors.

***Update*** These quote pillows have arrived at the store!

It's always so fun to see some of the new collections of baby and kids items at market.  We ordered some adorable stuff!

 Above is a crib quilt.  The front is all the letters of the alphabet and the back is a colorful rick rack image.

 Mobiles!!!!  How cute!  Don't you love the little pom poms at the top??  I'm definitely going to want one of these for my baby someday!

Below are some swaddle blankets.  They make a great gift.

These are little felted animal heads that you hang on the wall.  They're so silly.

We were told multiple times by sales reps that the fox is the new owl.  I guess we should be prepared to see lots of foxes in the coming months!  There were also a lot of fox themed items in the Christmas sections of the showrooms.  I love their sweet faces. :)

Black and white was a common theme in some of the decor at market.  We ordered enough to make this a theme in a section of the store.  The great thing about black and white is that they're timeless.  You don't have to be afraid that a black and white room will look dated in a few years.  It's like wearing a little black dress. (Confession: I have a black wrap dress that I got about 15 years ago that I still wear and love!) Here are a few of our black and white picks:

 Prints on burlap

 A fabulous handmade wooden frame.

***Update*** This black and white panel is in the store

Most of the jewelry at market is in the temporary section.  There are a lot of artists who actually make the jewelry themselves and it's so fun to see the variety.  It's also ridiculously overwhelming.  I can't tell you how hard it is to see so much of it and choose the right pieces for the store.  

 Below is headbands by Vintage Rose Wraps.  We've carried them before but we ran out so we reordered for Spring.  People of ALL ages seem to love these.

Lots and lots of gold still!

The earrings below have little crowns on top.  We HAD to have them!  While we were looking at these, the rep taking our order accidentally knocked over the ENTIRE display.  Yikes!  At least we found these cute earrings.

***Update*** We have these now!

There was a crazy, unexpected storm on our second last day.  It was so bad that we had to take a cab to market even though it was like 3 blocks away.  It was $14 for the 3 of us!  Yikes!!!

Once we made it to market, we found a great deal on some chairs.  They were on special so we got like 16 of them!  We usually only buy dining chairs by the 4 or 6 so that just shows you how excited we were to get them!

Overall, market was a wonderful success.  We found some great furniture pieces, lots of decor and a few new pieces of jewelry.  I'm so excited for you guys to see it all in the store.  Keep in mind that these are only a few of the things we ordered.  I couldn't take pictures of everything.  In my next post, I'll show the pictures of the Fall and Christmas items we ordered for 2014.  

You're going to love this pool house re-do!

So when our friend Susan told us that she was renovating her pool house I pictured the typical, safe beach theme that everyone uses.  You know it what I'm talking about; the fish, the shells, the aqua color on the walls, fake surfboards, Hawaiian flowered bedding, etc.  Boy did I guess wrong!  She managed to create a multi functional open space that is both comfy and stylish by using a little creativity and some color common sense.  As soon as I walked into the space I thought, "My customers are going to love what she did!" 

Not only does Susan make awesome décor, gifts, and jewelry for our store and for her website (Knollwoodlane.com), but apparently she can decorate like a pro!  Who knew??

Above is the outside. Gorgeous.

Below are 2 bronze goats that were her Mom's.  This is definitely a family of animal lovers.

When you walk in, you can see this big open room to your left.  The first thing that strikes you is how clean it feels.  She decided to go with white walls and ceilings so that any color in the room would pop out.  Sometimes color used sparingly can have even more of an impact than a lot of bold choices. 

The bathroom to the right has a vintage chandelier she got from her mother-in-law and sprayed white.  She hung a bright blue bookshelf on the wall to house all of the colorful towels.  I love that she went with white for the chandelier because she knew she'd have a lot of color in the towels.

 

The first thing that happened when I walked in with my camera was that the puppies followed me and wanted to be a part of the fun.  Here's Grits posing on the sofa that Susan slipcovered in dropcloth.  Yes, dropcloth from the hardware store.  It's super cheap and once you wash it, it's soft enough to sit on.

All of the curtains are also made from dropcloth!

 Since she had a huge space, she got 2 rugs from Ballard Design and turned them to make them fit the space.  I love the touch of chevron. 

 

Once Grits got his photo op, Daphne had to get in on the action.  Here's the little stinker on the zebra chair we found during a trip to market.  I love that she wasn't afraid to put a zebra patterned chair with a chevron rug.  Most people are afraid to mix patterns together but it looks amazing!  Isn't Daphne cute?!?!?! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're curious about the pillows, Susan makes them!!  We have a ton of her wonderful creations in the store but she also has a website.  Here's the link to her pillow page.  She doesn't have the one with her family's last name on the site but I'm sure she'd make you a custom one if you sent her a message!

And now onto one of the coolest things about the space; the bunkbeds! See how she angled the chairs in front of the bunk beds to section off the areas?  My mom always says that people need to avoid "circling the wagons" or, in other words, placing all of the furniture around the room against the wall.  Let your furniture create divisions in a large room.  I know it can be tricky but once you scoot it into the right place, you'll look like a design expert. 

The built in bunkbeds are cool for so many reasons.  First, Susan made the headboards herself.  She used plywood, batting, and dropcloth.  She prints a lot of fabric for her business, knollwoodlane.com, so she printed these adorable silhouettes of her dogs on each headboard.  Then she just attached them to the wall above the bed.  How cool!!  We found the bedding from one of our wholesalers at market.  I love the texture.






































Don't you want to climb up there and have a sleepover? 

Here's a closeup of the little crown detail she put on the sides of the bunkbeds.

Next to the bunkbeds, Susan had her carpenter build some shelving and storage with a hidden murphy bed in the center.  For the front of the cabinet that houses the bed, she used the front of an old wardrobe she got from The White Rabbit.  She also got the metal M from us.  We sell so many of those!  They're really cool!

Susan also made a little study area with a shabby table and aqua chair.  I love that she left the table totally chippy.  There is a touch of blue in the paint so it goes great with the lamp and chair.

There is even an area with a dining table and chairs.  The bright chandelier above the table is probably my favorite part of the room.  I thought she was a little crazy when we ordered it at market because it is SO bright but now I see how fun it is in the space.  When you use a lot of neutrals, I think it's important to put in some color to keep the space from feeling too serious. 
Hanging the chandelier above the table also illustrates how you can ground an area by hanging something above it.  Even though there aren't any walls separating the dining/living/sleeping areas, it feels separate because the chandelier sort of "owns" the dining space.  The living room feels separate because the sofa is in the center with it's back to the rest of the space.

Don't you just want to get a couple of girlfriends together and play in there??  You could get out some magazines, lounge around looking at Pinterest, and eat some sort of dessert.  Her daughter is in her teens and she gets to have friends spend the night in here.  So jealous!

I hope you love Susan's pool house as much as I do.  I think it's a great example of mixing new and old elements, using creativity to save a little money, and putting really personal touches into a design.  What a fun space! 
Susan makes a lot of things for our store and has just started her own website, Knollwoodlane.com.  Please check it out and tell her Angie and Lindsay sent you!