The Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville
If you love antiques shows, The Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville is among the largest events of its kind in the country.
The theme for this year's annual event was “Home is the Tapestry of Your Life." The three-day affair featured more than 150-dealers of fine antiques and art, as well as horticultural exhibitors, and some of the most renowned design, landscape, and architectural speakers in the world. At least 16-thousand visitors walked through the many booths and displays. At this show, there was also a special auction of two chicken coops - one designed by me, and the other by my friend, Christopher Spitzmiller. The coops were built by Cook Builders, LLC in a space designed by Duke Design Group in collaboration with James Dunn of Vintage Millworks. It was a fun project and a great cause - all proceeds from the show benefit Cheekwood Estate & Gardens and the Economic Club of Nashville (ECON). Although I was not able to attend the event, my special projects producer, Judy Morris, went down to see how it all went.
Here are some photos, enjoy. And be sure to see more of my chicken coop on an upcoming episode of "Martha Gardens" on Roku.
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- The Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville was held at the award-winning Music City Center in Nashville’s downtown entertainment district.
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- The Show is a great mix of antique, vintage, and new items for the home and garden. Many vendors came from other states, but there were also a large number right from Nashville like this booth by Creekside Garden Center – filled with indoor and outdoor plants and gardening inspirations.
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- This booth was for Moss Studios by Breck Armstrong. It featured many items hand-crafted and carefully made by Breck Armstrong, who was trained by my friend, and master potter, Guy Wolf.
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- This booth display showed many small leather boxes.
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- There were lots of cut flower vases and botanical themed wall decorations.
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- And of course, lots of flower frogs. Do you know what a flower frog is? A flower frog is a A flower frog is a device used to help arrange flowers. Some, such as the Japanese kenzan, are utilitarian metal devices that fit into a vase or bowl and fix the stems by metal needles. Other designs use a number of holes or guides that stems could be fit through for arranging.
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- In this booth, there was also jewelry – some new, some vintage, and some antique.
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- It’s always fun to decorate with multiples of one item, such as these botanical prints.
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- As you know, I love chickens. Judy spotted this charming antique stone rooster garden ornament and took a quick snapshot. It was displayed by Two Maisons – an antiques shop in Colorado that specializes in European Antiques.
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- And I also love copper. I have a large collection – many pieces decorate the studio kitchen of my guest house at the farm.
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- VE Designs was also at the show with some of their Swedish Mora Clocks. The classic Mora Clock is a type of floor clock with a unique shape and soft, muted colors. It was a tradition in some Swedish families to gather around the home’s Mora Clock on Sunday mornings while it was wound and readied for the week ahead.
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- On this wall, a grouping of framed bathing suits from Julie Harris Antiques. Julie has been an antiques and collectibles dealer for more than 30-years specializing in vintage sports and college memorabilia.
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- Madison James showcased this handmade avian wall hanging.
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- Atlanta Planters is from Georgia. They had these whimsical antique mushrooms for the garden.
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- And do you know what these are? These are called staddle stones. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms. These are originally from England and shown here by Finnegan Gallery of Chicago, Illinois. I have a group of square staddles at one end of my pool.
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- Can you see it? It’s a colorful peacock sitting atop this arbor and bench. The tail was made out of Schumacher fabric. Schumacher, the show’s design sponsor, has been making fine fabrics, wall coverings, pillows and trims since 1889.
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- And here is a glimpse of the chicken coops Christopher and I designed. Mine is on the left and Christopher’s is on the right. For my coop, I chose board and batten siding with a wood shingle roof, glass windows with screens that open, and sliding doors. Scaled to fit perennial flower beds, holly-filled planter boxes, and a stone wall surround the coops.
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- Here’s Christopher with one of the show’s co-chairs, Kathryn Saunders.
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- This is James Dunn of Vintage Millworks, who sourced all the reclaimed wood, windows, and hardware to complete the designed coops.
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- And here is a photo of Christopher joined by Gavin Duke of Duke Design Group, James, and West Cook of Cook Builders, LLC – all flanked by two “chickens.” Wait until my show to find out how much the coops went for at auction. It was a successful and fun show for those who attended – I hope to go next year!
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