Antiques and collectible were only part of the 3-day Country Living Fair experience.
Country Living Magazine held the first of their three annual fairs this weekend at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York. By 11 a.m. on Saturday morning it was nearly impossible to move through the dozen or so barns housing the 200 vendors. Fans quickly filled up the parking lot and poured onto the grounds with carts and wagons to haul away treasures they hoped to find.
Fortunately I arrived early in order to say hello to Country Living Editor-in-Chief Sarah Gray Miller (r.), who also has a home nearby. Sarah showed me photos on her phone of her kitchen that’s being redone with a vintage stove, open storage plus a huge vintage free-standing farm sink. I’ll will look forward to seeing that finished in the mag. She also graciously posed for pictures with me and other bloggers who gathered for a quick briefing.
It’s always great to meet blogland colleagues IRL and what a beautiful group! From left: Ann Andrew of Water Wine Travel, an adorable photographer, Denise Sabia from The Painted Home, Kelly Elko from Eclectically Vintage, Jennifer O’Brien from City Farmhouse, and Elizabeth from Hearst Publications. It would have been great to sit and chat but the merch beckoned.
Anyone who has been drooling over the vintage washtub planters in the Williams-Sonoma catalog would be in nirvana at the Great Stuff by Paul booth. Prices for the enamel and galvanized steel tubs plus stands were in the same $250 ballpark.
I also loved Paul’s oversize French laundry baskets.
He also showed carved and chippy capitals from South Asian columns that always scream “make me into a coffee table base!” at me.
While some might think the burlap and stenciled grain-sack pillow trend is waning, think again. There was a brisk business in burlap by the yard in one barn with piles of natural color remnants nearby.
HGTV personality Cari Cucksey’s booth also was busy.
One prominent redone piece was this Aesthetic Movement settee. That’s the incised style of Victorian furniture that I happen to love. My salvaged fireplace is AM and the furniture is super cheap right now and often ignored. I see it all the time at auctions and I snagged a marble-top side table I use for my printer a few years back (though I haven’t had time to give it a paint job as yet).
And gracefully aged old boxes were around in force at the fair. But there was so much more to see at the Country Living Magazine Fair. Continue the tour with our slideshow (below).
[portfolio_slideshow id=25654]
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So much fun and great meeting you Jane!
Fabulous photos too – so glad to meet a fellow flea market loving gal!
Kelly
This was a great post! I was there, too, and admired many of the same things 🙂 I posted about my experience, too. Here it is, if you want to check it out: http://thrifterindisguise.blogspot.com/2013/06/country-living-fair.html
What a great post about the Country Living Fair! Unfortunately, we left a little late on our drive back to Brooklyn from Ticonderoga this weekend, and we missed the fair. We stopped by the Coxsackie Antiques Barn instead though.
We loooooove Great Stuff by Paul in Frederick! He always has amazing, unique items.