Antique State of Mind - Brimfield, MA

There is no past time I enjoy more than a solid Saturday spent antiquing, which is why I’m elated to be reminiscing about my jaunt through the Brimfield Antique Show last weekend. Three times a year (May, July, and September), around 6,000 antique dealers haul their precious loot to the town of Brimfield, MA. To paint the appropriate picture, this event takes over the entire town, and is quoted the largest antique show in the world! I wasn’t able to attend the other show dates throughout the year, so I was so happy the fair’s last weekend of 2018 fell into my schedule. I felt an immediate wave of nostalgia as we pulled up to park, bringing me immediately back to my childhood walking slowly down each lane while my parents surveyed for treasured antiques. I previously wrote about my love for this place here, and it hasn’t changed for 20+ years. If you have the opportunity to fit this into your busy summer schedules, it’s worth the trip. You might even run into a celebrity like John Malkovich. Not that I know what that feels like, because we never found him, but he was seen browsing the stalls all over the show. And don’t just spend the day, there’s plenty to see and do for the whole weekend. Don’t forget your cash and haggling skills!

Given the antique show doesn’t open until 8AM, we left Boston around 6:45AM to beat traffic and plan for a much needed coffee and ATM stop. We were meeting friends and both arrived just before 8AM. We drove through the fair and parked at the end, where parking is cheaper ($8 compared to $10 or $15). We grabbed a quick bite at the quaint Collins Apple Barn Cafe. Aside from the amazing name, this country spot has baked goods, coffee to go, and deliciously simple breakfast sandwiches on melt in your mouth rolls. It was the perfect start to a day of browsing.

Brimfield offers a such a mix, from refurbished finds to bare bones pieces. The cost of items ranges greatly, which I love, because there is something for everyone. I gravitate toward the untouched pieces, but there are some amazing furniture vendors that have done an amazing job of keeping the integrity of each piece in tact while making it ready to own.

Beautiful Moroccan rugs and decor from Heja Home

I’m a sucker for Persian and Turkish rugs and there was definitely no shortage of those. I could have spent half a day with this one vendor learning about where each rug came from in southern Turkey or Iran. I love when a dealer spends time telling the story behind the items, where they found them, how old they are, who owned them prior, etc. For a 5x7 rug, you’re looking at around $250 a pop, which is actually a great deal. I mean some of the designs are so incredible, and uniquely distinct that it’s worth the price tag. It’s like investing in art. Everyone needs one solid piece, and I feel that everyone should have one nice antique rug in their home.

After browsing through a few stalls, I worked up my appetite to start buying. My motto at a flea market is, “it doesn’t hurt to ask.” I do keep my haggling within reason as not to offend anyone, but there’s nothing that makes my heart sing like a good haggling session. The people there were so lovely. They were very interested in why I was interested in certain pieces and we got to talking about Collective Union and my design ideas. It was great to feel this strong sense of community as creatives. It was nice to make connections over shared interests and feel the encouragement from other creatives, who have found their niche and passion. One vendor I met with, had an interesting perspective on sharing content with others. I told her I was sharing inspiration and ideas on my blog, and she literally jumped back gasping, “oh no, you can’t share your ideas, people will steel them!” I was kind of surprised by her reaction as a fellow creative. I feel best when I’m not only creating, but sharing my creations along with the process. In my mind, we all pull inspiration from what surrounds us, including other creators, so why not share in all of it together. Although it was good to hear another perspective, I feel pretty steadfast in my belief that sharing is caring and it can never hurt to collaborate with our other creatives.

We went three straight hours of browsing before stopping for a necessary beer to rehydrate and rest our feet. We spent the time to map out the next 2 hours, as we all had to get back on the road to our pups. For the most part, dogs are allowed on the fair grounds, but some stalls may not allow dogs to wander in the tents. This guy must have been with the owner…

The last two hours were a bit of a blur. I ended up losing a Hepplewhite dresser that I paid for and spent 20 minutes in and out of our car trying to find the right stall. It was not a proud moment for me. How do you lose a dresser, you ask? Quite easy, actually. I’d been looking for the perfect standard dresser to put in our bedroom, and there is was hidden under a Philco sign. It was the perfect piece with the 1920’s charm and minimal detailing. I haggled it down from $100 to $90, paid the kind man, and continued down our path, telling him we’d drive by with our car on our way out of town. Turns out, you should always get a phone number and vendor number, oh and probably a map of the fair grounds. I was convinced we’d be able to find it again, but sadly we never did. With the street traffic and narrow throughways between stalls, it was mere impossible. We decided to call it a loss and get on the road. Let’s just say at lunch I had two glasses of wine instead of one, especially after reading this type of dresser would have probably retailed for around $3,000 (insert hand on forehead emoji here).

To drown my sorrows in food and wine, we stopped at Cedar Street Grille in Sturbridge, MA, which is on the way back into Boston and right near the pike. It was the perfect spot to grab some drinks and snacks and play some cards. Anyone else play cards with friends at every restaurant they go to, no? It was a nice distraction to what happened a few hours prior. I’ll admit, we picked this place out of convenience, but the food was great. We shared fried pickles and fried goat cheese, which were delicious, and I ended up going with a special for my main meal, which was a salmon and quinoa burger, also very tasty. After stuffing my face with fried food, burgers, and fries and a couple glasses of wine, I completely rid my mind of the lost dresser. It was a great ending to a wonderful day. Next year, my goal will be to go to all three show dates, oh and not lose anything…

Dresser UPDATE 9/24:

I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me about my lost dresser. I first wanted to say, thank you for all the support during this tough time, but most importantly, I wanted to share how you can avoid this from happening to you next year. I was lucky to have Brimfield Flea Finder reach out to me on Instagram after reading my recent blog post. She wanted nothing more than to help me track down this beloved dresser. She reached out to every dealer she knew in the area (thank God I took pictures), and we even reviewed a map of the show together over DM, but still no word. I had settled on the fact that this Dresser was likely lost forever when we left the lot that day, so it was so nice to see the universe looking out for me. While we still have not tracked down this dresser, the kindness of one stranger that cares as much about antiques as I do, is a win for me. Thank you Brimfield Flea Finder for taking an interest. I have officially downloaded your app and will without a doubt be using it at Brimfield 2019.

Download the free app on iTunes, and never lose a coveted antique again.