The International Home and Gift show in Atlanta is a feast for the senses. It has an overwhelming selection of merchandise that encompasses the buying habits of an entire nation and beyond. From the souvenirs you buy at the cute little shop on your oceanside vacation to high design. We just came back from our 5th year in attendance, and as with all the other trips prior, this trip was a combination of successful buying, hilarious antics and a cementing of my plan and vision for the Spring Sale. We learned the hard way when we first began this venture, that you really have to touch and feel the product you are ordering. If not, be prepared for a plethora of surprises when the merchandise you ordered unseen, except for a photo, arrives. “Did I really order that…What was I thinking…and that looks nothing like the picture,” were common phrases to be heard when our first orders began to arrive where we had not seen the merchandise in person. I had heard that Atlanta was the place to go to both order with quality control in mind and to find the little hidden gems.
While this product fulfilled neither of those goals, (who came up with this bright idea?) I though I would share with you some of the things that did.
We love boxwood, horse heads and the light unfinished wood which seems to be pretty hot this year which we have always had in the barn. Looks like we have been ahead of this trend!
We LOVE these pedestal trays, the lavender, glassware and lemon trees.
Though it took some time, we finally ordered from a paper company that I have been ogling for years. Wait until you see what we do with their product! I cannot wait to get started on that project.
You just might see a product or two from this vignette at the Spring Barn Sale as well. Wait… if I show you photos of all of our favorites, that might reveal too much and you will not be surprised when you walk into the barn. Okay, instead of showing you images of what we found, I will reveal to you the trends we saw. Looks like the pantone color of the year is rose quartz. There is lots of raw light unfinished wood and it seems to be the year of the animal. Thus the statue of the cow in the center of the above console table and…
the sheep statues, sheep wool seats, pillows and rugs that were quite frequently seen.
The rolling wooden dog toys as home accessory items.
The pig head lamps and other assorted animals…
and the full scale pink baby elephant.
Since we had already packed our car to the brim with goodies to take home, we did not have room to pack any of the above mentioned four legged friends.
When pigs fly…
we might bring home some of these “nightmare for sure” dolls.
Anyway you slice it, walking though floor after floor of merchandise, testing the comfort factor of the furniture and selecting what was best to order to order and how many to order of each item…two, four, six, twenty… was a tough job.
The free food and drink was even worse…and the combination of all with so much on our minds…
often caused me to have to order while lying down.
After combing the hallways,
ascending and descending from floor to floor, and
passing through this really cool hotel on the way to ours, in which we stood in the hallway and as chicly as possible snapped photos every time we came through, four days later we had picked out our goodies to be shipped home and now the fun really begins…
after the Blizzard of 2016, how are we going to get the trucks into the barn to make their deliveries???
Ah well, another problem to solve and decisions to be made. Never a dull moment! And we have not even shared how our trip ended. That little entertaining tidbit of info will be shared in a post I am compiling about the hysterical antics that occur here at Life’s Patina. For what would all of this be worth if we did not have some laughs, even if they are at our own expense, along the way?
Looking forward to sharing all of our finds that we are extremely excited about in April!
~Meg
