We just completed our annual pilgrimage to the fields of the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts. It is safe to say that attending Brimfield is very much like a circus in many respects. All of the buyers, like us, feel like we’re on a twirlybird or merry-go-round, for that matter… our heads swinging side to side, taking it all in, and trying very hard not to get dizzy as we do so. There is SO much to see!

There are even circus like food stands…

life size animals…

and tents, and tents, and more tents.

Even trick cars make their appearance here and there!

I have written about my journeys to Brimfield in a few of my past blog posts and even last year Maggie, wrote a guest post about her first trip with us to the famous mecca. I am happy to announce that unlike years past, we had no trailer issues since we graduated to owning our own trailer instead of renting which always presented challenges. Aside from having to circumvent all of the parkways in New York and New England to get up to our destination, it was smooth sailing. 

In this year’s approach to sharing our Brimfield trip with you, I decided to let the photos do the talking. This was tough for me to do, for you all know that I am a little wordy when I write… okay… very wordy. So this is foreign to me. Keeping it short and sweet with my verbiage while trying to give you a flavor for the trip.

As I have written before, Brimfield is huge and if you don’t know your way around or who you want to see ahead of time, you’re going to spend a lot of time seeing things that you might not have been looking for…

like… Bigfoot…

 or a wagon drawn by a metal sculptured unicorn. If you ever get the chance to go, I recommend doing a little research ahead of time to gather information on the fields that are open and what those fields are known for or you will waste a lot of time… unless you are looking for Bigfoot. 

Each field has a flavor of its own, a personality so to speak, and what is sold in each of the fields corresponds to that personality. 

The selections are endless so it really comes down to need, 

quantity,

and price. For example, I really “needed” all of these mannequins but the price for me to resell them was far too much. So sad. One of these days, I shall try and come up here to buy just for myself but for right now, the space in the trailer is precious so it has to make sense for resale purposes. 

The art of the deal is very important and haggling to get the best price is a skill that has taken me awhile to get the hang of so that we can bring that pricing back to you.  

The selection process is rigorous. Otherwise, we would end up filling the trailer in just the first day with impulsive buys!

Trunks, and shutters, and and ladders, oh my… and a French horn case and a school bus thrown in the mix, just in case. Case in point… I could fill the trailer with trunks alone!

This was the last day of our four day journey and we bought our last purchase (this table that I am carrying) with the last of our dollar bills! They LOVE cash in Brimfield! I am the luckiest girl alive to be able to make this trip where I am surrounded by all that is old and have the ability to pick through and bring back to you objects with a patina that I think will rock your abode. It’s a pickers paradise. A paradise filled with dirt, heat and sensory overload, but a paradise nevertheless! Made even more so by the accompaniment of friends who get my kind of crazy!

Once those friends and I reloaded our final finds on the last day

and secured a ride home for the stuff that wouldn’t fit, we hit the road and stopped at what is now our favorite end of the trip event, Hollands Maine Attraction.

Fortunately for them but unfortunately for us, this little food spot sits across from this gorgeously refreshing looking lake.

It is far too tempting for us to stay another day, not on the fields of Brimfield, but on the shores of this lake. With the six plus hour drive home pulling the heavy trailer, we have to get our keisters moving! Ah, maybe we will plan better next year!

Once back in Pennsylvania, we unload ALL of our treasures that came home both in our trailer and that of our newest Brimfield friends, into the barn. 

Here some of the treasures will await their facelifts.

Some need just a little rearranging for their innate beauty speaks for themselves.

Some are stacked waiting to be vignetted.

Some are design elements waiting to be utilized in an offbeat yet striking way.

The barn is a maze of treasures right now and so many people ask if I love having the slower days of summer before me once our summer sale ends. It is the behind the scenes sweat and labor that happens between our sales that enables our sales to look like they do, once they arrive. We call it the “under belly” of a sale. Not many people see it and when they do, it is not very pretty. Kind of like life, right? 

 

 

I am thankful to the people who help make this all happen.

for without them, this would be a lonely journey.

One that would definitely not be filled with as much laughter!

Brimfield 2018 is a wrap and it is one for the record books. For all of the years that I have been coming up here, the treasures we have found on this one are the most exciting! We hope that you can join us to see how far the treasures have come from the back of our trailer to their reimagined states. We open our barn doors for our Fall Barn Sale, September 19th & 21st, 22nd, & 23rd. Click here to learn more!

At our barn sales, we like to combine a carefully curated blend of old and new that might entice you to think differently about how you fill the spaces that you inhabit. Come see what a Life’s Patina Barn Sale is all about!

 

Hope to see you soon!

~ Meg