Yesterday, Steve arranged to have Charlie watch our other two children so that we could spend the day together for an early Valentine's Day celebration. I'm blessed to share my life with a wonderful man who loves antique shopping as much as I do. So we decided to take advantage of our childless moment and spend our day visiting a couple of the antique shops that have been on our list to explore.
Our first stop was A Beautiful Mess in Agoura Hills. The quote on the Beautiful Mess website says it all: "A Beautiful Mess: Where antiques, design and oddities meet pure and simple elegance".
Owner Kymberley Fraser opened the store last year. She created a team with fellow Bungalow antique dealers Karen Chambers, Marilyn Thompson, Victoria Stoehr, Leah Cox, Tina O'Flaherty and The Junk Girls. The result is a fantastic antique collective that is filled with all of the things I love.
A collection of vintage landscape paintings were the first items that caught my eye.
Stacks of Kymberley's gorgeous vellum books are placed around the shop.
All of the books are for sale! It was hard to resist buying a stack or two...
A wonderfully aged vignette made up of a vintage horse painting and stacks of vellum books and parchment colored luggage.
One chunky volume works well on its own, adorned with a simple rosary.
A group of aged silver was place on a sideboard waiting for their floral arrangements.
I thought this light fixture made with sea fans was so romantic!
Simple and lovely.
An old ship's porthole was used as a frame for a piece of coral displayed on a wall.
The owners of A Beautiful Mess are masters of display. Their vignettes allow visitors to see the beauty in every day objects.
My friend Gina Milne, a very talented interior designer and writer of the blog Willow Decor, first introduced me to Kymberley and her company Three Fine Grains a couple of years ago. Like many of Gina's readers, I fell in love with Kymberley's gorgeous vintage grain sack pillows and upholstered furniture. It was exciting to see them in person!
To see more of Kymberley's pieces please visit the Three Fine Grains Website.
While I was busy eyeing these great baskets, Steve was admiring the galvanized cabinet that the baskets were hanging on.
We both thought it would make a perfect storage cabinet for our chicken and garden supplies, so we bought it. Happy Valentine's Day to me :)
Steve had to drag me out of A Beautiful Mess. I really did feel right at home.
Until you have the time to visit A Beautiful Mess in person, you can enjoy more eye candy on their website!
I hope you had a Beautiful Valentine's Day!
xo
Brooke
If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.
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