Another Lucketts Market is in the books!  Attending the Lucketts markets has definitely been a perk of moving back to the mid-Atlantic region.  My mom and I know the Friday of the Spring and Fall Markets are written in ink on the calendar and we need to work everything else around them.  Well, the Early Bird shopping of the 2024 Fall Market did not disappoint.  First of all, the weather was heavenly.  It was just what you want in a fall market.  We had sunny skies, a crisp bite to the air, and a slight breeze that was just enough to rustle the leaves.  We started the morning with sweaters and jackets and shed them around lunchtime.

The vendors and the Lucketts crew, as expected, put on a great show.  Lucketts does a great job at creating “moments” throughout the event.  Places to take pictures, to sit and eat or rest, to listen to live music, to watch the crowds.   The event is catered to antique shoppers, but they’ve made it much more well-rounded than that so you can bring your family and they are all likely to find something enjoyable even if it’s just an apple cider doughnut and the fall weather.

My mom and I were there for the shopping (and the onion rings.)  The vendors around the entrance are usually pretty crowded when the market first opens, so my mom and I tend to skip past those to head in a direction where the crowds are thinned out.  I always have to browse at Ekster antiques, though.  Caroline always has heart-stopping pieces, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss something!  I admired a few things and ended up taking a picture of a shelf design that might be a good option for the open shelving in our kitchen.  I’d still like to build something custom, but I haven’t settled on a design.  I like how these shelves were deep and the brackets added a nice detail.

I also took a picture of this little shelf that could inspire a design.  Something that sits on the floor could work, but it needs to have legs tall enough to clear the vent in the baseboard.  I like how this shelf stepped back as it got taller.

We stopped in at Hearth & Home to say hello…

I ended up buying a charming craft paper notebook inspired by an antique French book.  I like the cover, fabric spine, and texture of the paper, but also the fact that is has different types of paper from solid to perforated, gridded, and lined.

When we visited Goods Resurrected, I was shocked to see that the pine cupboard I highlighted in my Lucketts wish List post was back!  It hadn’t sold at the last event so they gave it a little TLC and brought it back to try again.  It was deeper than I remembered and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the perfect piece after all, but it felt somewhat providential that the piece was there again.  In the end, I decided not to buy anything big, especially since there was still a lot to do in the basement.

I know I’ll find another cabinet in the future that will work for storage down there.  It gives me something to have on my list in the spring when the floors and walls are finished.  I loved this antique bed in their booth as well.  I told my mom, if I had a little girl, I would be all over buying that bed.  It is such a charming piece.  My boys are teenagers and they don’t like antiques, so I’m out of luck.

My mom bought a Meanwhile Back on the Farm purse because that’s becoming her normal thing at Lucketts…

I was drawn in by a table of overshot coverlets and remnants…

…of course, I ogled the wall of ironstone.

…and admired so many beautiful pieces and displays.

This booth was filled with imports from France and I was tempted by an armoire and a dining table.  I talked myself out of both, but they were stunning.  This wardrobe wouldn’t even fit in my ceilings, but it would be a great piece for some of those huge homes in the DC metro area with soaring ceilings.

I did buy a few things and I’ll share those in another post, but I didn’t need furniture pick-up this year.  I was able to fit everything into my little shopping cart.

We did have to make one visit that was about business – to see if my original oil paintings sold at The Past Restored booth.  All four of them were gone and, other than the picture sent to me below, I never got to see them in the space…

I honestly wasn’t sure how new oil paintings would sell at an antique market, but they sold within the first hour and were all purchased by the same buyer.  Her son is a dog lover, so she bought them for his room.  So I think I’ll have to plan ahead and get some more pieces done to sell at Lucketts in the future.

We ended up leaving shortly after lunch, satisfied with our purchases and time spent visiting friends, shopping, and enjoying a gorgeous fall day in Virginia.