This Friday, my mom and I are heading back to the Lucketts Spring Market! It snuck up on me this year because I don’t have any huge items on my wishlist, but going to the Spring and Fall Markets is always a highlight. I get to spend quality time with my mom, rub shoulders with some of my old antique vendor buddies, and come home with some treasures. It’s also an amazing, well-curated, well-produced event that is a delight to experience. The folks at Lucketts do a top-notch job. Think of amazing Anthropologie displays colliding with your favorite antique shops, and a day at a country fair. There are fiddle groups and everything. It’s not too late to get tickets or to drop in for an enjoyable day. HERE are all of the when, where, and how details.
When we went to the 2023 Spring Market, I was on the hunt for an island and hutch for my kitchen and I was able to find the perfect pieces and fill my rented van to capacity. It was a pretty impressive display of real-life Tetris.
I’m taking my minivan this year (we’ll remove the seats just in case) since I’m not on the hunt for large pieces. Of course, I’m sure I’ll find the most amazing, irresistible, huge piece but we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.
I have learned over the years that it helps to go to a market like this with a detailed wish list. There are so many amazing things that it’s easy to get overwhelmed, distracted, and make impulsive decisions because of the frantic energy when the gates first open. If I have a list with dimensions as well as specific things I want and don’t want, it helps me to make better decisions at the moment and look past all of the amazing stuff to see the things I have a place and need (want) for.
So, here are the things that are on my list this year…
side tables for the patio loungers
I found these amazing teak lounge chairs at the Salvation Army for $50/each. They sell for over $1600/each new, so I got an amazing deal and they are very high quality. I looked last summer for small side tables to put between them, but I didn’t find anything that was just right. I’m not sure exactly what I want, but I’m sure there will be some options to consider at Lucketts. It could even be a plant stand or something the size and shape of a Chinese garden stool.
plant stand
I don’t have a lot of places to put potted plants, so I’d like to look for a plant stand. Again, I’m not 100% sure exactly what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it. Usually, a vendor or two carries an antique enamel baby bath and I might get one of those to either use for plants or for ice and drinks when we have a crowd over. I’ve bought an sold a few of them over the years and can’t believe I didn’t hang onto one!
concrete statues
Why do I always like things that are the heaviest and most ridiculous to move?! I can’t help it, but I love concrete garden planters, statues, and furniture. I think it’s a nostalgic thing for me as well as the fact they develop a lovely patina. My Oma had a birdbath, curved bench, and planters in their yard that came from her mother’s yard and I remember using that bench as a kitchen counter, shaping mudpies to sell. I love that concrete pieces get better when stained and dappled with lichen and moss. A very generous reader was downsizing last year and gave me her birdbath along with some planters, but I’d still like to add a few more pieces.
So, I’m on the lookout for statues and planters in addition to ages terracotta pots…
cast iron boot scraper
Our soil in Maryland is very clay-heavy and, when it’s wet, it cakes to the bottom of my boots. I’ve been scraping them with a trowel, running them along a tree trunk, or shuffling around on the street to remove the clumps before I can hose them off. A vintage or antique cast iron boot scraper would look so cute by the side door but would also be very practical.
garden bench
We’re going to be replacing the fence in a couple of weeks and I have a vision for this sad area. I’d like to train some bushes or dwarf trees along the fence and put a bench in front of it. I need to get the weeds under control and do some grading and seeding, but it’ll be a nice spot for a bench with espaliered trees or bushes behind.
We sold the bench I had in MN to the new owners, but I loved that bench and hope to find something similar. I painted mine to match the front door, but I want this bench to remain raw teak so it can age and weather gracefully as teak does.
artwork
As always, I’ll be on the lookout for interesting pieces of art as well as frames to collect for future original art sales and commissions.
Other than that, I’ll just look for whatever speaks to me! Since I’m in major gardening mode at the moment, I have a feeling I’ll be tuned in to things I can use outside, but you can never discount the idea that I might come home with a new piece of ironstone…
14 Responses
Those teak lounge chairs were the best find ever:)
It will be a glorious day with your mother.
This will be my second time going to Lucketts, and I am looking forward to it! I don’t need any big pieces. However, I love discovering lovely things that I don’t need.
I know that you are your Mom will have a great time at Lucketts! How nice to have your Mom help you shop! I hope you find some great items to fill your van, Marian.
I wish I didn’t live so far away as I would definitely be a regular at this market.
I love that picture of the robins in your antique bird bath. Maybe you should paint this!
What an enjoyable mother-daughter day! I hope you find some treasures. If you are still looking after Luckett’s, I have recently seen boot scrapers (mid-century and older) listed on Etsy. My sister has one shaped like a dog and it always makes me smile when I come to her door. I live in South GA and our clay soil is quite tenacious. Cannot wait to see your Luckett’s haul!
Yes, I actually found a few I liked on Etsy, but I decided it would be more fun to hunt for it. Also, the shipping on cast iron pieces was pretty expensive, understandably! That is my back-up plan if I don’t find one soon.
Please, please, don’t bring a hideous bathtub home. There is not a bit of European flair with a repurposed tub! Horrors!
I love those tubs and was wondering how much they normally cost!
Mary….WHAT!!!???……sorry you feel that way about the tubs. I wish I had one! They can look very vintage and appealing filled with annuals. A nice interesting touch to the yard….with a ready made drainage hole to boot!!!
Have a wonderful time with your mom treasure hunting!
I have a birdbath just like that one. It is from my Mom’s yard. And I have one of those garden planters just like the one shown. It is from the previous owner who left it when they moved. It is so heavy! They were antique dealers. Have a good time finding treasures at the sale.
I know you will find the best pieces. It’s great you go in with a list. The bowl to my bird bath broke a few years ago and I’m still looking for a replacement. Taking a small road trip the end of this month, so I will be on the lookout. I have two corners of our house that I would like to work on, but I need a vision and plan. Do you think your nursery guy will travel for just $20? I’m even open to a little pink.
I realize I am SUCH a midwestern gal. I have no frame of reference where places in VA are, like Lucketts. It was only when you talked about HD in your stories that I realized it’s right next to Winchester – where my 98 year old aunt lives!!!!! I could have been going to visit her all these years and run into you at the event!!!!! Now to look at the dates for the next one…
We just came back from Lucketts and went to the general admission on Friday. This is my third time going to the Clarke Co. fairground’s location and I have always attended the Spring show. It’s always a well-organized, and well-attended show. With that being said, I was a little let down after attending the show this year. Yes, there were some great quality vendors there, but I felt the show was somewhat smaller and more vendors selling alot of non-vintage/antique items but reproduction goods instead. Maybe I am the only one that got that vibe, and I am certainly not discouraging anyone from attending because it’s a great show, but I just felt the direction had changed some.
I have missed the last two years of Lucketts. This year, I was bummed but needed a surgical procedure and it was scheduled during the market. Ugh! It took so long to get it scheduled. I hope you found some good items. I never come back empty-handed. I used to love shopping at your booth. I would head straight to it. Most of my white ironstone is from you. Your sweet dad always wrapped everything up so nicely for me.