THIS LITTLE BIGGIE WENT TO THE MARKET

A peek inside the January 2011 Gift & Home Furnishings Market from a 6’5 designer’s perspective

Produced, written and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Ashley Waldron Hope

Hey, I probably had one chance in my lifetime to use a title like that, okay? So here’s the deal: As an Atlanta-based decorator slash designer, I’ve been the biggest ADAC snob since embarking on this lemme-come-and-decorate-your-crib-career-situation, but recently discovered something game-changing. What the hell is ADAC? Well, for anyone not in the Atlanta area, it’s the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, which is super high-end, glamorous, wonderful and shiny. For those of you in Los Angeles, it’s the equivalent of the Pacific Design Center; in New York, kinda like the D&D Building. Recently, I strayed from my usual ADAC-centric routine to check out “The Other” trade-only designer megacomplex, America’s Mart. The result? Oh. My. Gawd.

Remember money—that green stuff handed over to stores to get other stuff, you used to be able to save it and smells kinda weird? Well, America’s Mart is not only a delicious place for decorators and designers to purchase gorgeous items for the home, it’s also a magical place where you get to KEEP many of those green pretties. I trekked the January 2011 Gift & Home Furnishings Market and was blown away at the amazing trade-only pieces available both from temporary exhibits and permanent showrooms. Many times, I wanted to pull the showroom personnel aside and say “I think you marked down the wrong prices on your stuff; that says $349, isn’t it supposed to be $3499?”. Alas, no, it’s like ACTUALLY AFFORDABLE but looks rich-people-only-ish. Here’s a quickie first glance at the magic of the Mart. Y’all come back now in a day or two for the full rundown: who, what, where and how. In the meantime, leave a comment about any other magical design-centric place you’ve found where high-design is incomprehensibly attainable. Or else I will not like you.

Chip off the old block

Chip Wade, the comely contractor from HGTV’s mega-hit, Curb Appeal: The Block, put together this so-pretty-I-just-went-to-my-happy-place vignette. When I’m not juggling seventeen full-time jobs and a dog that pees on my bed when I brush my teeth, I will totally be listing all resources.

Le$$ is more

Design Legacy, based in Texas, offers industrial-schoolhouse slash coastal-modern pieces with smile-inducing price tags. Above all, I spent most of my time—and my budget—here. The price on the stools was so jaw-droppingly good, I bought three. And I don’t even NEED stools nor do I have a place for them; they were just too kickass NOT to buy.

Good things come to those who wait

Although I wanna go into detail about this table and those clocks above, I’m outta time. You nosh on THIS while I go kinda-sorta save the world, then return later with a full rundown.

While you wait, go be smart and become a fan on Facebook, then hop in line to follow us on Twitter. And when I say “us”, I mean me. Thank you. Goodbye.