Provenance, I love this word. The idea that everything has a story of origin. It’s part of what makes vintage pieces so charming. You have your story, where you found it, and how you made it yours, and sometimes it comes with a certifiable history, like a great painting or a fully vetted and appraised antique. But most of the time we are left to fill in the blanks of the colorful story of its past with our own imaginations.
My favorite finds are the ones I’m not looking for. The ones that stop me in my tracks and make me question how I lived without them. Sometimes, they end up being just right for a client and sometimes an item picked for a client was always meant to live with me and so it does. Sometimes great purchases allude you, they become the ones that got away.
My favorite store in Charlottesville was Roxie Daisy. I say was because it closed a few years ago after a good run. I’d push my stroller past its partially paper-lined windows as demo crews worked to convert a regular space into something magical. Then the product started showing up. Funky antiques mixed with new curated designs that made for a space I could live in. I was full-on stopping my stroller now to ogle- I even met the shopkeeper Karen and asked her if she needed help unpacking….she graciously declined. My kids were too young to realize that her shop was not the most direct way home and thankfully her candy jar would buy me a few minutes to soak in the beauty before I had to flee the scene because two little boys were about to break her store! She had raised her 2 boys in Richmond, a city, I didn’t know at the time that I would one day live in.
The grand opening proved to be every bit as magical as I suspected. A french bed debuting a line of Bella Notte Linens, found objects from french flea markets, and Lollia lotions and potions. Rustic shelving held cookbooks, dish towels, and funky wooden serving pieces. It was a symphony of delight to help pass those days as a stay-at-home mom that feel so long.
h Around the corner was a nook of lovingly curated children’s items. French mice in matchboxes, felted mobiles, and onesies. Jelly cat stuffed animals filled a vintage Hungarian bathtub. Sugarboo love notes covered the walls and that’s when I realized what was anchoring the whole alcove. A rustic old armoire. One door was left on and the other carefully taken off. It was chippy and not too deep, it had a crystal doorknob, but it was her crown that caught my eye and was unlike any other molding I’d ever seen- a scallop edge molding that besotted me. And it was for sale. A lot of furniture in there started at $1000- but this lovely lady was a fair 795.00- It was just 795.00 that I did not have. So I would visit her in between my stroller jaunts downtown, the after Christmas sale and July sidewalk sale that I marked on my calendar. Some of my most treasured pieces are from that store. Outrageously priced items for my budget became attainable at 75% so now when I pull out my Christmas decorations I’m met with happy purchases that made it to the after Christmas sale.
Lucky for me she looked more like a store fixture and less like a must have furniture item. She quietly stood guard while holding forth items on her shelves. I brought my friends with me on on weekly Friday walks and even discussed with my girl Sylvia how to make the scallop crown molding and attach it to anything. We contemplated who had that skill set as well as a penchant for entertaining crazy women looking to make their dreams come true. We came up empty. Karen would tell me stories about her grown boys that made me hopeful for my own. I chuckled when she said her one son said he liked her style but asked her to never decorate his adult home. Apart from the earlier sales I mentioned, Roxie only had one 20% off sale around Christmas that included the whole store. I may have called to find out if my lovely lady was included.
Thankfully, as things came and went through Roxie’s door, the old armoire stayed. 6 years flew by and when we unexpectedly found ourselves moving to Richmond and with a little extra cash from the sale of our house and a new home to furnish, I plucked up my courage to ask my husband in the midst of an inopportune time if I could go get my girl- a piece of furniture I’d been loving for years that I am not sure I ever mentioned to him, only because there is only so much time for him to take in all my whimsey. He didn’t know I’d been seeing it socially all these years but he very kindly said yes. It was clear it was go time and it just so happened to be 20% off. While people were hob-knobbing at the pre-Christmas holiday gathering- I marched in, pulled her tag, ponied up the money and made her mine for $625. The movers picked her up for me on the way to pack up our house and the rest as they say is history.
Here’s to great finds, pieces that move you and the thrill of the hunt! SM
