A Brimfield Love Story by Eat Sleep Vintage

Brimfield dealers all have their own personal stories of how they found their way to the epic show. Most started as buyers and eventually worked their way into selling. Some have been coming since childhood while others discovered it later in life. In this post, Maureen of Eat Sleep Vintage, is sharing the story of how she fell in love with antiques and how Brimfield found a place in her life. Enjoy!
- Kaitlin

Eat Sleep Vintage. This name personifies me and my love for antiques...I'm not sure how I fell in love with them. I didn't grow up with them in our home, but I remember being about 17, and happened to stop at a garage sale while out and about one day and I found an antique sideboard and it was cheap! Maybe $30...What?? The craftsmanship was beautiful with carvings in the tiger oak. The gentleman told me about the history of it and I had to have it. I got it home somehow and put in the basement, saving it for when I would be out on my own one day. From there my addiction started...scouring flea markets and garage sales, learning about antiques, the beauty of them, the history, and the stories they told. Making numerous friends with dealers and shop owners, and acquiring a ton of things, storing them away for "some day"...I remember my father yelling, when are you going to get rid of that junk, as the basement was now full. It amazed me what could be found out there for little to no money..such treasures! What is wrong with people, don't they realize what this is?? My heart raced just thinking about some of the things I was lucky to find.

Brimfield is Mad for Mid Century

Mid Century Modern has a been a big seller in Brimfield for a while now. The simplicity and clean lines blend perfectly with today's modern styles and the quality of furniture made during the middle part of the last century is often times far better than what you can buy in stores now. 

Vintage and Succulents Are A Perfect Match!

I've been succulent-curious for a while now. It's hard to ignore all the beautiful images of them popping up everywhere. They have so much personality and come in so many colors and textures and since I have a very black thumb I love that they're relatively hard to kill.

I also love how perfectly they pair with vintage pieces. I think that's part of the reason they have been showing up and flea markets and antique shows more and more over the last few years. In previous posts I mentioned that succulents and plants have been a top trend at recent Brimfield shows. I expect that to continue in 2017.

September 2016 #Brimfield Recap

It's hard to believe that the last Brimfield show of the year has come and gone. And what a year it has been! May was one of the biggest shows in years and July and September were relatively busy as well. The Thursday of the September show was particularly busy. Traffic was backed up on Route 20 towards Sturbridge and parking lots were full. There were big crowds over the weekend despite some questionable weather on the last day.

Keep reading to find out more about how our latest vintage camper turned out, Food52's first ever Brimfield booth as well as the trends their editors spotted at the show, the most searched for items and categories in the Brimfield Flea Finder app and some pretty eye candy to get you through the winter!

Hopping on the Fixer Upper Bandwagon with DIY Faux Shiplap

If you have found your way to this blog post, chances are you have seen an episode or two of HGTV's Fixer Upper. Or all of them.

Sadly, we cut the cable cord a year ago so I'm a full season behind but it seems like Chip and Joanna are everywhere these days. And I've seen enough to know that I love Joanna's style. I love how she mixes old and new. I love how her rooms are simple and clean. I love how she values functionality and purpose in her designs. And yes, I'm going to say it: I love shiplap.

What Does Brimfield Mean To You?

Flea market season is right around the corner and the Brimfied buzz is starting to pick up. Dealers are starting to get their inventory ready, shoppers are planning their trips, local businesses are preparing for the swarms of people and we are signing up dealers and getting a new update to the app ready for release.

Brimfield is one of the most well known flea markets in the world, but it is also still a premier antiques and collectibles show. Some of the dealers (and shoppers!) in Brimfield are incredibly knowledgeable about the items they specialize in. In general, they are also very willing to share information with shoppers and other dealers. They love talking about their fields of expertise and helping people add to their collections. Many of these specialized dealers are the backbone of the show and have seen it shrink and grow and change many times over the years. 

Get the Most Out of Your Brimfield App Listing

This post is specifically for dealers who use the Brimfield Flea Finder app to connect with buyers. Our app was developed to help YOU and we want to make sure you are getting the most out of your listing and we try to make that as easy as possible! We spend a lot of our time at the show talking to dealers and giving them this information, but as our dealer base grows we can't spend as much time with all of you so here is some of our best advice on using the app to your advantage:

Pre-Show Update: September 2015

Next week will mark our sixth show since starting the app. That is a big deal to us because from the beginning we always said "let's just give it six shows." The last year and a half have not gone as we expected. There have been lots of twists and turns. We've had times we wanted to give up and times we felt like like we were almost at a tipping point. Going into this show, it's safe to say things are looking up! 

Here are some things we want everyone to know about next week's show:

July 2015 Show Recap

Before we had time to decompress from the show, we were off to the Cape for a lovely much needed getaway! That gave us a little time to reflect back on the show. 

It's almost impossible to sum up any Brimfield show in a way that everyone agrees with. The show is so big and means different things to different people. When you get around the entire show as much as we do, it becomes clear that everyone really does experience it differently. Most dealers have their own set of July-specific expectations. Although the show did seem fairly typical for July, we did hear from quite a few of our dealers that the show surpassed their expectations and sales rivaled a May or September show. Those dealers were very happy! Others were not as pleased. And the heat and humidity always makes some people a little cranky. 

Brimfield Dealer Profile: Rustored Salvage

One of my favorite parts of developing the Brimfield Flea Finder app, has been meeting so many talented passionate people who love what they do. This series of Brimfield Dealer Profiles will highlight a small sample of dealers that can be found using the app. For the July show I will focus on a handful of dealers who have participated and supported the app from the beginning. I'm thrilled to help shine a little more light on these businesses that they work so hard building and running every day.

Rustored Salvage
Industrial salvage. Shelton's F9. Use the Brimfield Flea Finder app to find their booth at the show or their contact info between shows.

Eric Moore is the dealer behind Rustored Salvage. He's not exactly a veteran Brimfield dealer but you wouldn't know that by looking at his booth. He has managed to secure a coveted spot directly on Route 20 despite being a relatively new kid on the block. His booth is always bustling and he has a laid back positive energy that people are drawn to. It's obvious right away that he enjoys what he does and knows exactly what he's doing. 

Our Day at The Vintage Bazaar

On Saturday, Ryan and I dropped the girls off at their grandparent's right after breakfast and headed to The Vintage Bazaar in Salisbury, MA. This was kind of a big deal. This was my first full day away from my 18 month old and only my second full day away from my 3.5 year old since they were born. We are slowly working our way up to an overnight eventually! As much as we clearly adore those two crazy creatures, a peaceful car ride, no diapers, no toddler potty emergencies and only having to feed ourselves was very welcome. The fact that the VB was an amazing event and the weather was perfect were just bonuses!

This was our first time attending the VB and throughout the day we kept comparing it to Brimfield because...well, that's just what we do! Here's what we came up with!