What's going on around here.......

With Spring Market 2012 officially under our belts and the next Design House reveal being in August, we are all on vacation, drinking Margaritas and sleeping in.  Just kidding (well, maybe not the Margaritas part)!!

Spring visitor

A new visitor made a home in Heather's pavilion this past week.

We're calling her "Lazy Dove" because she decided to nest in a long ago abandoned bird nest in the corner.

She's so much bigger than the nest's previous occupant and hangs off the side of the nest --- she doesn't seem to mind one bit though.

Two new features start this week!

We'll be starting two new features on our blog to give you more inspiration and a chance to link up and share your blog posts.

On Wednesdays, join us for "Pin it Wednesdays" with the Lucketts Store blog. 

On Fridays our feature post will be called "Store to Abode Fridays." 

Love is in the air

A few new items in the shop in time for Valentine's Day, and a sneak peek of "Lucketts before" at the end of this post.

A comfy red sofa from Anne

Celebrating collections

We are great finders, and many times great keepers too.  We love to hunt for bargains and unusual items for the shop, but we also take a fair number of our treasures home to enjoy.
 
Many of us have some pretty impressive collections at home.  Some of the things we like to collect include silver, bread boxes, old books / prints, vintage clothing, and ironstone.  Since wrangling everyone around here to take pictures of their collections and send them in so we can post them on our blog would be a near impossible feat to coordinate, we've decided to feature a few of our favorite pictures of collections we'd love to own. Enjoy!

How to "do Lucketts" the right way

{photo courtesy of Marian Parsons}

The Old Lucketts Store has been called a treasure trove, the mother load, a rabbit warren of rooms, and my favorite... that the store makes people feel like they're Alice in Wonderland.  Based on questions we get at the counter, calls that come in, and conversations we overhear, we thought we'd pull together a few ideas on how to make the most of your visit to the shop.

Gettin' props!

Antiques and vintage finds are terrific ways to add interest to your photos.  We've spotted vintage props in engagement photos, family portraits, wedding photos, and pictures of children and pets.  Here are a few of our favorite finds that are help make photos more creative and beautiful.

Old shutters and doors add lots of color and are great backdrops for photos.

Vintage or painted frames can be wonderful in a photo shoot.  I've seen some really cute engagement photos with a couple holding an oversized frame.

{source:  Pinterest}

Vintage trunks always add instant character to any photo scene.

{source:  Lucketts Store Design House}

Old crates are great to prop things on.  Vintage feed sacks are always popular in photos for their texture and typography.

{source:  The Old Lucketts Store}

Events in the City recently picked up some items at the shop for an engagement photo shoot including a peanut sack, a vintage mailbox, and a Love sign.

{source:  Events in the City}

Although they're getting tougher and tougher to find {even for us}, vintage dress forms are always beautiful and add so much to a photo shoot.

{source:  Lucketts Store Design House}

Vintage hats are always popular.  The styles vary so much that you really can match any mood or look that you're trying to portray in a photo shoot.

{source:  The Old Lucketts Store}

Who doesn't love a vintage suitcase?  Like the hats, there is so much variety with these and they can match any mood.  You can find a leather bound, manly-looking version {shown below}, or a very cute retro version in bright patent leather or cool print for very different looks.

{source:  The Old Lucketts Store}

Vintage bottles and books will instantly make any room {or photo subject} look studious.

{source:  The Old Lucketts Store}

What are your favorite vintage photo props?  

Leave us a comment and let us know!

Happy snapping!

New year, new sign

While we loved our old sign, the weather had gotten the best of it...

Marian took this picture for us before our Holiday Open House.

...and our website and print materials have been branded with our tagline, Vintage Hip.  We wanted to carry this theme through on to our new sign.

Website graphic.

Enter our new sign! A gift from one of our vendors made by a very talented significant other. We pulled the new sign out of the barn today and propped it up for this photo. You would have thought I would stage a better picture than propping the sign up against some holiday greenery, a metal cactus, a vintage bike, a fire pit and lawn chair, and a few trailers full of new finds. But hey, it was cold outside, and that sign was HEAVY!!! Focus on the sign, focus on the sign...

 The metal sign is painted and lettered entirely by hand - no stencils here.  Don't be confused, the wood frame you see is completely a faux finish wood painted on metal!  Here is a closeup of the hand lettering and a sweet robin in the corner.

The next step is getting county approval and switching out the signs.  We're VERY excited about this new sign.  We couldn't be happier!

Don't forget, our biggest sale of the year arrives February 3rd.

Through the lens...

In early December we had a local photographer out of Winchester,Virginia, G Richard Anderson, stop by and shoot some photos of our Design House.  We wanted to share a few pictures he took.  Enjoy!

You can find G Richard Anderson photography on Facebook {here}.  Please be sure to visit and "Like" his page.  He has a lot of interesting abstract closeup photos of unusual subjects like wood and rust that are simply gorgeous!  I've posted a few favorites below.

"Embers"

"Aquarium"

"Green Eye Shadow"

"Untitled"

"The Climb"

*All photos property of G Richard Anderson photography.

Fresh Off the Wagon This Week

Lots of great new items fell Fresh Off the Wagon this week.  Here is a sneak peek of some of the new items that just arrived for the weekend.  More pictures are on our website {click here}.

When you're in the shop, you'll also notice many of our dealers have marked down Christmas items.  Deals vary by dealer and some have marked items down as much as 50%, so be sure to look out for holiday deals when you're in the shop this weekend.

Midcentury sideboard or dresser  *  approx 18"d x 30"h x 66"l  *  $298  *  LIS

Custom love seat  *  approx.  4 feet long  *  $585 sale  *  CHD
Decorator pillows  *  $42ea.  *  CHD

White fluted column (2 avail.)  *  70" high  *  $188 firm  *  RMB

1905 beveled glass  window  *  24" x 76 1/2"  *   $780 firm  *  RMB

Antique pine cabinet  *  approx.  46"w x 51"h x 21 1/2"d  *  $595  *  TWH

Great looking trunk  *  $98 firm  *  DLW

Two piece pine hutch  *  $298 sale  *  approx.  45"w x 77"h x 18"d  *  HAR

Carved angel  *  approx. 17"h  *  $98 firm  *  VV

Mmmm....Donuts!

{ the Carpe Donut truck }

We're super excited to feature two food truck vendors at our December Design House weekend event { December 2nd, 3rd & 4th }, Carpe Donut and Pizzeria MOTO. To learn a little more about these local businesses, read their profiles below.

As we mentioned earlier this week, Dinah Corley will be on hand at The Design House to sign copies of her new book, Gourmet Gifts.  Dinah marries more than 30 years of professional cooking experience with her impeccable taste to offer new recipes and packaging suggestions for her favorite edible gifts. 

Not exactly sure what one of our Design House events is all about?  Well you're in luck.  We have another blog post dedicated to just that subject { click here to learn more about The Design House }.

  ************* { Carpe Donut } ************* 

The term “organic donuts” may sound oxymoronic, but Charlottesville’s Matt Rohdie and Jen Downey, husband-and-wife proprietors of Carpe Donut, have reinvigorated the homely holed hunk of fried dough. They’ve been selling their sweet morning treat out of a cherry-red cart, with its black highlights and hand-painted sign, for more than three years.

{ Carpe Donut's Matt Rohdie }

{ Ingredients to be proud of }

{ Carpe Donut "wedding cake" photo courtesy of Terra Dawn Photography }

  ************* { Pizzeria MOTO } *************

Owners Jay & Coleen Clement take inspiration from Naples & the pizzerias of New York City in the early 1900’s, and cook their pies in a high temperature wood fired oven. The culmination of all of this work brings forth, a “New American” style, Jay & Coleen are proud to bring us with Pizzeria MOTO.

{ owners Jay & Coleen }

{ mmmmm, pizza! }

{ Pizzeria MOTO's fresh ingredients }

Mmmm, hungry yet?  I see a little theme developing here for the December Design House...

A few shop photos

Lots of photographers stop by the shop to practice their skills on unique subjects.  Several local photographers have taken senior portraits outside in our pavilions, and we've even had our share of engagement photos and new baby photos on the property.

We also see a lot of new photographers coming in who are learning to use their cameras.  Since the shop is an old building, you really have to know your camera settings to get good indoor pictures, making it a great place to learn about lighting and how to use a camera's manual settings.  

Professional photographer Laura Thatcher was in our shop back in May and she sent us some photos she took.  Enjoy!

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

{ photo:  Laura Thatcher }

Thanks for sharing Laura!

If you're a photographer and you'd like to share some pictures of the shop with us, please email us at luckettstore@gmail.com and we'll try to include your pictures in a future blog post.

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The Old Lucketts Store is now on Pinterest!

If you'd like to follow our pins, please join us { here }.