There are many markets one can go to in order to find furniture and accessories.  High Point and Las Vegas are the best known ‘furniture’ markets (meaning upholstery and case goods).  Dallas and Atlanta are two of the best known for ‘home accents’ and gifts.

I love going to Atlanta.  I used to live there, love the south, etc.  Scott and I did go last January and encountered a few issues.  The first one being our airplane’s engine failing and catching fire upon take off (plus subsequent landing, taxi to fire-station on airport property and general minor panic aboard).  The second issue was the ice storm that had Atlanta socked-in and made getting around Atlanta generally difficult.  We did finally manage getting to market, and subsequently had a great time as the crowds were small due to the weather.  However, I have not been as excited to take any trips involving air travel since then.

So, this year we decided to spend our January market back at Dallas.  We spent all day Thursday finding fun items for the store from some of our favorite vendors, such as Jan Barboligio.  We just love her iron pieces, and so do our customers!  Her showroom is simply fabulous.

They will even make custom beds if you have the time and the money!

We were also excited to finally add Lafco Candles to our line up.  Scott and I have loved them for years and they have so many great scents.  Their glass holders are hand blown glass and gorgeous!

Many of you are familiar with the line Aidan Gray Home.  They just added some beautiful art work to their line up.  The art pieces are based on the work of American artist Carol Benson-Cobb.  The colors in the works are just beautiful.

Dallas also has an amazing lighting center and we took some time to visit a friend who was at the market in the Hudson Valley Lighting showroom.  She gave us a tour and introduced us to some beautiful new, transitional light fixtures.

We spent Thursday night with one of my college roommates who lives in the University Park area in Dallas (very close to market).  We had great fun having drinks and dinner at the hip Uptown area of town.

Friday we were back to it and spent most of the day at the ‘temporaries’ (smaller, more unique companies) as well as buying Christmas décor for next winter!  Yes, crazy as it sounds, January is the time to buy for the following winter.  We won’t receive the merchandise for eons, but buying early helps the manufacturers know what to produce.  If you don’t buy early, chances are all the great products will be sold out and what is left generally is what nobody else wanted.  Not a good buying strategy for a store!

Here are some photos of some of our favorite, fun finds!

Cute pagoda lanterns:

Custom trays:

100% cotton throws and towels in fun colors.  We ordered a great assortment for the store!

And last but not least, lamps!  I love, love, love lamps.  I would rather have a pair of new lamps than a pair of new earrings!  I can’t wait until these fun lamps arrive at the store!

And these aren’t the only ones coming!  Keep an eye out for all the fun new products with the ‘What’s New Wednesday’ post as well as on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/heatherscotthome

Our great new finds should begin arriving within 3 weeks!  I hope you like them as much as we do!