ROUND TOP THE HUNT IS ON
Interior designers ready to zero in on antiques that offer ‘wow’ factor
Thousands of people wander the fields, duck into tents and roam the barnlike structures of the annual Round Top antiques shows twice a year hoping to find that one piece they’ve always wanted or to luck into an unexpected treasure.
You can do that again next week, as well as get expert advice on how to use antiques in your home through a “Designer Dream Spree” panel discussion with four of the country’s top interior designers.
Julie Dodson of Houston’s Dodson Interiors and Ike Isenhour of Dallas’ Ike Isenhour Inc. have organized a panel featuring Barry Darr Dixon, Kevin Isbell, Mary Douglas Drysdale and Michelle Nussbaumer. The event, moderated by Ann Maine, editor in chief of Traditional Home magazine, and Amy Elbert, the magazine’s senior architectural editor, will benefit local animal shelters.
The four designers will each find one item at the shows and then “defend” it to the others on the panel. They’ll talk about the piece, why they
like it and how they would use it in a home. The other designers will have an opportunity to voice their own opinion on each piece.
Though the Round Top antiques event doesn’t officially start until next week, stores and tents already are open for business throughout the Warrenton, Round Top, Carmine and Burton area.
Dodson has frequented all of the fall and spring furniture markets filled with manufacturer’s new collections, where trends and tips are highlighted by speakers and panel discussions. She has long thought that Texas Antiques Week should have the same.
She and Isenhour put their heads together, reached out to Traditional Home, found sponsors, and now it’s almost showtime.
“No matter the aesthetic — contemporary or traditional or transitional space — I do feel like the right antique piece makes that room feel extra special,” Dodson said. “It can be the showstopper in any room. You don’t have to have a lot of ‘wow’ pieces, but if have one antique ‘wow,’ that’s all you need.”
She suggests that people new to shopping for antiques look for something they love at first sight. Even if you don’t know why you love it, you’ll know that it feels like a piece of art.
“If you have a strong reaction to it, buy it, and you’ll always find a place for it,” she said.
Like other interior designers, Dodson shops Round Top looking for things for herself, for clients and for clients she might someday have.
Kevin Isbell, of Kevin Isbell Interiors in New York City, decorates almost exclusively with vintage and antique items.
On design projects, he might use a new sofa or armchair, but everything else, he said, “has had a previous life.”
“There’s nothing worse, to me, than a room full of new furniture. You can’t have gravitas with furniture that was made 22 minutes ago,” Isbell said.
This will be Isbell’s first trip to Round Top, and he said he can’t wait to prowl the acres of antiques.
“This is right up my alley,” Isbell said. “If I’m looking for a 22-inch English tea table, I know I will never find it. For me, it’s the hunt and being open to let something speak to me.”
Isbell advises people to evaluate their homes. If there’s something you hate, get rid of it and replace it with something you love, he said. You can also move things around to freshen up a room.
Nussbaumer, of Dallas, is certainly familiar with Round Top. The interior designer is also an antiques dealer, filling her store and warehouse with exotic finds from all over the world.
Most of her clients are well traveled and appreciate antiques.
“I’ve worked with a lot of clients who enjoy antiques and beauty and don’t want a home that’s completely modern. There’s always a place for an antique to drop in or have a traveled look,” she said. “You don’t want interiors to look like a designer just left; you want them to look lived in.”
Although she’s shopping for antiques virtually everywhere she goes, Nussbaumer said Round Top is a place she shops for fun with her girlfriends.
“We will go together and take a truck and fill it with fun things — not so much for my shop — and have a great time doing it. I collect creamware and find it there. Whatever you collect, you can find it there,” she said.
Again this year, Nussbaumer will do some shopping, but not with a list. “It’s wide open. I like to find things that are very unusual — something that speaks to me and my soul, even if it isn’t useful at all. Those are the pieces I like to find when I’m on the hunt.”