Better Homes and Gardens BH&G Flea Market Decorating 2023

Ready, set … collect!! We’ve primed you for peak flea market season by filling this issue with page after page of practical information and inspiring ideas. To get you going, we turned to collecting pros for advice on what to buy and where to find it. And to get you dreaming, we loaded this issue with inspiring ideas for decorating with your finds once you get them home. We checked in with a variety of vintage lovers across the country—designers, dealers, thrifty shoppers, and clever home decorators. For instance, we tapped Texas interior designer and super shopper Courtney Warren to guide us around the granddaddy of all flea markets—the Round Top Antiques Show (page 88). She shares the inside track for shopping the sprawling show, along with tips for what to…

Natalie Papier, opposite left, doesn’t mind when things get a little weird. She built her Charlotte interior design business, Home Ec., by catering to clients who want to introduce a playful note into otherwise traditional or modern spaces. Together with BFF and frequent design collaborator, Kim Daunis, she scours flea markets for an eclectic range of furniture and accessories that will amplify her clients’ personalities. The hunt can be a bit needle-in-a-haystack, so they stay focused on buying for quality and charming character. They took us to one of their favorite haunts, the Kane County Flea Market outside Chicago, and shared what to look for, how to bargain, and a few other pro tips that will change the way you explore your local market. For resources, see page 94. “LIKE ART, vintage…

WICKER THE GOODS: This inviting porch features a collection of standout wicker antiques, starting with two anchor pieces—a classic Lloyd Loom rocker painted black and a French traveling trunk. Wicker-wrapped bottles are joined by the unique cane-covered vessel—used as a vase—that sits atop a midcentury rattan ottoman. WAYS TO DISPLAY: For broad collecting categories such as wicker, it’s all about the visual mix of styles, eras, and techniques, along with the function of an individual item. Pull a grouping together into one space for the “wow” factor—as this Seattle porch beautifully illustrates—or weave wicker’s natural warmth and texture around your home piece by piece, adding eye-tickling design contrast wherever they go. SHOPPING TIPS: If you want a wicker piece for sitting—or rocking!—check for structural integrity in both frame and wicker. It can be…

“Old things move me, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF HOW WELL THEY ARE MADE, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THEIR STORY.”— HOMEOWNER MEGAN BROKMAN Megan Brokman, a native of Harmony, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Neal, a Brooklyn boy, had their fill of city life right after college. “It was torture!” Megan says. “We knew the quiet country life would suit us better, with privacy and a place for our children to play outside. Neal is a mathematician who loves to solve problems. I’m an antiques dealer. We both crave learning new things and getting our hands dirty and wanted the challenge of buying an historic fixer farmhouse that needed lots of work.” The craving turned into a house hunt. And after a few years of sleuthing, the Brokmans found their sow’s ear. They knew…

Crates THE IDEA: Turn wood fruit crates into shadow boxes for vintage pottery. Classic McCoy pots mingle with found containers to create garden art on the wall of a potting shed, porch, or your favorite room. TIPS: Stocked with drought-tolerant succulents, these containers require minimal care while lending loads of texture. Before watering, check soil moisture by sinking your finger 1 inch into the soil. If the soil is moist, don’t water; if it’s dry, water thoroughly. BLOOMS: Pink-blooming lewisia along with succulent hens-and-chicks and white petunias fill the containers. When planting succulents, use a well-draining potting mix. Standard potting soil won’t drain fast enough for succulents. Toolbox THE IDEA: Give a hardworking trug or toolbox a new role by planting it with long-blooming annuals. Old boxes stocked with upright and trailing easy-care plants overflow…

The hula send-off that Lisa Clark Balke and her daughters give visitors when they leave their cabin might seem out of place near a lake in Wisconsin—just as it did at the farm in North Dakota where it originated. But the backstory is even more endearing: “One year, my grandma Carina visited Hawaii, and when she came back, she would do a hula dance every time we left her farm,” Lisa says. Such is how the seeds of long-held traditions bloom: Unplanned moments, reenacted over the years, make tangible memories. Lisa and Jeff Balke began their family’s getaway traditions in 1998 when they bought a 1920s cabin near Danbury, Wisconsin, about a two-hour drive from their Minneapolis home. Their three children, Tom, Ella, and Kate, were toddlers at the time and…