I ♥ Eddie Ross!

This weekend, Jenn and I headed to the Scott Antique Market, which is held monthly at the Atlanta Expo Center, to meet the fabulous Eddie Ross and his very handsome partner, Jaithan Kochar. For those of you who don't know (and shame on you... his blog is on my blog list... go, now), Eddie is of Top Design (Season 2) fame. He has also worked for magazines and TV shows, including the incomparable Martha Stewart. Eddie's philosophy is that you do not have to pay a buttload (yes, that is a technical term) of money for beautiful furniture and accessories if you're willing to get creative. Shopping for antiques is very new to me, so I decided I should learn from the best.

We spent a few hours touring the expo center and getting great advice from Eddie on how to use items in unexpected ways. For example, to me, this big green glass jug is just that... a big green glass jug. To Eddie, this could make a beautiful statement lamp by corking it, adding the light fixture, and a beautiful oversized shade.

Genius.

We also learned a lot about antique china, including this awesome transferware.

In this image, the transferware is the white with the blue images (but I believe it comes in various colors, including red and black). It was a process created in England in the mid-eighteenth century to make beautiful china available to the masses. The process starts with an engraved copper plate which prints the pattern on a piece of tissue paper which is then placed on the plate to transfer the wet ink. The ceramic is then fired at a low temperature in a kiln to fix the pattern. As you can see from the picture above, the prices vary depending on the piece (or maybe you can't, but the plates in the forefront of the image are $5/piece and the bowls to the right of them are $75/piece).

When Matt and I have a house (hopefully this year), I would love to head back down there to pick up some beautiful plates to use as wall hangings.

There was also this great fabric guy who had all sorts of beautiful fabrics at highly discounted prices. I fell in LOVE with this.

But, someone bought the entire bolt at......... $100/yard! WHOA! The guy told me it would retail for more like $1,000/yard. As much as I loved it, that's just a bit out of my price range. However, I have been looking for something like this for a throw pillow or two for our couch. I love the brown/aqua combo.

This is just a brief summary of the trip, but suffice it to say that I really learned a lot. I don't consider myself very creative (especially when it comes to design), so I need a lot of inspiration, and Eddie was certainly able to provide that. Go check out his blog... he has some really great ideas! I will definitely be making more trips to antique and flea markets and will be following Eddie as he becomes the next big thing since Martha!

Me, Eddie & Jenn (& Madelyn)