The "Stuff Bell Curve" and the 3 Stages

While we concentrate on being an advocate for our customers we’ve noticed that they transition through three basic stages and we help them to explore their options whether they are:
1) gathering
2) changing
3) distributing
their quality, prized possessions. Picture it as a kind of bell curve that slowly arcs along a person’s life cycle and it is common for all kinds of folks to need help and for different reasons. We have found that although most are very proficient within their own field of expertise they usually need a bit of help when it comes to one or all three stages of the “Stuff Bell Curve.”

The desire to create and maintain a “home” and its decor can easily become anything from a mundane grind to an overwhelming endeavor. Options are myriad and choices must be made and are usually best made with the aid of a trusted advisor. Whether that advisor is a friend, family member, a decorator/designer or a certain, familiar shop keeper…with whom you have a deep sense of confidence…oh and, of course, trust!

We believe trust is best achieved over time and where the exchange of ideas and goods is open and honest. Pushing an extrinsic sale or promoting impulsive buying can prematurely shorten the development of a long term relationship. A good conversation along with some listening and thoughtful consideration will usually result in better decisions. Nothing builds trust better than a good choice that provides long term satisfaction!

Becoming Your “Quality Exchange”

This is a multi part series that speaks to how folks can manage the quality, value and process of furnishing and decorating their home throughout the full expanse of their personal life.

Part I: Becoming Your “Quality Exchange”
Over the last 20 years we have continued to evolve in response to many influences. We have come from the humble beginnings of an "Antiques Group Shop" to what might best be described as a "Quality Exchange." The essence of the “Exchange” is where we are asked to both “sell to and for” our customers. Most of the changes have been the inevitable result of attending daily classes in the small business "School of Hard Knocks!" (Oh why couldn't life just be a simplistic cadence of clearly defined activities ending with a gold-filled watch?) However, our most important changes came when we finally noticed our customer's series of unfulfilled needs throughout their three basic stages of life.

Having worked with an array of antiques enthusiasts ranging from the "Weekend Hobbyist," the "Frustrated Opportunist" and the “Avid Collector” all the way to the successful "Antiques Dealer" we have managed to learn a lot! Through the "fog" of the daily grind where everyone needs you to focus on them eventually we managed to slip clear of the clamber and find our true mission.

We now concentrate on getting better at executing one, central idea. We consider ourselves our customer’s advocate before we even meet them and in doing so, care about that moment in time when they talk about any experience they may have had with us or when they show someone important to them a purchase they made at our store. Because we know that if those moments go well for them everything else will take care of itself. Only our customers can judge how well we are executing our mission…each and every day…

Look for Part II: The 3 Basic Stages of Life & Trusted Relationships

Our Farm Table...the Center of Our Home

Our reclaimed, barn board, farm table is truly the center of our family's life.  It is a true friend of today's lifestyle as it morphs perfectly as a durable, low maintenance and yet decorative work horse.  We find ourselves there at least once a day and more often many times throughout the day.  The simple fact that our farm table holds a prominent location right, smack in the middle of our home and is at the crossroads to the rest of the house, lends itself well as more than just a place to eat and converse.

The occasional ding and dibble seems to blend in as the years of character from weather and wear act as a natural camouflage.  The sponge-wipe-for-life, smooth surface offers a sort of refuge and peace of mind as though to reminded us that the table is here to work and with a sense of "grace under fire."

The busy schedule that we all keep has a way of forcing us to be somewhat centralized as we traverse from room to room searching for the "this that and the other," temporarily misplaced necessity as we prepare for our next trip to and from schools, classes, appointments, work, family functions and social commitments...not to mention the occasional respite from perpetual motion when we actually get a moment to sit!

So, aside from the ever-changing decorative centerpiece, we often have a collection of mail, catalogs, electronic devices, the ever-elusive set of keys, a tea or coffee mug...or two...or three, or so, a few books, newspaper, school projects, coupons and quite often a laptop or two.  All serving an important role in our very current, up to date, can't seem to catch up lives!

We do have the almost daily, traditional meals or holiday feast where we clear the decks and adorn the old wood surface with a full complement of vintage, table appointments suitable for a much needed moment of grace and interpersonal connectivity.  Ah, the slow motion of those moments and the daily updates from whomever about who knows what.  Then, the tranquility is set on pause while one or two unfortunate "volunteers" clatter their way through the clean, rinse and stack ritual that inevitably must follow what was a sacred, healing experience.  Such is the cadence of life.