For many Southerners, a room without antiques is incomplete. “We always have to add antiques, whether it’s a little drink table or an antique lamp,” says interior designer Nina Long of Mathews Design Group. “It just adds dimension when everything is brand spanking new and looks so cold and sterile.” Fortunately Long lives in Atlanta, where you can build a full weekend around heirloom hunting (with good eats in between) and then some. Here are a handful of places to scout antiques in Atlanta.
Bennett Street and Miami Circle are two home decor hot spots in the city, and Interiors Market has locations on both. The Bennett Street flagship fills a ten-thousand-square-foot warehouse with a variety of vendors and keepsakes, including French furnishings and glittering chandeliers. The Miami Circle outpost serves as a showroom, with original art and curated “rooms” designed to feel like a Parisian apartment.
The shop’s name aptly describes the browsing experience at a warehouse—located just east of downtown in Decatur—where fifty-plus vendors sell vintage clothing, high-end pieces, and plenty of kitsch in between. Grab a complimentary Topo Chico when you walk through the door, and take your time scouting. You just might find a Jens Risom credenza or a Gordon & Jane Martz table lamp.
Why go to one store when you can go to many? In burgeoning downtown Chamblee, a suburb just north of the city, the walkable Antiques Row includes Antique Factory, which carries art deco relics and movie props, and Chamblee Antiques and Interiors, home to an eclectic, flea-market-style mix of furnishings and accessories, including Eugenia’s Antique Hardware booth. Visit the Frosty Caboose for a post-haul ice cream treat by the train tracks.
“Robuck is just a beautifully curated shop,” says Long, who’s had success finding Spanish and Italian pieces at this three-level store in Buckhead. The owners frequently travel to Europe, where they source furnishings, decorative objects, and lighting from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries.
You never know what you might find in the seventy-five booths at this sprawling Morningside antique mall. Sometimes it’s a disco ball, sometimes it’s an antique French walnut cabinet. Don’t miss the patio center out back with outdoor furniture and lawn tchotchkes.
British antique enthusiasts will want to carefully browse this sixteen-thousand-square-foot gallery in Buckhead. Finds might include a Georgian mahogany grandfather clock or a Victorian black tole tray. William Word carries antiques from other parts of Europe as well, and there’s an in-house craftsman who restores objects to their former glory.
Designers and design enthusiasts drive hours to shop at Scott Antique Market. Held the second weekend of each month at the Atlanta Expo Center just south of downtown, the event brings around three thousand vendors to two large buildings and outdoor areas. The endless possibilities—silverware, vintage radios, clay pots, and mirrors, to name just a few of the treasures—make the overwhelming experience worth your while. Bring five dollars in cash to pay for parking.
