If you live in Nashville, you don’t have to go to Atlanta to get a good load of antiques.  There is a plethora of offerings right here in Music City, if you know where to look.  The key is to know what “kind” of antiques you are looking for:  “Workaday Country Antiques”, “Refined European Antiques”, or (it has its place) “Junk Antiques” – also known as “Vintage”.  So here are a few key places to go for each of these:

One of my favorite watering holes for “Workaday Country Antiques” is coming right up next weekend –

The Tailgate and Music Valley Antique Shows, down at the Fairgrounds.

It runs from Thursday, October 27th to Saturday, October 29th.  I got Liam’s “big boy bedding” at last year’s – a hand woven vintage blue and cream plaid blanket.

I got it for a deal, after a bit of haggling, at the end of the day on Saturday.  If you miss the show this fall, it also comes in February, and repeats every year.

Another favorite place for “Workaday Country Antiques” – with more of a hip spin, is Serenite Maison in Leiper’s Fork, which I recently reviewed.

And if you’re in the mood for a hunt and a drive in the country, try driving up I65 towards Louisville, and stopping at the little antique shops that pop up along the way – an amazing place to search for antique quilts.

“Refined European Antiques” are on display in abundance in a little stretch along Highway 100, just past the “Highway 70 & 100 split” down on the right.  One that has just relocated conveniently at the “Panera shopping strip” on the left, just before the split, and which comes highly recommended by my clients, is The Little Antique Shop.

Another place to comb the shops for a combination of “Workaday Country Antiques” and “Refined European Antiques” is downtown Franklin.

And finally, Nashville is blessed with an abundance of “Junk Antiques” or “Vintage Stuff”, among which you can always find a great diamond in the rough if you look hard enough (or have that diy knack).  One favorite source, that is really a combination of “Workaday Country Antiques” and “Junk Antiques” is Gas Lamp Antiques, a treasure trove of antique vendor stalls, with just about every era and every type of artifact covered, every day.

Another “Junk Antiques” standby is the Flea Market at the Fairgrounds.

And finally, if you want to peruse a mind-boggling mix of all three types of antiques, check out 8th Avenue, starting just past Melrose Avenue, until you get to Wedgewood.

Happy antique hunting 🙂