We recently took a road trip to Nashville for the annual Antique & Garden Show, this year being it’s 30th Anniversary. This spectacular event provides spaces for high quality antiques and a platform for experts in the fields of antiques, landscape gardens, and horticulture. Additionally, it is a charitable event in which proceeds go to Cheekwood Mansion and ECON Chartities in Nashville.
We walked through a sea of gorgeous furniture, art, and decor in thoughtful display and heard educational lectures from the top of each field, including our very own East Tennesseans Kreis & Mary Celeste Beall of Blackberry Farms. This show is top notch to say the least. Above all, we were struck by the beauty of intentionality.
Antiques set before us a reminder that our things tell a story. Each hand crafted piece brings us to imagine the hands that shaped it and the beauty and comfort it brought to the space in which it sat. Gorgeous furniture, like the vintage furnishings from Eneby Home, remind us of how the past, present, and future all intersect before us everyday. Our homes, like our things, mirror the stories of our lives.
Are we living with intention within the spaces we dwell?
Living with Intention to Create a Lasting Legacy
A highlight of the show was attending the lecture in which Kreis Beall & Mary Celeste Beall shared their insights on home, family, and making it all beautiful. Kreis and Sandy are the founders of Blackberry Farms while their daughter-in-law Mary Celeste is the proprietor. The incredible experience that Blackberry Farm has become seems so difficult to wrap ones mind around until you hear these two women speak of their inspiration from their own family history and each other.
“...she wanted the place “to look like Mom’s and smell like Mammy’s” paying homage to the two women who had helped shape her.”
The respect and love that is shared between this mother and daughter-in-law duo speaks to the power of family in creating home. Both spoke with such vulnerability, humor, and wisdom on how their separate journeys have led them to today. Kreis shared that in the early days of Blackberry Farm, she wanted the place "to look like Mom's and smell like Mammy's" paying homage to the two women who had helped shape her. She also encouraged us business owners to dream big and "start at the top" like the time she called Julia Child to ask if she would lead Blackberry Farm's first cooking class.
Mary Celeste spoke on the importance of creating a home that works for one's own personal living style. As she and Sam designed their forever home at Blackberry, they were very intentional to include the parts that were important to them, not what was trending at the time. They planned their home to grow with their growing family (they have 5 children), and the home centers around the table, the most important place for them.
The thread of sadness of Sam's passing almost 4 years ago is palpable and real as one listens to this journey, but his inspiration and commitment to creating a place to gather with the highest quality food, drink, and venue is very much alive.
What a gift it was to hear this story in person! If you'd like to hear more about Kreis's journey, her new book, "The Great Blue Hills of God" is now available and it's wonderful!
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So, as we think about the impact of our stories…. How can you live with intention in your home?
Consider the Past.
Our “stuff” have a story. The floorboards we walk on everyday. The trim around the doors we swing countlessly open. The hearth we face every night after a long day. And that favorite chair we curl up in as we welcome a new day. Every thing has tells the story of the past. We were struck by the knowledge expert antique collectors and sellers brought to us at the Show. Consider seeking out experts on the pieces you already own or before you pursue something new to learn how you can be more intentional with your spaces.
Pay Attention to the Present.
How are you wanting to live? Like Mary Celeste, can your spaces reflect how you want to live, not just what is in style? Consider your current dreams and intentions (maybe whip out those new years resolutions you drew up just over a month ago!) and how your home can be a sanctuary for those dreams. Who are the people most important to you, and how can your home and things provide pathways for those people?
Leave a legacy for the Future.
Lastly, we want to encourage you to consider the things you currently own or the ones you intend to welcome into your home with intentionality toward the future. Of course, there is always a time and place for mass made products that we can pick up on the fly! But as you move through your own home, consider how you fill it. Consider what you are leaving to the ones you love. A thoughtful look at the past and present can inform a beautiful future.
As you can hear, this show renewed our love of antiques and their place within the spaces we dwell! In our work with HYD, we love seeing how YOU intentionally craft your spaces. Comment one way that you are living with intention.
