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Apr 10, 2024

Tips for Shopping for Antiques

Country Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us? Designer and author Max Humphrey shares how to make the most of your antiquing trip

Country Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?

Designer and author Max Humphrey shares how to make the most of your antiquing trip finds.

Max Humphrey, designer and author of the new book Lodge: An Indoorsy Tour of America's National Parks, fills his projects with a fun mix of modern furnishings, Americana-inspired geometric wallcoverings (shop his designs with Chasing Paper) and fabrics (check out his new fabric collection of with Pindler!), and plenty of chippy, colorful vintage finds. For that last personality-bringing layer, Max never passes up an opportunity to visit an antiques shop or flea market, always keeping his eye out for everything from bold, patterned quilts and Hudson Bay blankets to campy tramp art frames and coolers. “The fun thing about vintage shopping is the trip itself, not just the stuff,” says Max. “The more you strike up a conversation with a seller or dealer, the more insider info you can get on what you're buying. Getting to know the people and hearing their story is the point of it for me.”

Max recently spent the day shopping at Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage in Arcadia, Oregon. Keep reading to see what antique finds he brought home and how he plans to use his treasures in upcoming projects.

Jennifer Kopf is the Executive Editor of Country Living. She also covers antiques and collecting.

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