We’re already setting up at High Point Market—yes, it has come back around yet again—and something has been on our minds as we ready our booth for those who look for us at Market twice each year. It’s a question we keep feeling inspired to ask: what is the best way to present the varied aspects of our influence in the well-appointed home?

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We’re motivated to ask because we have a bit of a dual personality where our products are concerned—our European Sleep System, down products, spa products and sumptuous Italian sheets are contemporary complements to our antiques, and you might be surprised how modern looking our antiques linens can be so we thought we’d give you just a taste: our Blue and White Feathered and Floral tablecloth, for instance, or our Black and White Floral tablecloth—don’t you think these would be just as at home in a modern residence as a traditional or transitional one?

Design writer and author Saxon Henry believes they would. She is one of our clients who has eclectic tastes, her bedroom a mix of styles that includes our antique shams. “I have a contemporary bedroom set made by Roche Bobois that I have mixed with primitive antiques and vintage furnishings,” she notes. “My duvet is edgy and modern, and I love how an assortment of antique shams for my European Sleep System pillows from Pandora de Balthazár look right at home in the mix. I’ve chosen ones that are cleanly crisp, the eyelet borders looking surprisingly modern paired with the other linens.” 

We have a great deal of experience transforming antique linens into contemporary accountrements for a number of rooms in the home so we’re putting forth a question to the design savvy tastemakers who attend High Point: when you think of attending Market, do you include antiques in the mix? If so, would you like to see more of ours alongside our down products?

Our Savvy Brand Ambassador

Given our savvy Brand Ambassador, Toma Clark Haines—CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co—knows this territory backwards and forwards, we posed the question to her, as her experience at Market has always included a heavy dose of antiques through the Antiques & Design Center (ADC). “The motto of High Point Market is ‘From High Point to the World’ but the world also comes to High Point,” she remarks. “I’ve long said that the most important tool any designer can have is a passport; that travel educates the eye, opens the mind and gives insight into how people live, and I believe antiques represent another way of traveling. They transport you to other times and other places and into other people’s lives.” Might we say she would certainly know given her extensive travel and her gift for identifying remarkable places to find antiques? We used her sophistication as the starting point for the custom monogram we created for her and used to ornament this bedding we did for her below. 

“The importance of the role of antiques on design today cannot be overlooked,” she added, “and antiques at High Point Market should not be diminished. When it comes to interior design, the past influences the present whether it’s in the turn of a leg, the rivets on the back of a chair or the combination of materials used.” We would also add the length of a drop, the style of a hem or the color combination of the embroidery on a decorative pillow.  

The Influence of Antiques on Modern

Toma is seeing such influences as a growing trend with her clientele as her divas and divos lead them on customized antiques buying and design inspiration tours in 14 countries on two continents: “Gone are the days of rooms that represent stuffy predictability. In place of these, we have a new American eclecticism where styles and periods intermingle to bring vibrancy, life and relevancy to our homes.” Stateside, she cites the ADC at High Point Market as being among the most popular destinations there.

As to why she believes antiques must be in the mix at any well-rounded venue where furnishings are being sold, she notes, “Any design student who has taken a course that includes the history of furniture design understands that kings and queens from centuries ago have left their mark on the modern designs we see at Market today. It’s been said that if you sit long enough at Les Deux Magots in Paris, on the corner opposite the Église Saint Germain des Prés, all the world will pass you by. At Market, you can see the same in the ADC—it’s the place designers go to drink in visual inspiration, the influence they want to take home as they help their clients live more beautifully.”

Celebrating a Vibrant Seven Months

As Toma’s contract as our Brand Ambassador comes to an end, this will be our last Market to have the vivacious presence in our booth as often as we have the past two Markets so we thought this would be the perfect time to tell her how fortunate we feel to have had her as a collaborator in putting the word out about our luxurious textiles and sumptuous bedding. We welcome you back anytime you want to set up shop in our stand, Toma; and we wholeheartedly agree with you that as we delve into the past, gracious living comes forward. This is certainly our M.O. when we source our notable antique textiles. Let us hear from you if you’d like to see us bring a wider selection of antiques to the fair, okay?

And stop in and see us any time between April 22 and 26. We’re just outside the Mezzanine entrance to the ADC in booth M-8037 in the Suites at Market Square in the Salon area. We’re at shuttle stop 14 on the Red and Green line, or you can find us after strolling through the wonderful antiques in the ADC by coming through to the Salon area on the Mezzanine level. The ADC is at shuttle stop 29 on the Red Line.

Toma will be holding court in our booth on Sunday, April 23^rd, from 3 to 6 p.m., her “office hours” during Market (Here she is meeting with rockstar interior designer Justin Shaulis during last Market). Who wouldn’t want to work from one of our sumptuous beds? You can read why she’s excited to be sliding between the sheets again in her post on The Antiques Diva & Co blog titled “The Art of Sleeping.” Let’s take a cue from Toma and rest up so we can be ready to embrace all the wonderful events we’ll be experiencing as Market unfolds.

We've heard so often that people would have come by sooner if they'd known there are health benefits to our European Sleep System. If you've had the notion that it will take too much time for us to put you to bed and explain the healing powers of our bedding, think of it this way: you'd never scrimp on your workout, would you? Come by and let us show you how your health could improve while you sleep. You do that every night regardless so it's a health-saving proposition once you have the infrastructure in place! 

The Pandora de Balthazár Diary and this post, Style Statements at High Point Market, © Pandora de Balthazár, all rights reserved. Products mentioned in this and all posts can be purchased through our atelier and an array of our products are available on this site so we’d be thrilled if you’d take time to browse our collections. We also have a dynamic presence in the Arbor Antiques section of Round Top and during High Point Market. Be sure to bookmark our Calendar of Events page to keep up with all of our latest activities.