Antiques dealer Brandon Nelson recently returned from Brimfield, Massachusetts, and judging by the merch on display in his Three Oaks, Michigan shop Ipso Facto, the pickings were good this year. My favorite item might be a vintage vacation poster (above), which practically screams summer. Stop by the next time you’re in Harbor Country or check out the website.

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Ipso Facto. One West Ash.  Three Oaks, MI. ipsofactoantiques@sbcglobal.net.269.756.3404

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If only those clowns had a face . . .

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If only this face had a body . . .

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Turning the F on its side is an interesting idea. Nice.

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Note: I’ve seen these Paul McCobb chairs four different places in the past two days.

Trends either explode upon the scene (to varying results) or slip seamlessly into place as if they’ve always been popular and always will be. Rural chic feels like the latter. Characterized by wood antiques and taxidermy pieces staged with a contemporary twist (bold colors, clean lines or eclectic odds and ends), rural chic is on full display in the pages of nearly every home magazine from Country Living to House Beautiful, which profiled the Ruralists in their January 2010 issue. Throw in cream upholstery, pale whitewashed wood and a thick rope in a bowl for a more cottage-y look. Or take a page from stylist / designer Martha Muholland’s book and create a funkier interpretation; just add liberal doses of Lucite, a few mid-century furnishings and layered vintage rugs. (Click here to read my profile of Martha, Mix Mistress, from the Winter 2010 issue of CS Interiors). Rural chic is an incredibly versatile style, so personalize away.  (Top photo: styled and decorated by Leslie Dyke).

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To outfit your home so, check out these Midwest shops:

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Jayson Home & Garden, 1885 N. Clybourn Ave., Chicago. 800.472.1885 (SC Profile)

Michael Del Piero Good Design, 1914 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago. 773.772.3000 (SC Profile)

Brimfield, 5219 N. Clark, Chicago. (SC Profile)

Scout, 5221 N. Clark, Chicago. 773.275.5700 (SC Profile)

Patina, 5137 N. Clark, Chicago. 773.334.0400 (SC profile)

Thomas Jolly Home & Garden, 107 E. Front Street, Buchanan, MI. 269.240.0483

Alan Robandt, 114 E. Front Street, Buchanan, MI. 269.697.4855 (SC Profile)

Restoration Hardware

Smythson Yeats, 3851 . Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. 773.244.6365 (SC profile)

Praha, 3849 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. 773.549.1227‎ (SC Profile)

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Click here for the prequel to this post: Trend Report: Antlers and Taxidermy

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But be careful. According to the January 18th edition of New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix, “the overdone hunting-lodge-chic trend reaches its apotheosis as a moose head falls on a woman at the Lower East Side’s White Slab Palace.” See Highbrow/Despicable quadrant. Yikes!

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House Beautiful’s gorgeous January 2010 The Ruralists spread. Many congrats to new EIC Newell Turner. For those not reading, House Beautiful is a consistently good read, and I’m sure it will only get better under Newell Turner’s direction.

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Chicago stylist and decorator Leslie Dyke’s home. Ditto top photo of dining room table.

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Restoration Hardware

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A grocery store in Point Reyes Station, CA.

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Apartment Therapy

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Apartment Therapy

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Apartment Therapy

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Jayson Home & Garden

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Jayson Home & Garden

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Michael Del Piero Good Design

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Michael Del Piero Good Design

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Future Open House kitchen. Thanks to KitchenLab‘s Rebekah Zaveloff for the tour.

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Anne’s Open House

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Anne’s Open House

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Open House star and fab decorator Cookie Weber’s Lincoln Park home. Click here for Cookie’s website.

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Open House star and fab decorator Cookie Weber’s Lincoln Park home. Click here for Cookie’s website.

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Open House star and fab decorator Cookie Weber’s Lincoln Park home. Click here for Cookie’s website.

Despite its rough and tough Swedish population, Andersonville keeps improving and thanks to an influx of stores, the hood has become a genuine home design destination.  If you haven’t been lately, it’s time to plan a trip because upholster Julie Fernstrom has closed her west side shop English Cottage and replaced it with not one, but two new Andersonville stores, Brimfield, located at 5219 N. Clark (one door down from Scout) and the Cottage, located a few blocks north at 5644 N. Clark (a few doors north of the always cock-stocked Roost).

Named for the Massachusetts town that draws crowds of people from around the world for its massive flea market, Brimfield channels the pre-prepubescent Teddy Roosevelt-era Abercrombie & Fitch with vintage sporting gear, furniture and a plaid-tastic selection of flannel blankets so be sure to check them out.  Get it?  Be sure to check out the plaid?  Check?).  Brimfield also offers Refined Rustic lighting, original art and a large selection of fabrics for upholstery.

While Brimfield couldn’t be more masculine (“Hands off, Pal!  I’ll give you a knuckle sandwich if you don’t drop the plaid Pendleton!”), Fernstrom’s other new Andersonville shop, the Cottage specializes in a shabbier granny-chic look (watch for my profile soon), so you can leave your brass knuckles at home.

I’ll cut right to the chase; Brimfield is a revelation, breathtaking in its scope and ambition, the shop is at once charmingly rustic and expertly polished.  Word on the street is that she’s selling out fast, so I’d hurry over if I were you.  Congratulations Julie.

Brimfield.  5219 N. Clark.