Dealer Spotlight Delightful Clutter #975
Dealer Spotlight: Delightful Clutter — Meet Brad & Mary
There’s something exciting about never knowing what treasure might be hiding in the next box, waiting at the next flea market, or tucked away in an antique shop along the road. For Brad and Mary of Delightful Clutter, that thrill of discovery has turned a lifelong love of vintage and antiques into a retirement filled with treasure hunting, travel, and plenty of delightful clutter!
Brad and Mary have always enjoyed collecting vintage and antique pieces. When retirement arrived, they decided it was the perfect opportunity to combine two things they loved—traveling and treasure hunting.
They bought a travel trailer, hit the road, and began planning adventures around some of the best picking destinations they could find.
Among their favorite stops have been Nebraska’s Junk Jaunt, First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, and the Chicken Farm Barn Sale in Oklahoma. Along the way, they searched antique shops, flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales for those special pieces that were simply too good to leave behind.
Of course, there was one small problem.
All those treasures had to go somewhere!
As their collections began taking up nearly every inch of their home, Brad and Mary decided it was time to start selling. They began setting up in antique shops and vintage markets, giving their finds a chance to become someone else’s treasures.
The Thrill of “What’s in the Next Box?”
Apparently, selling antiques and traveling wasn’t enough to keep these two retirees busy!
Brad and Mary also began working for an estate sale company. The work could be dirty, the hours long, and—as they jokingly admit—the pay wasn’t exactly spectacular. But there was something that kept them coming back:
The excitement of wondering, “What’s in the next box?”
That curiosity and love of discovery are a big part of what makes Delightful Clutter so much fun.
A Collection of Memories
The treasures Brad and Mary choose are also influenced by the decades they’ve experienced themselves.
Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, getting married in the 1970s, and raising a family in the 1990s gives them a personal connection to many of the items and eras represented in their booth and cases.
Their own collections include primitives, pottery bowls, crocks, and all things wood, along with old woodworking tools and even plumb bobs.
Their spaces are a wonderful reminder that antiques and vintage pieces aren’t simply “old things.” They often represent memories—of our childhoods, our parents and grandparents, our first homes, and everyday objects that were once simply part of life.
Treasure Hunting Runs in the Family
It seems Brad and Mary have also passed their love of vintage treasures on to the next generation.
Their daughter, Courtney, is a vendor right here at Antique World Mall, while their son, Kip, is a vendor at an antique mall in Dallas, Texas.
As Brad and Mary say, it must run in the family!
Happy Trails & Happy Hunting!
When they aren’t working on their antique spaces or searching locally, Brad and Mary still love hitching up their travel trailer and heading out on another adventure with their two dachshunds, Harley and Belle.
And these aren’t ordinary road trips.
Each journey is carefully planned around flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops, garage sales, and estate sales. After all, you never know where the next great find might be hiding!
The next time you visit Antique World Mall, be sure to explore Delightful Clutter and see what Brad and Mary have discovered on their latest treasure-hunting adventures.
You just might experience that same feeling they love so much:
“What’s in the next box?”
Happy trails and happy treasure hunting from Delightful Clutter!