What's new in old Antiques with clean lines and utility come into fashion

Trends in antique furniture circle in and out of favor like painted ponies on a vintage carousel. Biedermeier and midcentury modern are riding high, while Mission and French Empire are fading. Mark Howald, executive vice president of St. Louis auction house Ivey-Selkirk, says there's a logic behind the simultaneous popularity of seemingly disparate styles.

"We're seeing a move toward a minimalist look across all styles," Howald said. Biedermeier, made in Germany and Austria from 1815 to 1848, and midcentury modern furniture are both architectural with clean lines.

Two other clean-lined styles that are popular now are English Regency and French Directoire, says Keitha Kaminski, director of Webster House Antiques in Kansas City, Mo.

Running her fingers along the carved front of a French Directoire cherry console, Kaminski said, "This is a country version of a piece that would have had lots of ormolu, lots of goop.

Antique store grows in new location

GRANDVILLE -- Ever since her high school years, Carol Kuester has been in love with old things. Her passion for antiques and styles of furniture was so pervasive her mother used to tell her she was "born in the wrong era."
It was that love that led Kuester and her husband, Holger, 10 years ago to start Somewhere in Thyme, an antique and crafts store that leases space to collectors and artists.
The Kuesters have relocated Somewhere in Thyme from its original location, 2410 Chicago Drive in Hudsonville, to the 4165 Chicago Drive SW, site of the former Grandville Home Furnishings store.
The move provides Somewhere in Thyme with better exposure and more than twice the space -- with a total of about 14,000 square feet -- offered at its Hudsonville site, Carol Kuester said.

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Finders and keepers flock to annual antiques show

From little trinkets to large pieces of furniture, there was a little bit of everything at the Robert R. Merlino Memorial Antiques Show yesterday in Cromwell Center, Tompkinsville.
"There is so much stuff," said Gladys Schweiger, executive director of the Staten Island Alzheimer's Foundation. "There are all types of things -- estate jewelry, crystal, furniture. It's wonderful."
She even found a little turtle statue for her granddaughter, who loves the shelled reptile.
The Alzheimer's Foundation hosts the annual event, which attracts vendors from as far away as Pennsylvania and usually raises about $10,000 for the organization through admission, raffle sales and vendor tables.
Ms. Schweiger said the profit they make from the event stays on Staten Island and is used to help run various programs.