Last Thursday I attended a special event at Queen of Hearts Antiques and Interiors in Alpharetta.  The store invited interior designers and bloggers to an early morning shopping event before they opened their doors for their holiday open house.  We had the full run of the store so I was able to browse (and shop) the wonderful selection of antiques, vintage decor and holiday items.

If you live in the Atlanta area but aren’t familiar with Queen of Hearts, let me tell you a little about the store and business.  Queen of Hearts opened it first store in 1998 and today there are three stores in the Atlanta area–Alpharetta, Marietta and Buford.  Each store is made up hundreds of dealer-merchants with individual booths to sell their goods. You’ll find a wide range of products ranging from furniture, housewares and decor to fashion and personal accessories.

While each location has the Queen of Hearts signature set up – wide, easy-to-navigate aisles named after streets in Charleston, S.C. – each also has its own personality. Dealers in Alpharetta feature products targeted to designers and decorators. Marietta is more of a traditional antiques store, while Buford has a lot of dealers who are creatively repurposing old items for new uses.

Queen of Hearts has been branded to be a one-stop shop for antiques and home interiors merchandise which you’ll quickly recognize the minute you enter the store.

I arrived at the store around 8:45 am and was immediately taken in by the beautiful holiday displays and merchandising vignettes. I knew I had to whip out my phone and snap a few pictures so I could share it all with you. Enjoy my tour through Queen of Hearts and take note of the creative holiday decorating ideas I’m pointing out along the way. ***Warning, this is photo heavy post, guaranteed to make you want to go shopping!

 Queen Of Hearts Antiques & Interiors

If you have a love for antique and vintage china, the store is choke full of ironstone, milk glass and transferware.

Everyday Decor…

Once I stopped drooling over all the beautiful china I focused in on the everyday decor.

These marble bookends were just stunning!

I almost bought this bell for those occasion when I want to summon the butler (not)!

This bamboo bench was a beauty. I really wanted it but there’s just one problem…I don’t have a place to put it.

I loved this arrangement of frames and antique mirrors on a mantel. Talk about a super budget-friendly and dynamic mantel decorating idea.

Collectibles of all kinds filled the shelves.

These pretty decanters were also something I thought about purchasing.  I loved everything about them except the price 🙁

And then there was the Christmas decor… 

Hold your horses because this is going to be good.

New and vintage ornaments displayed in bowls and containers.  This is one of the easiest holiday decorating ideas ever.  Look around your house, I’m sure you have a spot or two that could use an ornament arrangement.

I bought a few small vintage ornaments to use in my holiday decor.  There were a lot of dealers with vintage ornament collections and most ornaments were priced between $3 and $6 each.

One of the things I enjoyed seeing was all of the unique wreath decorating ideas.

 This was a small wreath that had an oversized candy cane ornaments attached to it.  The wreath was used as a place setting on a holiday tablescape.

For more rustic themed holiday decor, this grapevine wreath was beautifully decorated with a big linen bow, faux magnolia leaves and pinecones.

One trend I’m seeing everywhere right now are wreaths with just the upper or lower area decorated, similar to a Laurel Wreath.

Christmas Inspiration…

In addition to wreaths, there were beautiful decor pieces using greenery stems and swags.

Greenery stems nestled around holiday decor in a large metal tray.

I love the idea of placing greenery picks under a glass dome.

I’m so stealing this idea of using a ceramic swan vase to hold holiday greens.

 

There were lots of these wood star decor pieces.  I see the stars at flea markets and antique stores all the time and love how they can be transformed using greenery, pinecones and a bow.

Or for a more traditional look, holiday ornaments.

 

Here’s a quick and easy DIY you can do for your own home.  Tie a greenery pick and leaf stem to a vintage silver-plated tray. Then add a big bow to finish it off.  An arrangement like this can be hung on a front door or any wall space in your home.

Just about every aisle in the store had Christmas decor of some kind. There were lots of pillows, tabletop items and unique gifts.

 

This vintage sled was not cheap but boy was it cool.  It would look great hung on a wall in a kids room.

And last but not least were the pretty holiday dinner napkins that I loved.

 

Wasn’t that shopping tour fun?!  You can only image how I felt shopping the store in person.

Queen of Hearts is a treasure trove of goodies so plan on spending some time when you decide to go shopping. And for those of you that can’t make it to the store, they also showcase a lot of the items for sale on Craigslist.  You can shop from the comforts of home and then contact the store to make your purchase.

Follow Queen of Hearts on Facebook for regular photo updates from all the stores.  And sign up for their newsletter here to be notified of store events.

Queen of Hearts store locations:

Alpharetta–670 Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009

Marietta–2745 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, GA 30066

Buford–4125 GA Hwy 20, Buford, GA 30518 (next to Hobby Lobby)

 

Happy shopping friends!