Granny Chic

grAnny ChiC by: KArin Melberg sChwier The Grandmillennial Antiquing Movement

Happily, what’s old is new again.

If you yearn for things reminiscent of yesteryear, or if you feel you were born in the wrong century, count yourself part of the "grandmillenial" revival. It’s a longing for homey reminders of childhood and a more innocent time. This might be a new thing for some, but many have long known the value in antiques and keepsakes is much more than monetary. Whether you’re deciding what of Grandma’s to keep, what to cull or if you’re treasure hunting yourself, the journey is steeped in nostalgia.

Using antiques as focal points or accents in your home décor—inside and out—is a trend seen more and more in many different styles of homes.

Well before the grandmillennial movement— some are calling it "granny chic"—one of the province’s most popular antiquing ‘destination drives’ has been to a spot just outside of Davidson. The mid-way town between Saskatoon and Regina has been home to farm girl Erin Kinder all her life. Since 2006, it’s one she shares with her husband Craig, a Kiwi from New Zealand she met when he was working on a neighbouring farm in 1999. Today, the

couple—with sons Sam, 13, Ivan, 11 and daughter Mary, 10—runs a mixed grain and cattle farm. Erin is also the owner of the aptly named Kinder Surprises Antiques. It’s the largest rural antique experience in Saskatchewan.

Erin sees first-hand how much people yearn for the bygone jetsam of an agrarian time, perhaps stoked by an increasingly chaotic world.

down memory Lane

Whether buying or selling, some research is in order. Erin offers some advice on where to begin, and she said it should start with some prep work.

If you are looking to sell, and it’s a substantial piece, it’s important to know if it’s Chippendale or chipboard. A professional appraisal might be a good idea. Erin often gets requests to appraise items, but with over 20,000 items in her inventory, her time is devoted to picking and curating her own stock.

When looking to buy, she suggests people get a feel for a price range if they have something specific in mind. Think about where it will go, and measure the space. Then keep your eyes open. Nostalgia-driven impulse buys are tempting, so preparation is important.

“I encourage people to visit a local antique shop, get an idea of other pieces of similar type and era,” she says. “That’ll be a ball park.” It doesn’t matter what it’s listed for on ebay in Toronto or New York. The antique market, like any other, fluctuates. Local market prices are what matter.

There are hardcore buyers and sellers willing to ship specific items in pristine condition with sought-after names. But Erin has noticed some changes since she started selling to friends in 2014.

A different kind of value

Much of her clientele appreciates antiques in other ways, she says. It has more to do with connections to history, to memories more than money.

“The most often-heard phrase? ‘Oh, we used to have one of these!’” Erin laughs. “They touch it and are transported to childhood. I love to watch people get a massive smile. They’re taken to a place, to people, to a moment long forgotten.”

Customers want items that connect them to the past. “Feelings and memories are often more important

Erin Kinder, owner of Kinder Surprises Antiques, is active on Facebook and Instagram.

Unconventional Nonconformist Homebuilders

than a dollar value. They want value and quality, but often it’s a bowl or a rolling pin just like Grandma had.”

Comfort and Familiarity over Perfection

People who cringe at the thought of something useful and beautiful ending up in the landfill are happy to rescue them. The provenance of a piece is often more about its history than its price point. A bedstead, dresser, coffee table or knick-knack with a story behind it is more special than new.

While the condition of antiques can matter if it makes a difference in use, people often find items more appealing because they’re not perfect. Having something well used and well loved is more important.

In the eye of the Beholder

“Many customers aren’t worried about imperfections. I think we’ve come to realize we don’t need perfection. People buy items because they want to be kind to their soul with objects that have a soul, too. Anyone can buy new, but people like the idea of beautiful, local, one-ofa-kind pieces that say ‘I live here.’”

Erin says certain items trend from time to time, but there is no 'typical’ buyer.

“Age, location, profession,” she says, “doesn’t seem to matter. People want something that speaks to them.” Currently, antique tin ceiling tiles are “huge” to repurpose as back splashes, art work and head boards, and “anything eclectic” to use as yard art or for planters, particularly for succulents. Reimagined dressers, washstands and sewing machines are reincarnated as bathroom vanities. Erin recently acquired an early 1900s chicken incubator she knows will become a kitchen island or vanity.

“Honestly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” she says. “It used to be that buyers looked for specific items like Nippon or Noritake china. Now many look for a specific colour of item to accent their home.” They still want an antique or something unusual, she explains, but aren’t as caught up in prestige maker names.

Steeped in Antiques

“I’m a farm girl. That’s what I love and where my antique business began,” Erin says. “I first started growing my inventory at farm auctions sales, eating a piece of pie from the bake table while I listened to the cadence and rhythm of auctioneers.”

As a teenager, Erin worked at Reminisce, her mother’s Bladworth antique shop in the 1990s, but wasn’t really interested in “old stuff” then. Her family didn’t patronize traditional big box stores, preferring instead to scour thrift shops, garage and auction sales for furniture and pieces to decorate their homes.

“My mom, my sister and I would be the only women standing in muddy boots in the pouring rain at a farm auction sale,” she explains. “We’d haul home these gorgeous prairie antiques.”

She didn’t know it at the time, but that tradition was the training ground for her future business. Erin was commuting from the farm

to a corporate job with her children in daycare. She believed she could create an antique business that was also a tourist destination, one that would intrigue people enough to make the drive. Her eye turned to the century-old barn where she fed her chickens. Armed with the family entrepreneurial spirit, a degree in marketing and years of exposure to a strong tourism economy while living for a few years in New Zealand, she made a plan.

Today, she has over 17,000 followers on social media, and people are making that destination drive repeatedly. Her inventory fills the hip-roof barn, but also other buildings that make up “the town,” which now includes a one-room schoolhouse moved onto the site from the Eston area in 2020.

do’S: Some HAndy do’S, don’TS And reASonS To AnTIque

don’TS:

• Wear comfy clothes and shoes.

Be prepared to spend some time.

It’s a treasure hunt. • Bring measurements if you’re looking for a particular piece. • Bring cash. Many antique stores only accept cash. • Bring tie downs, packing blankets for the haul home. • Go through more than once. That will reveal many items you didn’t see the first time. • Use your senses: An old trunk?

Give it a sniff. Mothballs or mouldy? Touch the dresser. Heavy, light, a hardwood or pine? Look at the cabinet; dovetail joints?

Robertson screws (a repro) or old straight edge screws? • Ask questions; learn about the provenance of items. • Don’t pass on something you really love. Antiques are not a consistent inventory. • Don’t be offended if the owner won’t haggle. Often they will negotiate, but don't be a Lowball

Larry. • Don’t limit yourself to your neighbourhood. Venture out and see what other places have to offer. • Don’t bring a bull to a china shop; be respectful of the space and items on display.

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“Saskatchewan is the home of pioneers and settlers. We aren’t a rich pretentious bunch. We’re a land of people with heart and soul,” Erin says. “We need strong, solid utilitarian pieces, and a lot of people are looking for those things, like a good solid dresser,” Erin says, “One they can heave and haul around without fear it will crumble in a heap of cheap particle board. They want items that connect them to their past, simpler times, sturdy things that remind them of being safe.”

People often send photos after they get their purchases home and settled. Strangest things ever in her store? A bottle full of gold teeth, and a 1910 embalming kit, both of which sold. She says she didn’t need to see where they ended up.

The Whispering of Ghosts

To be surrounded by things that have traveled great distances, perhaps crossed oceans, endured hardships and live on with such rich histories is what keeps Erin dedicated to curating antiques. Families who want help to pass items on to new homes contact her to buy, knowing the history will be passed on, too. She treasures the lineage as much as the items themselves, and respects the journey they’ve made to get to her barn.

“These are the survivors, the ones that made it,” she says. “They were loved, handed down through generations. Now they have a chance to be part of a new family’s story.”

Karin Melberg Schwier

118 Kaplan Green – Your Dream Home is For Sale

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