Objects Lost and Found!

There is a new antiques shop in Houston – Objects Lost & Found, or to make it all a little easier on the tongue, just Objects. Located in the heart of antiques central on Ferndale, Objects owes its start to last year’s Hurricane Ike. Proprietor Sharon Perry has had her offices at this charming house for years. An architect/interior designer with more impressive credentials than President Obama: she graduated with a degree in Architecture from Rice University and earned her major degree from Harvard, Perry has dreamed of running an antiques shop in her office for a long while. In fact for the past three years she has been quietly amassing antiques from France and warehousing them, waiting for just the perfect time to open. Once Hurricane Ike blew through last year and her office suffered storm damage – it gave Perry the excuse to finally open Objects. Since reconstruction work was going to have to be done anyway – why not reconfigure the office into a shop? The turnover was easy - she had plenty of room on the second floor for her architecture and interior design business – so upstairs all the offices went. While the downstairs was being turned into the charming shop, Perry flew off to France yet again to really get down to the business of buying. It all came together last month when she opened the doors to the newest shop on antique row.

The shop is spread out over three main rooms – it is filled with antiques, mostly “smalls,” lamps, and accent furniture such as pairs of consoles. What sets Objects apart is that it caters to those in the accessorizing phase - that time at the end of a project when the shelves and table tops are waiting to be styled - but finding just those right objects can be one of the more time consuming duties an interior decorator faces. As a designer herself, Perry recognized the need for one-stop shopping for all things “accessory” and has merchandised Objects as such. I suspect interior designers will flock to the shop for the special touches that make a room complete.

First stop is a wall of lamps, mostly in pairs, and mostly custom designed by Perry. On the bottom shelves is a collection of boxes – perfect for side tables and coffee tables.

On this round bakers rack are scores of decorative plates and Majolica - highly collectable ceramics.

I love this line up of parrots on the mantel! Sharon said she has a real bird theme going on throughout the shop.

Naturally I was drawn to this beautiful pair of painted antique French chairs. Sharon loves the original muslin lining as much as I do – I wouldn’t have recovered these either! Why do muslin linings look so fresh and attractive now? Funny how times and taste changes.

Another favorite of mine was this stunning Spanish styled table, painted, and topped with aged stone. I could see using this outside on a covered porch or inside in a dining room, either one! I really love this table!!

Another favorite was this painted console – it is actually one of a pair. More majolica rests on top, along with birds and a birdcage.

This charming armoire with chicken wire is filled with framed prints.

The second room has shelves filled with goodies mostly from Sharon’s trips to France.

My mother, sister and I all collect tole or tin boxes. Mostly, when we are lucky, we might find small biscuit tins from the English company Huntley Palmer. But this piece dwarfs all of our carefully collected tins: it is a large display that once held different spices – probably used in a market, Sharon said. I was drooling over this!!!!

A close up of the spice dispenser – here you can see the mustard and cinnamon compartments.

A painted chest with a zinc mirror. Antique drapery hardware sits in a wooden crate atop the chest.

In the third room: I love this sofa and the pair of demi lune consoles flanking it. The scrolled iron wall hangings are antique French burglar bars, Sharon quipped.

A large collection of English and French inkwells sit atop a vanity table in the third room.

And finally, one of the more unique objects in the shop is this lavabo in the shape of a turtle! Sharon, being both an architect and an interior designer, is hoping someone will buy this and ask her to design a powder room around it. I hope they do too – she has all the plans drawn up in her head, just waiting for them!!!

A special thank you Sharon for the tour of your beautiful shop Objects!

Objects is located at 2815 Ferndale, off Kirby between Westheimer and Alabama. For these next two weeks, Objects is participating in the Holiday Card for the American Cancer Society. It is open Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays by appointment.

AND IN OTHER HOUSTON NEWS:

Tara Shaw welcomes authors Rhonda Eleish and Edie Van Breems to her Houston store this Friday from 2 until 5 pm for a book signing and lecture on decorating with Swedish furniture. On Saturday, the same event will be held in New Orleans. If you can, please be sure to attend – it should be a great event!