Twice a year, Bernie Bagley and Randy Denosowicz, co-owners of Antiques of Dallas, scour the United Kingdom to find the rare, the unusual and the exceptional for their Peck Barn showroom at The Compound during the Round Top Antiques Show.

Once overlooked, English pine furniture is now trending with young Brits who are using the pieces to bring warmth into their ultra-modern flats.

“Over the years, we’ve developed a network of pine furniture specialists that stretches across Britain, so we have access to the best as we handpick our inventory,” Bernie said. “Our pine furniture can double as works of art.”

  • Antiques of Dallas in Round Top

The duo times their buying trips, so that Round Top shoppers are first to see their latest collection. For the fall show, they filled a 40-foot container with furniture and home décor.

“Those customers who come see us in Round Top get first dibs on our freshest finds,” Randy said, noting they also maintain a warehouse in northeast Dallas that is available for shopping by appointment only.

Moving beyond fine pine, the veteran dealers have ferreted out an exclusive source for one-of-kind decoupage furniture that is hand-crafted by a husband and wife team from south England. He finds antique furniture and restores it. Then she, using a proprietary process, decoupages the pieces which include cabinets, tables, and chest of drawers.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like their work,” Bernie said. “People have tried to copy her style and designs, but no one has succeeded. The furniture is relatively small pieces that make big statements.”

In addition to furniture, shoppers will find hand-made down pillows crafted in a small Welsh factory from high-end upholstery fabrics unavailable in the United States.

“In our adventuring, we were introduced to the husband and wife team who are the visionaries behind this factory,” said Randy, noting Antiques of Dallas is the only source for these pillows in the U.S. “For this show, we concentrated on selecting pairs of pillows instead of buying a large number of pillows in a few styles, so people will have a large selection without fear they’re being duplicated.”

For those seeking more beautiful items designed for luxurious snuggling, Bernie and Randy have expanded their inventory to include fine wool throws crafted in an English mill that has been operating since the early 1800s.

“For the fall show, we’re offering three lines of throws,” Bernie said. “The first is vertically made, meaning the throw is crafted from start to finish in the same factory; the second line features unique designs created at the end of each year’s run where the artisans mix and match the leftover yarn; and the third line is picnic throws, which are created to be more durable and actually used outside.”

The duo also has begun acquiring highly desirable and hard-to-come by original English pub and hotel signs as part of their showroom collections. While the veteran antiques dealers have an eye for the unusual and the superlative, they have a heart for relationships and stories.

“The best parts of this business are the people and the stories,” Randy said. “When we can tell our customers the stories behind their purchases, it just makes the experience even that more special.”

Want more info about the Round Top Antiques Show? Click here.