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Blue Fern Merchant Newnan GA Photo © 2016 Susan Crutchfield Photography

Update: Blue Fern has moved to 167 Greenville St. Newnan.

Happy 2016, Coweta County! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season full of friends, family, amazing food and local shopping!

A few weeks ago, before the holiday madness began, we headed over to the newest store in town to talk to one of the owners, Lori Gillson Duncan.

Blue Fern Merchant was conceived about five years ago by Lori and her sister Staci Gillson Mandrell.

The Fayetteville natives are both talented designers. Lori is an interior designer, mainly working with Atlanta builders. Staci is a graphic designer with a successful Atlanta based firm.

The sisters wanted to combine their design aesthetics to create a local shop that expressed their eclectic tastes.

As soon as we walked into Blue Fern, we felt as if we needed more eyes.

The shop is filled with so many wonderful treasures, each one more unique than the last.

Coming from a very close family, Susan and I loved the little details in the store that make Blue Fern a truly family business.

The name of the shop is taken from the first name of their maternal grandmother and the maiden name of their paternal grandmother.

Additionally, each of the price tags on the merchandise features an old family photo, which gives you a glimpse into the sister’s family life and makes you feel right at home.

The store is 90% vintage, repurposed and found items.

Blue Fern is the kind of store you can step into and find something for yourself and everyone in your life in one place.

In addition to home décor, jewelry, footwear, bath products and garden decorations, Blue Fern also has furniture, floor coverings, wallpaper and window treatments.

We love the repurposed furniture, but those who want something more personalized can also order custom sofas, chairs and ottomans.

You can also bring in your own special piece of furniture and have it reupholstered to your taste.

We love the fact that you can step into Blue Fern and purchase entirely customized items including linens, window treatments and rugs.

This ability to customize furnishings and décor goes hand in hand with the Blue Fern design services.

Lori and Staci use their carefully honed talents and unique eye to work with clients who want to re-imagine their spaces.

The design services they offer range from designing a single room to a complete home restyling.

They can merge their experience and eye for design with the specific style of the client.

Lori emphasized that they sincerely want to make the entire design process fun.

As you probably know by now, we love to shop local and buy from local artists.

Blue Fern also tries to stock a wide selection of items by local artisans and craftsmen.

Because of the unique nature of the merchandise, there is always something new to see at Blue Fern as more pieces are acquired and sold.

Blue Fern is located right in downtown Newnan in the old Dubose jewelry building.

Gift cards are now available if you want to share the gift of design with friends or family.

You can find out about special discounts, promotions and upcoming events on the Blue Fern Facebook page.

Blue Fern is also on Instagram.

We would love to see any of your Blue Fern pieces “in action”. Post your pictures to our Facebook page!

We love an outdoor market that gathers local artists and business owners together to sell their wares, which is why we love downtown Newnan Market Days so much. When we saw that there was going to be a pop up market in a pasture we were very excited.

Having missed the first year of this event last year, we were not exactly sure what to expect.

We were not disappointed. The Farmhouse Sale was set in a beautiful field on a cute farm property.

It was a perfect spring day with a light breeze that kept the area cool.

The vendors all seemed to be carefully selected. Every one of them had beautiful wares that were displayed in the most appealing way.

There was a wide range of products from rustic refinished furniture to handmade bath and body products.

We were amazed at the creativity that the artists showed in repurposing items destined for the landfill into unique pieces with enduring utility.

As we browsed through the booths, we saw so many things that we didn’t even know we needed. Many of the vendors had one of a kind houseware pieces that represented a wide range of styles.

In addition to stunning furniture and rustic lawn décor, the Pasture sale also featured original art, adorable upcycled clothing, antiques, hand knitted and crocheted items of all kinds and jewelry to name just a few.