About Tess
Where It Started
I first found my love for antiques when I was 16. A close friend of mine had a 1920s antique ring she wore every day, passed down from her grandmother. It was the first time I had seen a piece so unique, timeless and meaningful – then on my love continued to grow.
Around the same time, my family found a new love for travel. While every Autumn we would frequent my grandmother’s farm in Oklahoma, the summers took us to somewhere a little bit farther out - places we couldn’t reach by squeezing into the back of mom’s Tahoe.
It was places like Barcelona, Johannesburg, Paris, Milos and Lisbon that took my love for antiques to the next level. Over the last 10 years of my life, I have been exposed to unique hotel lobbies, quirky café restrooms, and whimsical restaurant corners that had me endlessly inspired to truly challenge myself in interior design.
Over the last few years, my passion for antiques has skyrocketed. My college years I served as “The Homemaker” and decorated dull dorm rooms into cozy home away from homes. Upon graduation, my weekends in Austin are now filled with estate sales, road trips to small towns, and squeezing in antique searches on trips.
This passion first served only to benefit my empty bedroom walls and kitchen shelves, but it soon began to grow into something bigger. As I search for something that sparks joy, I also look forward to the feeling I get when I find something truly special. It sends my mind into a completely redecorated corner of a hypothetical bedroom, powder room, or vacation home. My favorite example is when I fell in love with a vintage Tommy Bahamas palm tree lamp. Though it was surrounded by dust in an East Texas barn, I knew it belonged on a summer home bar cart, elbow to elbow with rum, coconut vodka, and a brass pineapple bottle opener.
A close friend of mine empowered me to turn this joy into a business. At the time, I was spending my days sitting in a cubicle and staring at a grey wall — wishing I was walking on gravel and kicking up dust to find my next escape.
It was then Antiques By Tess was born!
