Beauty by Design

One of the most beautiful things about Charleston? We’re always celebrating something beautiful! And while wearables have been getting their due on the runways of Charleston Fashion Week^® since Tuesday, today marks the beginning of our annual springtime ode to antiques, homes, and gardens.

Tonight, Historic Charleston Foundation’s (HCF) ninth annual Charleston International Antiques Show (CIAS) commences with a preview party at Memminger Auditorium, where items from nearly 30 exhibitors will be on display. Head over Friday through Sunday to peruse, learn about, and even purchase period furnishings, decorative pieces, and fine art—including jewelry, rugs, rare maps, quilts, garden furniture, and silver— from the late 17th to 20th centuries. (For a peek at three cool items on exhibit, click here. A host of other events—from tonight’s Young Advocate’s Soirée at Tucker Payne Antiques to tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Tour—round out the festivities. For a complete CIAS schedule and more details, click here. For a list of antiques stores to visit while you're downtown, click here.

The busy HCF also launches their month-long Festival of Houses and Gardens today, inviting guests inside some of the peninsula’s most stunning private spaces during daily tours. Choose from among a dozen different routes—perhaps you’re curious about the vast variety of architecture on King Street (untouched by Charles Town’s early fires) or East Battery’s harbor-side homes built with shops on the ground floor for maritime commerce. At each of the tours’ seven to 10 featured properties, volunteers will share details of the history, architecture, and furnishings. Click here for the full scoop.

And while you’re out seeking home and garden inspiration, why not add the Garden Club of Charleston’s House and Garden Tours to your weekend agenda? The 77th annual (can you believe it?) walking tours on Friday and Saturday take you inside their own set of lovely interiors and greenspaces, while raising funds for the club’s projects, which include maintaining the gardens at the Heyward-Washington House, Joseph Manigault House, and Charleston Museum as well as the MUSC Healing Garden. Click here for more info.

To read Betsy Shackelford Halstead’s profile on interior designer David Easton, the featured speaker at CIAS’s sold-out Luncheon Lecture, click here.

For more events going on this weekend, click here.

To join us at Charleston Fashion Week, click here.