Lily Barfield of Lily’s Vintage Finds, and her mom, on their new inn, bucket list trips and more
Lily Barfield of Lily’s Vintage Finds already gives her followers a form of escape through her fun and realistic antiquing content, which often takes her to places like Round Top, New Orleans and even the south of France. But now, she and her family, who are intimately involved in her antiquing venture, are bringing people into the real-life world of Lily’s Vintage Finds with a new inn in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, where Lily and her husband Thomas currently live. Called The Marlene in honor of her late grandmother, the inn is still currently being revamped by Lily and her team, as they fill the property’s spaces with antique finds from all over the country and the world.
Featured in our June bucket list travel issue, the mother-daughter duo focuses most of their travels on treasure hunting, as you’ll read in their Q&A with the pair below.
To get the inside scoop on The Marlene, read this inRegister story.
What’s #1 on your travel bucket list?
Lily: I’m eager to go antiquing in the English countryside. A trip to the Cotswolds seems like a dream! I feel like I would gather so much inspiration from the picturesque villages and quaint towns. Plus, they are well known for their antiques so I would be in heaven treasure-hunting there.
What is your go-to travel advice?
Lily: I highly recommend revisiting your favorite places because each time, you’ll experience that location in a more authentic way. I’m heading back to Provence again in June, which will be my fourth time visiting the area in just over a year. In the past, I never prioritized visiting a place multiple times because I felt like there were so many other places to travel. But it has been incredible to go back to a place we love over and over again. We now have our own little spots and special places in the area which makes traveling there even more fun.
Tracie: Pick a day on your trip to just wander. It can be tempting to pore over travel blogs, read tons of reviews and plan every minute of your vacation. But there’s something really magical about opening yourself up to impromptu suggestions and discovering somewhere on your own. One of my favorite moments from a recent trip to Saint-Remy-de-Provence happened on a day we had no plans. We were sitting at breakfast and had the most delicious honey with our yogurt. We asked where it was from, and the owners of the chateau suggested we take a trip down the road to the local beekeepers and pick up some honey for ourselves. It was such an authentic experience and the most extraordinary honey I’ve ever tasted.
Do you have a bucket list of vintage items that you hope to one day find?
Lily: My mom and I like to collect vintage or antique art pieces from every place we visit. For example, I picked up the most beautiful oil painting of the French countryside at the Lyon Flea Market last year. It’s a small painting and it sits on the shelf in my living room now. And the year before, I scored a really unique painting at an antique mall when my mom and I were road-tripping through the Mississippi Delta. When I look around my house, it tells a story of all the places we’ve visited.