I visited the Dulles Expo Center on Saturday to attend the Capital Remodel and Garden Show. There were a large number of exhibitors at this show. It was much larger then the Antiques and Garden Show I attended in Nashville a couple weeks ago. And there was a much different vibe here than in Nashville. This show was all about selling. The booths were filled with sales men and women who were there to, ... well, ... sell! In Nashville they served cocktails on the exhibitor floor. At the Dulles Expo Center they served hot dogs and popcorn. A much different experience. However, as with most things in life, there was a silver lining. Read on.
I arrived around 11:30 AM on Saturday. It is a 45 minute drive from Crest Avenue to the Dulles Expo Center, the majority of the drive on Route 66 which is notorious for heavy traffic. I got lucky on Saturday and made my way without incident. Unheard of on a Saturday morning at that hour.
I handed over my ticket at the door, got my hand stamped, and stopped at the welcome desk to pick up a map and brochure. I did not see either of the presenters you see here on the front of the brochure. My intent was not to attend either of their shows but rather to spend time on the floor perusing the many exhibitor booths.
One of the booths I was most interested in visiting was the Merrifield Garden Center booth. Merrifield Garden Center has a long history in the greater metropolitan area and I am friends with the owners daughter, Debbie. I was hoping to catch her at the Expo Center, but she was not there on Saturday. I stopped by the store at Fair Oaks later in the day and she had left for the day. I later found out she was spending the afternoon and evening celebrating her wedding anniversary. Congratulations to Debbie. And hubby.
Their booth had tons of beautiful plants for sale. They were smart to put out little signs stating "Please feel free to shop our display". Otherwise I am certain the crowd would not have known whether the plants were for sale or just for display. Look at these beautiful pink hydrangea.
There was also a tub of garden herb markers made from split wood. Then the name of the herb was cleverly stenciled on the wood.
A metal stake was inserted at the bottom so that they could be easily secured in the ground in your herb garden. This was a very clever idea. These would work well in a large herb garden. I do not have a large herb garden so I did not make a purchase. But if I increase the size of my herb garden, I would certainly consider these markers.
I forget the name of this exhibitor but I thought their booth was unique. It stood out from all the rest with the Tiki Bar theme, They were selling outdoor grills which I was not in the market for, but I thought they did a very good job of drawing people in to their booth. And that is what it is all about when you are at the event and wanting to make as many sales as possible. Get the people in the booth.
A cute little lamp shop with these plug in nightlights. Very, very cute and I think they would look adorable in many homes. They do not match the decor at Crest Avenue. The other issue is that I do not have a great many outlets that are not used or that are visible. You would want to display these in an outlet where they would be seen. Most of the outlets at Crest Avenue are hidden behind furniture, so unfortunately, these were not a good buy for me. I guess I could have picked up one or two as gifts. But that just did not happen.
The floor was quite crowded with exhibitors and visitors on Saturday. However, the promoters did think ahead to carve out a small space for this string quartet, which I thought was a nice addition.
What is a home show without a floor cleaning presentation of some kind? They are at all of these shows. Maybe it is a new steam mop, as above, or a broom with rubber fingers or an electric dust pan that sucks up the dirt you sweep from the floor. There is always something like that at these shows. I stopped to watch this for a while because I was intrigued. This steam mop seemed to do a very good job of cleaning the different floors. I was impressed. But I did not buy one. Had one. It stopped working shortly after I bought it. Won't be doing that again.
After walking the floor and seeing all the many exhibitors, I decided to make my way to the exit. This display of bird feeders caught my attention. I thought these were very cute. I was not in the market for new bird feeders on Saturday, so I did not purchase one. Maybe next year.
Finally, as I was about to exit, I found the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz standing, having a conversation. Possibly they were wondering, which way to the yellow brick road. Or, where are Dorothy and Toto. Or even, which way to Kansas. We will never know. But I was done with my tour and it was time to leave.
While these shows all have similarities, there are also several differences which makes each of them unique in their own way. I will visit again next year.
I arrived around 11:30 AM on Saturday. It is a 45 minute drive from Crest Avenue to the Dulles Expo Center, the majority of the drive on Route 66 which is notorious for heavy traffic. I got lucky on Saturday and made my way without incident. Unheard of on a Saturday morning at that hour.
I handed over my ticket at the door, got my hand stamped, and stopped at the welcome desk to pick up a map and brochure. I did not see either of the presenters you see here on the front of the brochure. My intent was not to attend either of their shows but rather to spend time on the floor perusing the many exhibitor booths.
One of the booths I was most interested in visiting was the Merrifield Garden Center booth. Merrifield Garden Center has a long history in the greater metropolitan area and I am friends with the owners daughter, Debbie. I was hoping to catch her at the Expo Center, but she was not there on Saturday. I stopped by the store at Fair Oaks later in the day and she had left for the day. I later found out she was spending the afternoon and evening celebrating her wedding anniversary. Congratulations to Debbie. And hubby.
Their booth had tons of beautiful plants for sale. They were smart to put out little signs stating "Please feel free to shop our display". Otherwise I am certain the crowd would not have known whether the plants were for sale or just for display. Look at these beautiful pink hydrangea.
There was also a tub of garden herb markers made from split wood. Then the name of the herb was cleverly stenciled on the wood.
A metal stake was inserted at the bottom so that they could be easily secured in the ground in your herb garden. This was a very clever idea. These would work well in a large herb garden. I do not have a large herb garden so I did not make a purchase. But if I increase the size of my herb garden, I would certainly consider these markers.
I forget the name of this exhibitor but I thought their booth was unique. It stood out from all the rest with the Tiki Bar theme, They were selling outdoor grills which I was not in the market for, but I thought they did a very good job of drawing people in to their booth. And that is what it is all about when you are at the event and wanting to make as many sales as possible. Get the people in the booth.
A cute little lamp shop with these plug in nightlights. Very, very cute and I think they would look adorable in many homes. They do not match the decor at Crest Avenue. The other issue is that I do not have a great many outlets that are not used or that are visible. You would want to display these in an outlet where they would be seen. Most of the outlets at Crest Avenue are hidden behind furniture, so unfortunately, these were not a good buy for me. I guess I could have picked up one or two as gifts. But that just did not happen.
The floor was quite crowded with exhibitors and visitors on Saturday. However, the promoters did think ahead to carve out a small space for this string quartet, which I thought was a nice addition.
What is a home show without a floor cleaning presentation of some kind? They are at all of these shows. Maybe it is a new steam mop, as above, or a broom with rubber fingers or an electric dust pan that sucks up the dirt you sweep from the floor. There is always something like that at these shows. I stopped to watch this for a while because I was intrigued. This steam mop seemed to do a very good job of cleaning the different floors. I was impressed. But I did not buy one. Had one. It stopped working shortly after I bought it. Won't be doing that again.
After walking the floor and seeing all the many exhibitors, I decided to make my way to the exit. This display of bird feeders caught my attention. I thought these were very cute. I was not in the market for new bird feeders on Saturday, so I did not purchase one. Maybe next year.
Finally, as I was about to exit, I found the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz standing, having a conversation. Possibly they were wondering, which way to the yellow brick road. Or, where are Dorothy and Toto. Or even, which way to Kansas. We will never know. But I was done with my tour and it was time to leave.
While these shows all have similarities, there are also several differences which makes each of them unique in their own way. I will visit again next year.
