Antiques, Southern Style

Cover of Embracing Southern Homes. Image: Eric Ross.

Antiques with Southern and worldly charm will be on offer at the Madison Antiques & Fine Things show from March 19–21. Held at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center in Madison, Georgia, the event will feature a selection of antiques that span furniture, porcelain, rugs, and more, presented by dealers from Georgia and beyond.

Also on the event schedule are a series of lectures by antique experts. A featured speaker on this roster is Eric Ross of Eric Ross Interiors in Nashville, Tennessee, who specializes in classic luxury design. The interior designer will present his talk, Living with Antiques in a Modern World, on March 21 and will hold a book signing of his two books, Enduring Southern Homes (2019) and Embracing Southern Homes (2025), after the lecture.

Prior to his presentation, Ross spoke with Kovels Antique Trader about his lecture at the Madison Antiques & Fine Things show, his career as an interior designer, and the antique trends that you should follow and ignore.

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Eric Ross. Photograph by Clara Chambers.

Kovels Antique Trader (KAT): Tell me about your talk at the Madison Antiques & Fine Things show.

Eric Ross (ER): It is about categories of antiques that I want you to look for to create a timeless home…I have a very relaxed speaking style, and I try to be funny and inject stories about certain clients. We’ll have slides of past and current projects.

A fun part of the speech is the last half, five antiques to avoid. I talk about things to avoid, and the audience gets really chatty with each other, which is fun. And it promotes a lot of good questions during the question period at the end.

KAT: Can you share which antiques to look out for and which to ignore?

ER: Really, the crux of my talk is that I want you to look for things that are handmade or appear handmade and stay away from (objects) that look factory-made or machine-carved. A lot of people get stuck with things from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, where they were coming out of the Depression and the beginning of the industrial age. And then you have a lot of mass-made things just because they’re old. People think that they’re fine or collectible, and they’re really not.

KAT: Who do you recommend attending your talks?

ER: Enthusiasts of anything related to antiques or collectibles. People who just love fine things or collecting, and have an appreciation for not necessarily old things, but those that are well-made.

KAT: What is your connection to antiques? When did it all begin?

ER: I had an aunt who, when I was maybe 12, married a doctor and bought a house in the old historic district of Paducah (Kentucky) called West Jefferson. She lived in a Tudor with its real steep-pitched roof and half-timber details on the front.

She was dear to me, but she was tacky. I mean, she had no taste. But one day her husband (John) bought her an antique baby grand piano, and then a decorator came in and started hanging artwork. And I asked my aunt, “Who’s that?” And she was like, “Oh, John hired someone to help me decorate the house.” And I was like, “That’s a job?”
She would say, “The decorator has picked out some things at the antique store, do you want to go with me and look at them?” And I’d be like, “Yeah!” So, it was really an education.

KAT: What antique trends are happening in 2026?

ER: I think a big trend is Americana, and it’s really been coming on strong. I remember, years ago, growing up in the 1980s, there was Americana country and all that.

Some of these younger designers who are coming up just think it’s the most amazing, fresh thing in the world. It’s vintage, but to them, this is the newest thing.

I would say, in pared-down flourishes, more American than European. It’s really a pared-down look versus heavy carvings and flourishes that are super goofy or heavy.

KAT: Are there any booths that you’re going to stop by during the Madison Antiques & Fine Things show?

ER: I’ll definitely shop the show. Smalls are always the most popular thing at an antique show. You can put it in your car and drive away. Furniture takes more forethought. You have to find someone who will deliver it or ship it to you.

KAT: What antiques are essentially Southern?

ER: I think there are certain elements, maybe a canopy bed, that to me are quintessentially Southern. I know canopies were made to keep you warm, and so in the South, you may not need it, but it’s the flamboyance.
I think the Southern aesthetic is heavily layered. You’ve got window treatments with two or three layers, and that doesn’t mean they have to be fussy. I like a tailored panel. It looks like a Roman shade that could go up and down, maybe a pair of shears if it’s a bedroom, so we can diffuse the light. So, there’s a lot of layering in Southern homes.

KAT: Tell me about your books.

ER: I have two books. My newest book, Embracing Southern Homes, came out in April of this year (2025). My first book, Enduring Southern Homes, features 12 projects, full of pictures and anecdotes about working with clients and the parameters they set for me. The first book came out in 2019, so it’s been six years, and it’s still selling.
I think that goes to the timeless nature of my interiors; that people are still buying the first book, and it also speaks to the romance of the South and how Southerners love to decorate and collect.

Find more information about the Madison Antiques & Fine Things show at madisonantiquesandfinethings.org.

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