Hadley Twp. – If sunny autumn days inspire a longing for a scenic weekend drive, LeFleur D’cor in Hadley is a prime destination.
With unique home offerings just off the beaten path, LeFleur D’cor is the kind of charming experience that can’t be found in a mall.
Rambling up the drive to the barn, visitors find owner-artist Kelly Smith rearranging furnishings. Since customers regularly cart off exceptional finds, her relaxed flair for decorating is constantly put to good use.
While Smith has long dabbled in artistic projects, like pressing flowers or painting vases or furniture for art shows, it wasn’t until her employer relocated to Chicago that she opened LeFleur D’cor.
‘I didn’t want to move,? she said, ‘so I decided to do something with my barn. I went from managing a warehouse to managing my own warehouse.?
Draped in small-scale candle chandeliers, wreaths, plaques, and vintage-looking art, the old building houses plenty of finds worth carting home.
In addition to beaded wreaths, bird cages, picture frames, and ‘Colonial at Home? quality scented candles, you’ll find pressed flowers on painted vases or window panes, photo holders fashioned from antique silver flatware, lamps and lanterns, vintage dressers, tables, cabinets, folding screens, and mirrors.
You don’t have to be French to appreciate the provincial charm of other unique home items waiting to be discovered at LeFleur Decor: wine magnets, racks, and corks, artwork framed in newsprint, and toile hat boxes, starting at $6.
‘I don’t want to be high-priced,? says Smith, in her approachable style. ‘Prices are fair, not crazy, that’s why a lot of people come back.?
In summer, passersby often paused to admire hanging baskets of purple sprays at the roadway; a sampling of the garden d’cor and unique plants found just past the moonflower-draped trellis arch.
Outside, visitors can still find plenty of items to soothe warm-weather longings.
Beneath an open greenhouse-like structure fashioned from old windows, root vases, windchimes, birdhouses, and candleholders sway in the wind. Hard-to-find theme items, such as sandals or fanciful cats are abundant.
Ready for fall decorating? You’ll find both indoor and outdoor autumn items, like scarecrows, a Halloween-colored bench, pumpkin turkey, terra-cotta candleholders, spider table, amber-orange glass pumpkin tree, painted metal leaf candle lamp, or a rust-tone metal tree adorned with autumn ornaments.
LeFleur D’cor is also welcoming Christmas shoppers, offering Christmas and winter gifts and decorations, such as beaded wreaths, snowflake, angel or snowman doorhangers, ‘Let it Snow? measuring sticks, or metal lanterns and luminaries.
LeFleur D’cor is located just north of Pratt Road at 3442 Hadley Road.
Hours: ‘By chance or appointment? on Monday and Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Details: Call Kelly Smith at (810) 797-4745.