Antan is a home accessories store located in Riverside, Connecticut. It was founded over 25 years ago by Monique and Francis Olmer. Their home was literally bursting with the fruits of their passion for collecting antiques, but their zeal was nowhere near sated. It never occurred to them to stop collecting. Instead, their solution was to open a store. Thus Antan was born, the manifestation of their excitement for and love of beautiful things.

If you enter the store today, you may find Adeline behind the counter. Adeline is the daughter of Francis and Monique, who has clearly inherited their affinity for beautiful things. Adeline tells this story:

I have been shopping at Antan since your parents opened the store, said a client when she realized I was not Monique. I have things I bought from the store in every room of my house. I bought one of my favorite paintings from your parents. It is this wonderful scene of birds in the forest with the sun streaming through the trees. It makes me happy every time I look at it. She continued at she wandered through the store, I also bought this marvelous collection of floral prints from your parents. Did you ever see them? The frames are brown suede. As she described the pieces I realized I knew what she was talking about. The prints had hung in our dining room for years and the painting in my parents’ bedroom. It felt as if we were reminiscing about old friends.

Today the store is run by Monique, who celebrated her 88^th birthday in 2007. Adeline joined the business a few years ago. Mind you, this was not so that Monique could slow down, but rather so she could spend more time in her studio working on her collages!

Adeline found the opportunity to buy for the store impossible to resist. As it turned out, she had inherited the same passion for collecting. As a designer, she had already learned to spot the perfect item for a client, but as a buyer for Antan she was about to get truly serious about shopping – she had found the perfect job!