by Audra H. Anders for The Aha! Connection
I was recently invited to a Media Open House and New Showroom tour at ADAC. What is ADAC? It’s the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and I’ve always assumed it was a designer’s showcase only open to Interior Designers but I was WRONG. Turns out they’ve been open to the public for more than 10 years. It’s nestled back in Peachtree Hills fairly close to the Lindbergh Marta Station and kind of around the corner from Pike Nursery. If you’ve lived in Atlanta as long as I have, you may remember one of my FAVE restaurants (Lindy’s) which was located just down the street from ADAC. I have dined there as often as I could, and remember wondering if I’d ever get to see behind the doors of ADAC.
Whether you’re an interior designer, architect, builder, or design enthusiast, ADAC is the place to bring your vision to life. Open every Monday through Friday, you can peruse more than 50 showrooms, visit design studios, explore the campus for inspiration, attend signature events and dine in one of their two restaurants. We tried The Hungry Peach and it was delicious!
Note: Some showrooms will sell to the public at a retail rate. However, some require you to purchase through a designer. Learn more about shopping at ADAC here.
My friend, Polly Frederick White, a realtor from HOME Georgia, toured ADAC with me and we loved it… but were EXHAUSTED after the two hour tour. The place is HUGE and all of the people working there were so friendly and willing to chat about their work.
Here’s a quick note about a few of our faves from the tour:
- Michelle Bradley, CEO of Bradley, is a former Marist mom who raised her children while residing in Dunwoody Club Forest. She is DELIGHTFUL. We loved all of her wall coverings, especially the HUGE one in her showroom designed by her sister. We also loved the original furniture designs that her husband brings to life.
- Minotti by HA Modern was another fave. Minotti is an Italian company and we particularly loved the look of their outdoor furniture. The price tags were beyond a typical Audra/Polly budget but we love the look. Apparently all of their outdoor furniture is “yacht grade” and the inner cushioning is non permeable….so could be worth the extra $ for those with higher budgets.
Minotti Outdoor Furniture
- Simply Wired Pro was our most fun and enLIGHTening visit! Their automatic shades are available in several transparency levels, they can program your lights to match circadian rhythms, they hide speakers in the ceiling so you can’t even tell where the music is coming from….they bend steel to make decorative pieces lined with LED lighting and have a system like “Alexa” whereby you can command to change the lights by saying things like “Take me to Miami” and voila….you are listening to salsa music with neon Latin lighting in the room. So so technologically advanced! And yes, I know I just wrote a really long run on sentence but it felt right…
Check it out for yourself…no charge to wander…but check in at reception when you arrive. I took so so so many pictures so decided the best way to share them is via a short YouTube video.
ADAC
info@adacatlanta.com | 404.231.1720
351 Peachtree Hills Avenue NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30305
ADAC is open to the Public Mon–Fri, 9 AM – 5 PM
