raising the bar

Meet the dynamic Houstonians selling vintage barware in the Heights

Kids may be headed back to school, but cooler weather remains on vacation. As people trickle back into town, everyone will be wanting to play catch-up — the most likely venue: home! Whether it’s a large, end of summer extravaganza, or just an apéritif, folks are entertaining…and solo cups need not apply.

Setting up a home bar can be a somewhat daunting task, but knowing where to shop is half the battle. No worries if space is an issue, minor real estate at one end of a table will do just fine in a pinch. Once a space for a bar has been appropriated, it’s time to shop.

On a recent afternoon spent browsing booths at Heights Antiques on Yale, I found myself facing an impossibly delightful menagerie of vintage barware on display. Brightly striped shelving housed dozens of ice buckets, glasses, and candy-colored swizzle sticks, while multi-tiered tabletops were covered with pitchers, collectible ashtrays, and even ice cream sundae dishes.

The variety on display is remarkable. This place has something for everyone — from golf enthusiasts to caftan-wearing Golden Girls types, Baker’s Barware has it covered.

Baker’s Barware is owned and operated by husband and husband team Adam and Jay Hitt. They began collecting in 2015 and decided in 2022 to parlay their shared passion for vintage barware into a business. Aside from their popular Instagram account, they do not sell online. Adam and Jay have over 100 sets of glasses in their personal collection, and they constantly rotate items in their Heights location so that everything stays seasonal.

CultureMap caught up with the Baker’s Barware duo to learn more:

CultureMap: How did you two get into vintage barware?
Adam: By accident, honestly. We started with one set of double old fashioned glasses over 10 years ago. They had red polka dots, matched our personal style, and were unlike anything we'd seen before.

Our curiosity piqued and we quickly started buying more sets of glasses until it turned into a passion for collecting really unique and rare sets. We didn't know anything about barware at the time — the history, the designers, the styles, but we've really traveled far down the barware path over the years. It's been a great journey and we've met so many other barware collectors and resellers along the way. It's really a great community.

CM: What type of bar item is your best seller?
Adam: It's a great question! Double old-fashioned glasses are our best sellers, but we offer so many other types of barware. When we started selling, we initially stocked only vintage glasses and a few ice buckets, but we quickly expanded our selection to cocktail shakers, bottle openers, ashtrays, swizzle sticks, pub jugs — there's really something for everyone. We bring our customers a variety of unique pieces to select from.

Some months we sell a ton of bottle openers, while other months ice buckets are the hot ticket item. We recently had a customer buy over 20 ice buckets, while another customer bought half our collection of Americana barware the day after we put it out! While that's not the norm, we understand our customers are often looking for pieces to compliment their existing collection while other customers are looking to start small. Wherever you are on your barware journey, we probably have what you're looking for.

CM: Your instagram is so fun! Do you have a background in marketing or just a great eye?
Adam: Thank You! That really means a lot. My husband and I have no background in marketing. Our careers are in completely different fields.

While we often use our page to promote items we have for sale, the ultimate goal is to take our followers on a journey. Imagine a person walking through a museum and observing and studying masterpieces from famous artists. They can relate to them and experience the art. For us, vintage barware is art, too — with masterpieces and artists of its own. There were so many designers like Georges Briard and Culver that created incredible designs, patterns, and styles. We hope our page is like that museum.

We want to showcase barware for our followers and have them connect and share their impressions, and maybe buy it as well. We strive to incorporate that digital experience into our physical sales space as well. We intentionally use lots of color and lighting to create a fun space to shop. Today's trends of extreme minimalism and muted color palettes are limiting — especially with current barware designs. You'll be hard pressed to find barware with any real personality in big box retailers, which is why vintage shopping is so much more appealing. We hope the vintage barware we bring is a breath of fresh air for people looking for barware that reflects their personality.

CM: What’s your personal aesthetic?
Jay: Our home is a curated cozy blend of the 1960s ‘East meets West' style, combining Hollywood Regency and Chinoiserie with traditional and modern furniture. My husband’s incredible eye for decor makes our space unique and timeless.

CM: What’s the best way to care for vintage barware?
Adam: The most important questions of all! My selfish response is to never use vintage barware so it never gets ruined, but that takes all the fun out of it. Most of our customers have barware as showcase pieces only, but if you're going to use it, absolutely never put it in the dishwasher, ever. Vintage barware is handwash only! Also, never use hot water, especially if the glass has 22-karat gold or embellishments. Hot water destroys gold and can dull the high gloss finish of colorful designs. This also goes for sponges with abrasive surfaces. Glass scratches.

Simple soap and a light touch is all you really need to clean a glass. Remember that vintage barware isn't made anymore, so while it still serves a practical purpose, we should treat it with respect and love so we can pass them on to future barware lovers.

Insulated ice buckets are the must-have accessory for a front porch iced tea catch-up session with friends and neighbors. Sonic Drive-In recently began selling their famous ice by the bag. Coincidence? We think not!

Courtesy of Baker's Barware

Find colorful glasses at Baker's Barware.

barware home-design shopping sustainability the-heights vintage

a hidden gem

Meet the Houston designer crafting a cult-favorite Mahjong table

Elizabeth Autenreith Avella Interiors Hidden Gems gaming table

Courtesy of Avella Interiors

Elizabeth Autenreith of Avella Interiors with her popular “Hidden Gems” gaming table.

Houstonians who keep even the most casual of social diaries have come to terms with the notion that morning and afternoon gatherings centered around games of Bridge and Canasta have given way to the fashionable Mahjong craze that has taken the nation by storm. The ladies have spoken and are trading in their playing cards for flirty tiles — and a Houston designer has created just the place to store them.

Interior designer Elizabeth Autenreith of Avella Interiors — the firm was adorably named by combining the names of Autenreith’s three children: Avery, Ellis, and Laine — is the creative mind behind the cult-favorite Hidden Gems gaming table that is now front-and-center among in-the-know Mahjong groups.

Courtesy of Avella Interiors

Elizabeth Autenreith of Avella Interiors with her popular “Hidden Gems” gaming table.

Autenreith’s creation has become nearly impossible to keep in stock, and it’s little wonder why or how. Consumer trends have become enamored — rightly so — with seeking out handmade, heirloom-quality pieces that can be passed down through generations.

Designed, handmade, and hand-finished here in Houston, the “Hidden Gems” table is a favorite of luxe local designers such as Paloma Contreras, James Farmer, Marie Flanigan, Haddy House, Lindsey Herod, and Katie Davis. Local purveyors such as Upper Kirby’s Lam and Spring Branch’s Little Coterie Warehouse cannot stock them fast enough. It’s also worth noting that the table has been shipped to just over 20 states.

“I just started to see an uptick in Mahjong lounges in homes,” says Autenreith. “Everyone was trying to make room for a Mahjong table. I wanted to create something that was meant to be a fixture in a home, not something that would be taken in and out like a folding table, but something that was a beautiful fixture that had a lot of functionality — I just drew a picture with pencil and paper.”

The “Hidden Gems” gaming table is available in ten colors like the very cutely-named “See Breezi,” “Pretty Peas,” “Make me Blush,” and the newly-debuted “Jim for the Win.” Grasscloth versions are also available in “Natural Nouveau,” Serene Celedon,” and Elegant Ecru.” Custom colors are also available to meet any design needs.

Cleverly designed to appear as anything from a breakfast to a foyer table, the soon-to-be-cult classic doesn’t necessarily have to be used for Mahjong parties, but Autenreith doesn’t see the trend slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s going to keep going,” she says. “It brings people together and you get to have sweet memories with your friends and family — whether it’s a puzzle or playing cards. It was inspired by Mahjong, but the functionality is there for so many other games, and it’s so great for overflow seating like at Thanksgiving and Christmas, or as a kids’ table for arts and crafts — the uses are kind of endless.”

It’s worth noting that Autenreith’s design ethos and the price of the “Hidden Gems” gaming table ($2,250) are at a bit of an impasse — or, perhaps not. The Avella Interiors model is a niche within niches, if you will. There are no minimums, whether it be room or project. She lovingly touts herself as “everyone’s designer,” and she’s not wrong.

Everyone’s designer

Autenreith serves an underserved community of people who love design, but like to take it slow. Let’s face it, while fantastic, most Houston designers seek a $50,000 promised spend and five room minimum just to let you speak to their assistants.

Avella Interiors is not “that girl.” There is literally no minimum. “I just think there is sort of a niche that needs to be filled in the Houston market, and maybe beyond,” says Autenreith. “I’m for someone who doesn’t necessarily want to spend a lot of money on an interior designer for their entire home. I can work with the pieces in their home and just sort of zhuzh it up a bit.”

Autenreith’s design services fall distinctly between that girlfriend with great taste and too many hours cruising Pinterest — who can be bought with a night off from the kids and a bottle of Chablis — with a full-on designer.

“I can work with a budget-conscious client, and we can buy store bought drapes and make them look custom,” explains Autenreith. “It’s an area that I think is underserved. I have no minimum and am happy to just do one space. We all want to be able to afford an expensive designer, but the entire preface and bottom line of my business is to buy and invest in things in your home that you will love, and then you will love your home.”

Her perfectly-curated vintage finds can be found at the aforementioned Little Coterie Warehouse, which, by the way are very affordable as gifts or personal homewares. A quick look at her prices will ease any stress. But she understands an investment, and that’s where we are.

“I just think that you may want to spend and indulge on one piece of furniture, and love it, and then collect little things to put around your house — it’s supposed to bring you joy, right?” says Autenreith. “Home is supposed to do all those things. You don’t always have to spend a lot of money to get the same results.”

The “Little Gem” table is just that. The hollow body of the table, with a removable top so lightweight that a child can remove it, can conceal everything from Mahjong pieces to unfinished puzzles while smartly concealing corner-appointed and cork-lined drink surfaces at every corner.

The long and short of it is, will Autenreith happily come by to rearrange a messy bookcase? Yes. Will she also indulge the sale of a piece of heirloom furniture that she hopes will bring families together for generations? Also, yes.

home-design mahjong table furniture