With two lectures planned — “New Perspectives: Lessons From the Antiques Market” and “The Maturing Field of Antiques Collecting in the South" — you’re sure to learn lots about Southern furniture and collecting antiques.

Find out how private collections are formed and preserved and how various types of collectors, from decorators and preservationists to scholars and investors, impact and influence the world of antiques. Priddy will also talk about the relationships between architecture, history and the decorative arts, especially as they relate to 18th- and 19th-century furniture.

Priddy brings a ton of experience to his presentations. He has a degree in the history of architecture from U.Va. and a master’s degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture from the University of Delaware. He was also a curator for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He’s now a private consultant to collectors and museums.

The program begins at 3 p.m. this Saturday, May 19. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Space is limited, but a few spots remain. Click here, then scroll down to purchase your tickets online.

It’s the Museum District Mother's Day House & Garden Tour. For 18 years now, this neighborhood near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Historical Society has presented its home and garden tour on Sundays in mid-May. It’s become a Mother’s Day tradition. I’ve always enjoyed seeing groups of ladies celebrating the day — and the tour — with mom, aunts, daughters and grandmothers in tow.

This year, eight homes and gardens in this district will be open for viewing from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 13. The included houses are at:

3308 Park Ave.
3125 Floyd Ave.
3420 Grove Ave. (in English Village)
3326 Grove Ave.
3201 Grove Ave.
3133 Monument Ave.
3316 Stuart Ave.
3218 Patterson Ave.

One of my favorite aspects of this delightful neighborhood is its rich variety of architectural styles. (I also love how one full block on West Franklin Street still has gas streetlights.) Most of the homes in the neighborhood were built between 1911 and 1930, and many are period revivals. Walk and observe the Tudor, Georgian and Italianate Revival homes, among other styles.

When I first moved to Richmond, I rented a teeny house on North Tilden Street. It’s a part of this charming neighborhood which was then referred to as “West of the Boulevard.” It’s a row house in the Federal style.

The street views and front yards will charm on their own, and the interiors and gardens of the eight homes on the tour will provide rare glimpses behind closed doors.

Click here for information on how to purchase tickets online. Tickets bought in advance are $20, and on Mother’s Day, the day of the event, they’re $25 at St. Benedict’s School at 3100 Grove Ave. Parking is available nearby, as well, at Emmanuel Baptist Church at 3601 Monument Ave. Carytown, don’t forget, is also blocks away.

To celebrate, the store is offering two special promotions. First, spend at least $50 this month, and you'll receive a coupon for 20 percent off your entire purchase in August. The more you spend, the more you’ll save. Spend $100 and get a 25 percent off coupon. Spend at least $250 and save 30 percent. (Some exclusions will apply, so stop by the store for details.)

“Find a great deal on furniture or home accessories you've always dreamed about,” says store manager Robin Framme.

Second, while you’re there, enter Fraîche's raffle to win a $250 gift card. There’ll be one lucky winner — and it could be you.

Throughout Happy Hour, all items (except antiques and what’s already on sale) will be 20 percent off. You’ll want to bring friends. When they come and share their email addresses, you'll both get an extra 10 percent off any items purchased.

I’ve got my eye on a couple of things. One is the lovely neutral sofa pictured at right. Diminutive with a dramatic camel back, it was recently featured in Martha Stewart Living. It’s on sale now for $2,400. For years, I've admired the turquoise "Circle of Life" garden stool also in the photo. Priced at $345, come Friday I just might make the jump. Summery pillows by Company C would make great seasonal updates. The aqua and orange versions on the settee are regularly priced at $144, the sunflower design at $126.

Come by during Happy Hour on Friday and save big on these and much more. If you know the shop, it's stocked from head to toe and up above.

And if, after shopping, drinks and eats are in the plans, there’s Can Can, Weezie’s, Amour Wine Bistro, and Ginger Thai all on Janet Brown's block alone.

Priced at $250, the bench is handcrafted and made of eco-friendly materials.

I think it would look great set in front of a sofa in a sunroom or on a covered porch. Or what about in a boy's room at the foot of the bed? Heck, put it in a mudroom as a durable and graphic perch for putting on and taking off shoes.

You can find the bench at the 9125 W. Broad St. T.J. Maxx.