Though I love the vintage markets of Florence and the flea markets of Milan, there is one place in Italy that makes my little design heart flutter the fastest: Puglia. For the better half of a decade, I’ve worked as an interior designer based in Florence, uncovering the paradise that is Italian design, but, after marrying into a Pugliese family of my own, I’ve come to learn that the flea market finds of Italy’s heel are absolutely unparalleled.  

If I had to choose one word to describe Puglia, it is “pure”. A purity in its cuisine, its wide, open landscapes, and essential architectural lines of masseria and trulli. Puglia is simple, earnest. Let me be very clear: the Puglian people are masters of their crafts, they know and appreciate beauty enormously and their bar for quality is incredibly high, but they simply aren’t extravagant.