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Sunday, October 19, 2014

The Doors Have Closed

Sad to say but Sonya and I closed the shop at the end of September.  It was a good five year run but we wanted to reclaim our lives, spend time with family and RETIRE!  So it is, the shop is empty and the door is closed one last time. Sonya continues to have a mall space at Monticello Marketplace at 87th and SE Stark in Portland. Who knows?  Maybe we'll see you there??

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Spring Cleaning Is Well On It's Way With 25% Off Ending Soon

We have done some cleaning and rearranging and it looks great.  The "garden area" is decluttered and the "living room" area is tidy. 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Monticello Spring Fever!

We are done setting up for the spring show at Monticello.  It's always so much less stressful than the Christmas show, especially when the sun is shining too!  So here's a preview of our space..

PS  The 25% off sale at the shop ends soon so get on into the store!









Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Happy Anniversary to Us....25% off to you!

It's our fifth anniversary and we are celebrating with a gift to you.....25% off of everything (except the Milk Paint and Jeanne d'Arc).  Come in soon before it's all gone.  We need to clear the decks so we can start the spring cleaning in our barns and garages....they are filled to the brim with stuff too.


This was opening day five years ago:



This is the after five years:  What a difference!


Sunday, March 2, 2014

How To Display

Many of our customers are other vendors and even if they aren't, they want their homes to look interesting too.  People always comment on how nice the shop looks so I decided to start sharing some of the "tricks of the trade".  I love wandering around antique malls and shops but sometimes it's just plain painful to look at so here are three simple rules to follow:



  1. Decorate with groupings of uneven numbers.  In the photo below we grouped the focal furniture in a set of three...the settee, the chair, and the coffee table.  Then grouped the settee with another group of three...the cat, the pillow, and the saxophone.  Even the table top is in a group of three...the coral, the cloche, and a glass inkwell (not very visible in the pix, but it is there).  Even when you dissect the display further, the chair has it's own grouping...the chair, the ottoman and the sax. 
  2. Use small, medium and large or short, tall and something in between.  Don't have everything the same size or shape.  When I hang pictures I try to have a long picture, a large picture and a small picture together.  You are decorating a home not a museum, so make it  cozy, warm and inviting.
  3. Group things with color.  The colors are white,  French grey, and tan in my example.  I run around the shop saying to myself, "white, French grey, tan" and look for anything in those colors.  Sometimes I even enlist the customers in the search.  It's like a scavenger hunt.  The display would look gross if I threw some red in there.




 

Friday, February 7, 2014

What's Old is New Again.....The Real Milk Paint!

We have been busy trying out different products from The Real Milk Paint.  If you saw the parlor set that has been in the shop for a while, then you are in for a shocker.  We've tried disguising and covering up the upholstery but the whole idea is to sell the stuff!  Here is a peek at the original....


The bones and upholstery were great but the pattern and colors were atrocious.  "Nothing a little paint couldn't cure" said Sonya.  What's to lose?  We would need to recover it if it was ever to sell.  So out came the brushes and the milk paint and "voilĂ "....

More is left to be done (i.e. waxing the wood and burnishing the fabric) but the initial results are to die for, don't you think?  How sweet it is!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Little Birdie Told Me

Spring is coming early this year...I am sure of that because I just feel it.  This winter has been not so bad, only one week of cold weather and that was it.  For some reason I just think it will be an early spring.  I sure hope so!  In any case we are going to run with it and offer a class at the shop.  It's a repurposed book made into a sweet bird house.  Toni is a crafty crafter who is the instructor. The class will cost $25 and consists of 2 sessions on two Saturdays, February 15 and 22 at 2 pm.  Just call the shop (503-661-7359) or drop on it and we'll sign you up.  This is a sample of one of Toni's creations:


Here are some other little birdies that we have right now.  We look forward to seeing you too in the shop!