We’ve been preparing for months. Slaving away with a paintbrush, gathering up fab vintage finds, re-purposing other people’s cast offs and just generally enjoying the process. And now, it’s here!
We have furniture galore!
And lots of fabulous vintage finds!
Special note: new this sale, we will be accepting credit cards for purchases over $50!
If you live in the Twin Cities, we hope you can swing by! Please remember, no one gets in early. Doors open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 4.
In the wine, makes me feel happy, makes me feel fine. Bubbles, cupboards … get it? Oh never mind.
It has been the summer of the tiny cupboard. Sometimes it goes this way, there is a particular unique item that keeps reappearing at multiple garage sales. This summer it was the tiny cupboard.
I bought this one first, and painted it in Sweetie Jane milk paint, remember?
When I bought this one, I had never seen anything like it before. I thought it was doll furniture. I could tell that it had some age to it, but I wasn’t sure how much. This one has a mirrored back and little lights inside. I thought it was completely unique.
So, imagine my surprise when I found its twin sister at the Lake of Isles garage sales! It’s twin does not have mirrors or lights, but otherwise is pretty identical. I actually wasn’t going to purchase the twin, but the seller wouldn’t let me walk away. He kept lowering his price until I simply had to say yes.
Not only that, but he also insisted I purchase its companion. Yet another tiny cupboard!
I know this one is very ‘grandma’s tea cup collection’, but I took it home thinking that perhaps I could give it a fab makeover.
I gave it a coat of MMSMP in Trophy, which went a long way towards improving it. A little distressing helped give it some character. Then I covered the mirror at the back with a page out of an old plat book for Washington County. I staged it with some of my old cameras and my painted books, and voila!
As for Sweetie Jane’s twin, I painted it in MMS milk paint in Apron Strings.
I used a bit more of my vintage wallpaper stash to line the shelves.
Later, at the Falcon Heights garage sales, what did I find but yet ANOTHER cupboard exactly like this. Only this time the seller wanted $40 for it! Ha. As if. I did not buy that one! But out of curiosity, I did a little googling. And I found a slew … well, OK, three … of these on eBay. One that sold for $80! I didn’t find much information on them, but from what I see, I think these were always intended to just house collectibles for display, not as doll furniture. I doubt they are valuable or anything, but they are vintage. I think they are the perfect size for American Girl Dolls and would be fun play furniture for them.
These tiny cupboards, plus this one from last spring, will all be available at the Carriage House Sale!
We return to pinterest for some more inspiration today.
Have you considered adding a wall of plates in your home? I love this look and have been stockpiling plates for years. I used to keep them all on display in my summer house, but now that I have converted it to a photo cottage, I just don’t have a home for all of these plates. Therefore, I’m selling a lot of them at my Carriage House Sale. And the prices are dirt cheap at $3 to $6 each.
So, how about some ideas for plate walls?
One of my favorites is this one that includes a customized house number plate.
Use number decals to add the numbers! Or just add a touch of whimsy above a chalkboard with number plates (click on the photo below to link directly to love grows wild’s post about how to add the numbers with a Silhouette machine).
Or you could update the look with a more asymmetrical design such as this one.
Or like this charming display for the kitchen.
One of my all time favorites is this display that mirrors the shape of the headboard.
I don’t happen to have any fish plates at my sale, but I am loving this look for a cabin or lodge.
You could take a lesson from Miss Mustard Seed and arrange monochromatic platters from large to small.
One last clever idea, add word decals and use for a wedding reception!
Let’s face it, there are a lot of fun ways to use pretty vintage plates. Stock up on some at the Carriage House Sale!
I just happen to have three vintage sleds for sale at the Carriage House on Saturday. Are you wondering what you can do with a vintage sled? Besides sledding, that is. I visited pinterest for some inspiration to share with you today.
First, there is your basic winter decoration idea (I happen to also have a sweet red & green tin box for sale!). I pinned this last year mainly because I think the picture is gorgeous, but wouldn’t something like this be fab on your front porch to greet your holiday guests?
Or, you could think outside the box and do something creative with your sled, like re-purpose it as a pot rack.
Or perhaps you are pretty handy and can turn it into a clever shelf for displaying your vintage stuff.
Might be fun to paint it a fab turquoise.
Maybe you should buy all three and stack them for impact!
Or, if you just want to display it outside your front door, you can just purchase this one that is ready to go, complete with ice skates.
There are lots of fab ways to use an old sled. Maybe you can pick one (or three) up at the Carriage House Sale this weekend!
This past weekend I put my nose to the grindstone to get ready for my sale. The weather in Minnesota totally cooperated by giving me 3 straights days (I also took Friday off at the day job) of solid sunshine and highs of 80. Definitely not our normal late September weather; it was divine.
On Friday I finished up three pieces of furniture. Yep, it was a marathon. I just couldn’t help it, I wanted to get them done for the sale. I’ll post each of them individually with before & after pics later on, but for now, here are all three.
The yellow dresser is $225, the rustic farm table is $60 (vintage typewriter: $40, chair: $12), the book case is $165.
I don’t feel like the pictures do justice to any of these pieces. The perfect chippy-ness that had been eluding me all summer was back in all of its glory on all three of these. You must see them in person for the full effect, so I hope you can make it to my sale!
On Saturday I completely emptied out the Carriage House, went through with the shop vac to beat back the cobwebs and swept out a summer’s worth of paint dust. Next, I figured out where to place all of the furniture. Fortunately, Mr Q helps me with the heavy lifting. I got a fantastic break from the work on Saturday evening when my BFF had us over for fondue night. We fondued steak in red wine, vegies with batter in oil. Her mom & dad were in town, so her dad made his famous Brandy Alexanders for dessert. Delish! Mr. Q and I really feel like part of the family at her house. All three of her adult children were home, her mom & dad, her sister. It was awesome.
Sunday morning I was back at it. Arranging all of the rest of my things in the Carriage House, making sure everything had a price tag. Finding little bits and pieces that needed tweaking. Then setting up a little preview photo shoot of the goods as a teaser for you all.
Don’t worry, even though I am in my ‘blue period’, not everything is blue!
I have to admit, I am totally exhausted. Why do I work this hard? Anyone know? There must be just a little ‘type A’ in my make up somewhere, pushing me to put on the best little occasional sale that I can muster up.
This is always the part of the process where I start to get pretty excited about the sale. I can’t believe all of the fab finds I have put together, and I don’t even have my sale partner’s stuff here yet. When Sue brings her stuff, it’s a little like Christmas as I get to unwrap all of her finds out in the Carriage House. I’ll try to share more pictures in a few days.
Meanwhile, I hope if you are nearby, you are saving the date!
Just a quick public service announcement today. The Fall Carriage House Sale will be held on Saturday, October 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
I can’t believe it is just 3 weeks away. Yikes! Time flies. I better get busy!
Pencil it in! Hope to see you there.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special announcement!
The following pieces of furniture are still available for purchase.
The patriot. Perfect for your lake home, because it should be stylish too, right?
The patriot is available for $245. SOLD!
The dried lavender desk. Wouldn’t this be lovely in your daughter’s bedroom, or perhaps in your sunroom providing the perfect spot to surf pinterest.
The dried lavender desk is $185.
The blonde bombshell. Add a gorgeous pop of color to your mid-century digs. This would work in a bedroom and hold tons of clothes, or use in the living room to hold your widescreen TV.
The blonde bombshell is $285. SOLD!
The mid-century madness credenza. So perfectly hip.
The mid-century madness credenza is $325. SOLD!
Also still available, the sunny side table. Perfect for either bedside, or next to the sofa. Add a sunny pop of yellow to just about any room.
The sunny side table is $55.
The french cane back chair. Quite comfy, could work in so many different settings. A bedroom, your office, the living room, dining room .. you name it.
The chair is $65.
Finally, the pair of blue vintage motel chairs. Both fabulously chippy.
Motel chairs, $25 each.
If you are interested in any of these pieces, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you via email.
Thanks!
Thank you so much to everyone who turned up for the Carriage House sale! We had a great time, we sold lots of fabulous vintage stuff and overall it was a great success. I didn’t get a lot of picture taking accomplished, but I did snap some quick ones here and there.
Here is a picture of the garden section. Lots of the garden stuff sold.
I painted up a couple of ‘planter chairs’ for the sale. These always sell well.
This second one is painted in MMSMP in Mustard Seed Yellow.
I had a few fairy garden items too, some tiny pots and a few miniature hostas split from the ones in my own fairy garden.
The garden area was rounded out with my chippy green and white dresser, which sadly did not sell, nor did the cute little chair painted in Luckett’s Green or the green suitcase. The camper birdhouse went quickly though, as did the vintage jar with the green lid and the green garden frogs.
Wicker usually goes fast if the price is right. I was selling this wicker chair from my potting shed in anticipation of turning it into my furniture photo studio. The mirrored sconces with green tea cups also came from the potting shed and sold quickly. I still have the little green table though. Doesn’t anyone need a cute little green table?
This next picture was taken on day 2 of the sale, and a lot of these items never did sell. Sue painted up a number of Kitchen and Laundry signs that were really darling, and she sold quite a few of them, but not all. My painted suitcases all sold except for this one.
I’ve had this stack of wicker cases for a while now, and they never seem to sell. Am I the only one who thinks these are kind of fab? They would be great for storing craft supplies and stacked somewhere.
The turquoise chair and painted suitcase both sold, as did all of the martini shakers, but the credenza did not. I’ve got it listed on craigslist now, so hopefully the right buyer will find it there.
And that is about it for photos from the sale. I’m am going to sleep for two days now to recover, and then I have to get out there and get my workshop put back together so I can resume my furniture makeovers!
I’ll leave you with this parting shot. The sign up list for my sale emails was on the radio cabinet, and a visual Thank You for everyone that came to the sale!
Are you coming to the Carriage House Sale? First, the important details.
Time: Thursday, June 12 from 5 pm to 8 pm & Friday, June 13 from 9 am to 2 pm.
Place: 6041 47th St N, Oakdale
Details: We take CASH only at our sale. We are a low budget affair. That’s how we keep our prices so incredibly low. We have no overhead. No credit card processing, no check bouncing, no fancy locale. Just great vintage stuff at great prices, so bring your secret stash of cash! Come on, we all have one, don’t we?
With those details out of the way, I thought I would present a guide to help you plan your shopping strategy.
First of all, please note that no one gets in early. We rope off the driveway and let everyone in at precisely 5 pm. So, do you need to get there early? Well, that depends. Parking can be a problem. The earlier you get there, the closer you can park. But, we have carry out help and you can always pull your car up to load your purchases if you are parked farther away. The only real advantage to arriving early is that you’ll be at the front of the crowd. Does that matter to you? If so, then get here early. Otherwise, no need.
One tip, as you come down the driveway grab a box to fill with your stuff (available while they last). Or better yet, bring your own reusable shopping bag or two.
As for the layout, the ‘garden area’ is always to the left of the driveway near the big rock. This year we have several vintage motel chairs, lots of planters both traditional and creative, some tuteurs that Ken built, plenty of garden decor and of course some actual plants. Both Sue and I are avid gardeners, so we have divisions from our own gardens to share. You might also find this basket full of vintage floral platters priced at $3 to $4 each in the garden area.
Why pretty china in the garden area? I happen to think it adds a little extra something to window boxes. I have some in all of mine. See?
We’ll certainly have items along the driveway, especially if it isn’t raining. I’m hoping to have a mid-century section with the turquoise credenza and chair shown here.
As for inside the Carriage House itself, we tend to organize by color. The right side (as you are facing it) is the dark side, and the left side is the light side.
On the dark side you’ll find black, grey, silver, gold, dark green. Looking for some fab vintage silverplate? This is the side for you. Black painted books, yep, on the right. Vintage cameras, scales and bingo cards. Got ’em.
You’ll also find the apothicaire desk on the right hand side.
Stenciled cutting boards? Also on the right side.
You’ll also find this fab cane back sofa on the right side, it’s priced at $200 (pillows sold separately).
On the light side, you’ll find pink, aqua, yellow, lavender and white.
Much lighter, more feminine items. Like these gorgeous chairs that Sue is selling for a mere $25 each.
Wouldn’t this vintage baby shoe be darling on a shelf in a nursery? It’s $4.
Remember this cute wonky stool I painted in Eulalie’s Sky? It’s on the left side at the back.
Mary is selling jewelry and a few other things, and all of her proceeds will help her pay for college in Winona next year. Her junkalicious necklaces are a mere $18 each!
All of Mary’s items can be identified by her giraffe in a top hat tags!
So there you have it, how to shop the Carriage House Sale.
I hope you’ll throw on some jewels, pack your painted vintage suitcase full of cash and head on over!
Hope to see you there, rain or shine.
How do I love thee, Linden Hills? Let me count the ways.
1. Fabulous old camera and books.
2. Genuine antique light fixture and brass door knobs.
3. Boy Scout first aid kid.
4. Pair of small chairs that will get the Annie Sloan treatment. The rug in the background went home with Bee Knees. Story behind it: the seller is a photographer who worked with THE Rachel Ashwell when she was working on her Shabby Chic line for Target. This was one of their props. Of course it was! It has Rachel written all over it.
5. The mental efficiency series. Let’s face it, who couldn’t use some mental efficiency. Check out the individual titles, too funny. Wouldn’t some of these be fun to pop into a gift basket!
6. My find of the day. Tons of old door plates and knobs. We practically drooled into the box when we found these.
7. Vintage luggage! Now these I definitely won’t paint. And a fab vintage scale.
8. The darling dresser went home with Bees Knees also. She’s going to give it a fabulous makeover.
There is LOTS more. Seriously. We cleaned house in Linden Hills. I’m glad we found so many fab things, because my Carriage House sale is less than 4 weeks away and I was starting to panic that I wasn’t going to have enough stuff.
No more worries along those lines!
I hope you see some stuff that you like, because most of this will make it’s way to the sale. Be sure to save the date!
June 12 from 5 pm to 8 pm
and
June 13 from 9 am to 2 pm
q is for quandie 