Category: the carriage house.

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.

Last summer I painted several different items like this.

Let it snow.  On a sled, a suitcase, a chalkboard.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.

Now my Carriage House looks like this.

According to Paul Douglas at Kare 11, we have gotten 57″ of snow so far this winter and about 24″ remain on the ground.  Looks like more to me, but he’s talking official measurements.  I prefer to go with 5 or 6 feet on the ground, which is what it feels like.

The lovely shabby park bench that I left out last fall, thinking it would be cute for winter decorating, is completely buried.  There is a fab vintage watering can and a rusty old street sign for “Fountain Ave” under there somewhere.

But, I am counting my blessings.  I have the most amazing neighbors, Ken on one side, Karen across the street.  They come over and snow blow my driveway every time.  Just because they are those kind of people.  The kind that help the neighbors out of the goodness of their hearts.  Really, I am lucky to have these people in my life.

So, I can just admire the amazing beauty of winter until my nose gets too cold, and then go inside and start painting more furniture.  And on that note, I must return to the dresser that I’m trying to paint in MMS Trophy and getting bleed thru from the orange stain.  I’m going to try Miss Mustard Seed’s method of applying a little wax and trying again.  Wish me luck!

Usually about this time of year I start to dream of summer.  Going to garage sales.  Finding fabulous things for a dollar.  Eating bad hot dogs and delicious baked goods.  Exploring Minneapolis neighborhoods with amazing older homes.

For those of you who don’t already know this, I hold an occasional sale out of my carriage house twice a year, in June and October.  I have been doing this for a long time with my friend Sue, and recently Jeanne has joined in as well.  We stock the sale with a combination of our garage sale finds and upcycled items we have created.  A ‘curated garage sale’ is a good way to describe it.  Or perhaps a poor man’s Junk Bonanza.  You don’t have to pay to get in, and our prices are way lower.

It’s not fancy.  I have so far refused to invest in any sort of improvements or permanent sale fixtures in the carriage house.  Except for the $5 cubby hole unit I bought at a garage sale.

I haven’t even invested in tents because my really fabulous neighbor will loan them to me (I am putting this in here in an attempt to sweet talk her into continuing this valuable service because I know she reads my blog.  Thanks nnK, really appreciate the use of the tents!).

In fact, most of the time the carriage house is a hot mess.  Full of projects in progress, paint everywhere, dust coating everything.

 I try to clear away cobwebs and sweep out most of the mess for the sale, but honestly, I’m not sure if anyone even notices.  They are too busy looking at the goods!  And we definitely have the goods!

But just now, in January, all of that seems so very far away.  As does green grass.  And outdoor picture taking.

I keep telling myself that summer will be here before I know it.  And in the meantime,  I have plenty of time to write my blog and paint furniture.