Time to get creative!

Stand/side bar

Finished a piece that has been hanging around the back room for months. This old Hi-Fi stereo unit was repurposed into a muti-purpose storage unit. The colors turned out well together. Annie Sloan Cocoa with Country Grey. I was disappointed when I opened the grey as it is more of a dark cream color. Unsure if it is a labeling error, or if that is truly the color. It works beautifully with cocoa whatever is it!

We removed the “guts” of the radio and the top lid opens to a nice storage area inside. The problem with these stereos is there is usually some ugly carpet type material in the front for speakers. At Tattered, we have had a lot of success with the galvanized metal look. This piece had the silver panels inserted, but didn’t look right with the brown tones of the cabinet, so I painted the panels bronze. The upside to these pieces are they are usually beautifully detailed and intricate, as well as very affordable and abundant to find at thrift stores. I really like this piece. I know the ones that are good are the pieces I am tempted to keep!

Custom painted night stand

Here is another example of Cocoa with the Country Grey. A customer asked if we had any night stands. This is a really cute little 4 drawer dresser that I picked when it was a lilac shade… not a favorite color for a little boy and his legos. The top was stripped and stained, as well as the original knobs.

It has been fun doing the multi color look, I think I am going to have a blast with color combos.

More recent projects I have had time to finish!

Ripped vinyl seat with past it’s prime paint job

Sturdy fabric seat with coordinating color for rest of stool

I love metal stools! The industrial look is so hot now. With the updated contemporary colors it is industrial chic at it’s BEST!

Paint completely chipped off seatI got lucky at a recent pick and got 3 metal stools, can’t get enough of them! This one is so sturdy and has the awesome industrial look with the big adjustable seat.

The Annie Sloan paint will be tested with this stool! It is done in Aubussen Blue. Pretty enough to pull out of the shop and put around the bar!

 I have been having fun experimenting with new colors, here is Barcelona orange with dark wax.

Barcelona Orange with Old White

Undercoat is the orange with Old White.

I wanted to give you all an update of what I have been up to. Feels so good to get pieces done and to fill up the store again. Of course there is not enough time to get everything done I want to accomplish.

There is hope after all! Five weeks from now, I will reduce my hours at the clinic to part time! That means I can be open at Tattered more and spend more time on the projects and keeping the business running and profitable.

There has been such a hugely positive response to the store. People really seem to like the stuff we have and the building is a draw. It is unique and just a funky place to visit.

Here in Minnesota, winter doesn’t know its spring. There is ANOTHER Sunday/Monday winter storm expecting 6-12 inches of the white stuff with winds of 25-30 mph. I have been patiently waiting to move junk outside on the porch. I know curb appeal is what draws my eye to swing in to shop at a store like mine.

I can’t believe it! I almost forgot to share our biggest pick yet !!!

Biggest pick yet!!

This was a great lead! I was contacted to see if we wanted the wood off this old shed. The fellow wanted it moved to use the land for tillable acres. Unfortnuately, there was another shed that was destroyed. This one is great! It is such a sturdy shed, we decided not only we wanted the wood, we wanted the whole building! It took Nate most of last weekend to jack it up and load on the trailer. It was only a few miles from home, so it sits in our small country yard. It really is quite quaint.

There was a lot of garbage in the shed, but did find some old goodies too. It took me 3 hours to clean the shed and sort out what was salvageable. The only critter I came across was one deceased mouse. I was creeped out anyway, cuz there obviously had been a lot of critters living in there, or at least was their outhouse. I said I only saw the one mouse. My poor hubby on the other hand….. As he jacking up the shed, he kicked loose some tin around the bottom. What do you suppose may be under an old shed in April? Well, a homeless skunk would be! He got the last laugh as he sprayed Nate’s boot and ran off. I worked in and out of that shed for 3 hours, lucky for me it was still nap time for PePe La Pew. 

Oh the adventures awaiting me!!!

Finishing touches

One thing about actually working on the building and making the projects, it leaves little time for the progress updates. The store is very near completion. I am so impressed on the work my hubby has done for me. Tattered looks like a store that is ultra chic- urban, yet rustic and industrial. The floors look fabulous, reclaimed fir from an old feed store. Initially I thought I would stain the floors a dark color, but I love the mix of colors and the gray on some of the pieces. The trim is indescribable! I got the stain called Cobalt blue for free from our local hardware store because it was mixed wrong. It gives the old wood a gray-blue hue which brings out red in the wood. Our windows and door were professionally installed and the awning is also up. My Tattered sign is hung on the highway side and the porch is about done. We have to put some kind of siding back up where the steel siding use to be. It looks shabby and NOT shabby-chic! Nate is working on the more tedious things now. Basically, he will build my counter and will be sighing relief. He can’t wait to go ice fishing!

Take a look at the photos and you will see the floors and the trim and the ceiling! I threw in my upcycling chandelier project. I found that beauty at a thrift shop in the outdated brass metal finish. I finished it in the green patina that is so gorgeous!! I have it hung in the store as a fixture. My mother in law loves it! That means a lot to me, she even said I should put a sale tag on it. Speaking of light fixtures, I have been fretting so much about lighting for the shop. Today I let it go. I have spent too much time worrying about the right lights, but not spending a lot of money. I am going with the ones that are already there and as I get more inspired, will upgrade. Why force it?

One more end note. My Tattered Facebook page has 98 likes without even opening the doors yet, which is great! I put a challenge in to get 100 likes and then I will announce the grand opening date. So help out my local friends and like the site. The link is at bottom of page and also on my blog roll. Happy Holidays!!!!     Thanks!! 

The key to happiness

Rental key

Today, I got the key to the shop!! I paid the deposit and the first months rent. I really feel official. 

I’ve been working on getting estimates and space planning. Today I worked on furniture projects all day long. I have the Vintage Carnival next Saturday. I should have enough pieces to bring with. There are a few things left to do, like price everything and look at coordinating accessories to spruce up the displays.

Classic table

Tool box- what should go in there? Surely not tools

Little side table

Rustic top with classic antique white bottom

Antiqued bar stools

After the fair, then the rush will be on to renovate that mechanics garage into what’s been occupying my mind for the past several weeks. I hope that time and money are on our side! The meeting with the grant person was very positive. Any projects tied to the grant money has to be completed by the end of this year. We think it’s doable. We will likely do the construction mostly ourselves. Apparently, the carpenters around here are busy until spring. I trust Nate’s work, he built our house, addition and all the buildings on our property, plus he builds bridges for a living!

Just a little update on the progress. It is a lot farther along then I could have ever imagined!! Happy trails…. Nicole 

EXCITING NEWS!! RENTAL PROPERTY

Exciting news! I officially took over rental of the old mechanic garage TODAY! I met with the co-op board and they agreed to the renovations that need to get the building from garage to retail space. I also lucked out and have a very good chance at grant money for commercial rehab projects. I met with the guy today and it sounds like a done deal. I have to get estimates and have all the work done by the end of the year. That’s right, 2 months. I have a feeling that Nate will be doing the work himself as the carpenters around here are booked until spring.

Just a quick note to update you all. Now, I have to figure out some math and estimate building materials.

Nicole

Junking Follies

It’s been such a busy weekend, I have been going steady! I am accumulating quite a stash of my desired stock of vintage furnishings. I feel like I have gotten the hang of the picking.

My first experience picking did not go as well as I imagined. I placed a free radio ad and got a call right away. I bought a little flashlight and a pair of gloves, ready to discover the hidden treasures. I drove to a nearby town and found the place right away. I got so excited as I drove into the yard and saw many outbuildings and a garage full of things I would make offers on.

This man was an old bachelor, but what I didn’t know was he was an avid collector too. Anything that I offered to buy, he had some story that it was his mother’s, aunt’s or grandfather’s. I was pretty frustrated as there was a lot of goodies but nothing for sale. He did have a bunch of windows that were not that old and still had the casement framing, sorry, not interested. He offered a mop strainer????? I left with a couple small things, one thing he gave me was a cool vintage desk lamp I refinished in a bronze. I also left with that first picking under my belt. Then another one that left me flat. I am fine tuning what I ask for in my ads.

I have been to a lot of places now and once I worried I wouldn’t have enough to bring to the Vintage Carnival in 2 weeks, now I have so much, there is no way I will get it all ready to bring with. That’s alright. I have the store opening sometime, so I already have inventory for that! Friday night I went to two places, the first one was a vehicle full of assorted stuff. But the best find there was a beveled leaded four foot long window. I am going to have Nate build that into my checkout counter. The second place was the MOTHER LOAD! I had been dealing with this nice gal all week. She had a lot of that vintage blonde furniture from the 1960’s. She had another lady interested, but she was not coming to pick it up. She finally let me know that I could purchase it from her. Holy moly! I can’t remember how many pieces I got, I think 8. Dressers, side tables, kitchen table, mirror, I think there was a sidebar. Beautiful stuff, not sure if I even want to refinish it.

Today, was quite the adventure. It started with Craig’s list earlier this week. A man had oak timbers and other lumber for sale. I made a three and a half hour one way drive Thursday to pick up a pickup load of lumber. The timbers were very heavy, but the item the sparked my interest was pine ship clap siding that he had taken off this old feed store shed. I thought it would make gorgeous reclaimed wood floor for the store. Somehow I talked Nate into driving down there again. My gosh, what a day! There was icy, snowy roads. I got to drive the truck with a large fifth wheel trailer. Nate didn’t sleep well last night, so was napping. I must say I did gell, didn’t hit the ditch and there were vehicles in the ditch. We loaded up the trailer. Cross our fingers that we got enough to do the store. We also got the old sliding door with the hardware.

Craig’s list got us in trouble again though. On the way back, there was a intricate dresser/side table with a beautiful mirror for $30. I had been dealing on this one all week too, there was another interested party, but they didn’t show up, so it was all mine. The guy told us directions coming from the opposite way. The roads were all slimy gravel and winding. We finally find the right place and the driveway looked like a bike path. There was no way in there. I walked down the driveway and got licked to death by two rambunctious golden retrievers. Nobody home!! What the heck?! Their garage was open and the piece was inside. So I asked if we could carry the 500 pound dresser back up to the road. I am very determined, not crazy. Ok that was crazy. So Nate tried to unhook the 5th wheel to drive the truck in. He finally gave up on that and BACKED the trailer down that narrow slippery road. He amazes me still. We got it loaded, I left the check in the crack of their door. I missed a call from the seller so I called him back and told him the scoop. All’s well that end well, right? Uffda.

I hope that all the money that is hemorrhaging from the checkbook, makes it back there somehow. Well, there is the big update for those that are following this journey. It has moved faster than I imagined. I meet with the Co-op board this Thursday to present my business plan and to ask for money to help with converting it into the retail shop.

Have a fantastic week, offer up some comments, its great for my morale! Nicole