Notes from A Cottage Industry

Hard to Believe, but...

...just a few weeks ago, (10 to be exact) this is what my sweet little shop looked like. All blue and Alice in wonderland-y with giant yellow daisies on steroids perched on top of the bay window. It was crying out for someone (me!) to come have a  look see and breathe some life back in to it.
Back in January, I had determined that 2006 was going to be the year I really started to take my business seriously. 2 years back I had begun my website, then never updated it or learned a thing about HOW to update it, and I was at a stand still. I made a time line of sorts, and decided my next step would be a retail space, most likely a 10 by 10 space at the downtown Antiques and Art Mall. The trouble was that you could only have large items, no small accessories, and of course there was no way to lock up your stuff at the days end. That's when my daughter called. She had been googling and found that the Arlington Gardens, the darling cobblestone mall on Plumb Lane, had a few openings. I ran down to take a peak...and the rest just fell into place!
I like looking at the "before" pictures because it really gives me a sense of purpose and  accomplishment.
You can't see by this picture, but it had screaming emerald green carpet and an ugly ceiling fan inside. We pulled up the rug to find a very neutral, PERFECT vinyl floor, and replaced the light. We painted inside and out, and now it is reborn into A Cottage Industry.
Anyhow, I am sorry to drone on and on about my little shop, and I bet you are thinking "Dear God, what DID this woman do BEFORE she had this tiny shop?!" but after those 10 weeks, I am still  in awe that I found such a perfect-for-me, not-too-big and not-too-small, but just right spot to indulge my passion.
we'll see what the next 10 weeks brings, but for now, I am blissfully content.

Road Trip to PTown

We went to Salem Oregon for our middle daughter's graduation  with her MBA last week. My Mom and decided to drive this time, so I could pick up some gems for my little shop. Tim flew down and met up with us there.
    Portland has got the most incredible salvage yards! I tell you, I feel like I've died and gone straight to heaven each time we spend a day junking in good ol' PTown. Old windows, by the mile I swear, and doors and shutters too.   Doorknobs, light fixtures... the detail work is amazing.
     We actually bought so much that I had to put one large fabulous vintage window BACK, 'coz we just couldn't fit it inside the car (well, we COULD have, but my Mom refused to ride all bent up and pinched in a corner of the back seat without her seatbelt for the 45 minute car ride back to Salem from Portland.)
    I was a happy camper when I got all of my wonderful old windows out of the car back here at home.   
    Old windows are such a charming accent, leaning against a wall on top of an armoire, hung on a wall in a bathroom with a mirror behind it, wherever. They just add character.
    Yard sales are incredible in Oregon as well. It seems like folks have a lot more old wooden pieces than we do here in Reno. I got an old vintage baby scale one place, and a charming bow front dresser.
    My mom, an avid quilter and seamstress, got herself a mangle iron.   For those of you who might not know what a mangle is, think of a Bed and Breakfast with crisply pressed pillow cases and napkins. Think Martha Stewart. It's a cool tool, bigger than an old sewing machine cabinet, that has big metal rollers that heat up when plugged in, and you feed your flat item through it for it to come out on the other side, pressed crisp and flat to perfection. Three words for this little puppy... Fab- U- Lous.
    Oh, I could go on and on, but it's much better if you just pop into the shop and take a peak for yourself---before it's all gone.