My Favorite Local Shop

I can't believe it's already been a year since I took a leap of faith and emailed a local shop owner asking if she would take a chance on me.







For some crazy reason she said yes, and I've been selling things from, and working in, Goat River Folk Art ever since.







It's a beautiful, creative store filled with one of a kind items that have been rescued from a landfill, repurposed, reinvented, or created from scratch by one of the amazing ladies who work there. Each one of us have a distinct style and our own "look" but blended together, it makes for a fun shopping experience and there is always something for everyone.

It's full of antiques, vintage finds, and lovingly refinished furniture. All at amazing prices that anyone can afford. That's what I love most about the store and it's owner - they believe in having a store that is for the "Everywoman" - the single mom on one income, the stay-at-home mom, the single person just starting out . . . those are our biggest clients and all of them come to us because they know they are getting a good product at a GREAT price.

The store is always changing, ever evolving. Always beautiful. Always affordable!

Antique Cabinet

This beautiful piece has been sitting in my garage for a very long time, and it's next up on the list to be painted. I kept putting it off because it's a piece for me, and custom pieces for clients or for the shop kept taking first priority.

It's hard to take valuable (and rare) work time to do something for myself, but I need the space that this piece is taking up in my garage, and sometimes it's just so good to finish a piece for yourself and get to enjoy it without any pressure or deadlines.

It needs to have a top built. As you can see, it has a very odd top - I am assuming that originally this was the top half of a hutch and there was a closed cabinet that this would have sat on, so the builder never felt the need to create a "finished" top as it would have been above eye level anyway. I don't like to alter or add to antiques, but in order for this piece to be functional for us it needs to be done. And I have no plans to resell, so I'm not worried about hurting it's value.

It was purchased by my husband's aunt and used as a display case I believe in her store. When she was ready to get rid of it, she thought of me and sent it home with my husband's parents the last time they visited. She had painted the interior but the outside was still raw wood and the moment I saw it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

It still has the original hardware and from what I can tell, the original glass as well. I am not even sure where I am going to find room to put this beauty once I finish her, but this is one piece that I won't be letting go of, even if it means another piece of mine has to find a new home.

I will be working on transforming this piece and will share photos of the finished product as soon as the paint is dry!

A Pink Ombre Dresser

Last year, my sister called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted an old dresser that she no longer had any use for. It had been in her son's bedroom but he didn't have room for it anymore. I said yes, thinking I could use it in my daughter's room as she was outgrowing her nursery furniture and we had a baby on the way that would soon be needing it anyway.

When she dropped it off, my sister explained that the dresser had been hers growing up and I remembered it being in her room. At that time it was painted a light blue with some pink and white flowered knobs. She said she had memories of it being a "dress up" storage piece in our basement before that, and it had been painted bright crazy colors and was filled with our old halloween costumes and kept under the stairs next to our deep freeze. I only vaguely remember it but by the time I was very old, it had been repainted and put into my brother's bedroom, and then later, into my sister's with yet another new paint job.

I thought that was a nice piece full of memories and it would be special to have in my daughter's room, seeing as at one time it had been in the bedrooms of all 3 of my siblings and also my nephew.

It sat in the garage for about six months before I finally got around to painting it. When I began working on it I mentioned it to my mom. She told me that the dresser had been purchased by my grandparents when my mom was born for HER nursery. She said that it had been her dresser all her life growing up and had come with her when she got married. It was shifted around the house over the years, each time with a new coat of paint . . . in my brother's room, then in the basement as the makeshift "Tickle Trunk", then into my sister's room who also took it with her when she got married.

I was so thrilled that it came back around to me - how special that the same dresser that housed my mom's baby clothes is now the dresser where my daughter keeps her socks and Cinderella pyjamas. I think about it almost every time I open the drawers.

I can't even imagine how many coats of paint have been layered on it over the years. It's not a fancy piece, but it's sturdy and solid and in great condition. And full of memories. I have a feeling that one day my daughter will be lugging it out the front door, probably painted a totally different color and moving it into a house of her own.

And when she does, I can tell her "Did you know this dresser was your Grandma's when she was born?"
And that's something you can't buy at a furniture store.

I painted the dresser white, and did a pink ombre on the drawers. It's definitely not my usual style, but I had been wanting to try the ombre look for a while and I have also been trying very hard to let my daughter's room be her own space. She loves pink, and I wanted her room to be bright and fun, not feel like an extension of my own personal decorating style. I feel like it's important to let both my girls express their personality and have some say in the decorating decisions in their rooms.

Does that mean I would be ok with hot pink walls or My Little Pony bedding? No. I'm just not ready to let go of that much control and I readily admit it. But I try to allow her to make the decisions, even if I am limiting her choices somewhat or guiding her toward a general idea of what I am "Ok" with.

She asked for pink, and pink it is. Having a bright pink dresser would make me feel agitated and panicky every time I stepped into the room, so painting it out white to match the rest of her furniture and limiting the bright color to the drawers makes it more palatable for me. And the cute glass knobs don't hurt either!

No.3 Chair

Numbered furniture. Either you "get it" and love it, or you don't understand it and think painted numbers ruin an otherwise great piece.

I'm in the former camp. I think painted numbers are adorable, and a fun way to personalize your home in a subtle way. Here are some of my favorite examples of numbers painted on furniture . . .

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It's a fun way to bring in a bit of whimsy, and fits perfectly in a cottage, beachy, country, schoolhouse-inspired room, or with any style that incorporates vintage pieces. I like to call my personal style "Refined Cottage" and pieces like this make my heart sing.

I tried my hand at a numbered piece last summer. Sadly I didn't take a before photo, but it was your run-of-the-mill honey colored oak chair with a stain that had gone orange over the years and was in need of some freshening up.

I painted it my favorite shade of blue and then stenciled on a big number 3. I had fun distressing it to create the look of a well worn, old chair by focusing on the areas that naturally see wear; the seat, corners, fronts of the legs and the center of the back.

It turned out so beautifully and was fun to bring in to the shop because everyone had an opinion on it. Most people would gasp and say "Aw!" Or "I love that, how cute!" but a few people were puzzled and made comments like "Now why would you put a number on a chair?" "I thought it was perfectly nice until I noticed the number on the seat. That just ruins it for me."

Well, that's the fun of decor/design. Not everyone is going to like what you do, so just DO YOU. I love the look and I had so much fun creating this piece. It's not a style that is everyone's cup of tea, but that's not what I strive to do.

If I wanted to create pieces that everyone would like, all my things would be plain white. Or black. Adding personality to pieces like this is a risk, sure. It means less people will find it appealing. But for the ones who DO like it, it makes that piece irresistable and extra special.

So for all my numeral-loving clients out there, keep on the look out for more numbered pieces coming soon! And for those who just don't get this trend, don't worry. There's always something for everyone!

Custom Barnboard Sign

At a craft fair this winter, I had a customer who really liked my barnboard signs but wanted something custom.

She wanted a piece to hang over her fireplace, but had a pesky thermostat to deal with which made it hard for her to hang anything without blocking access to the thermostat. She came up with a clever idea and asked me to build it for her.

Well, I'm not much of a builder so my husband actually did most of the "building." We both had fun working together on this project and I loved how it turned out!

I handpainted their last name in black, and added several coats of poly on top to give it durability and a nice satin finish. The client found some beautiful hooks at Benjamin Moore so I added those for her; I think she plans to hang stockings from them at Christmas!

What makes this piece so clever is the back! A thin box was added to the back, also made out of barnwood and attached with hinges. It lifts up so that once the sign is hung over the thermostat, she can still have easy access to it whenever she needs. A brilliant idea from a creative customer! I hope she likes it as much as I do!

Nautical Nightstands

This pair of nightstands has got to be one of the ugliest "Before" items I have worked on. The tops were covered in Peel-and-Stick floor tiles and they had been painted in a hideous shade of pinky tan that reminded me of skin.

I couldn't contain my imatience and ripped off the floor tiles before I got a photo, but here they are after washing and sanding, ready for primer.

I knew they had potential - I liked the style of them and they were in excellent condition, aside from needing a going-over with a palm sander and some elbow grease.

I painted them a creamy white, and after it cured a few days I got to work with my favorite painter's tool - Frogtape! I taped off some stripes on the top, pulled out two of my favorite shades of blue paint and got to work.

The results were better than I was hoping for! I added some blue on the raised drawer fronts; I wanted these to be fun and I loved the little bit of added color. I'm a neutral girl at heart, so keeping these mostly white with just some details in blue made it fun while still feeling like my style. 

I thought they had a bit of a nautical feel, so I chose hardware that had a little braided detail that reminded me of rope.

I finished them off with two coats of clear wax. They looked so cute together in the shop, and they sold very quickly! It's always exciting to me when someone takes home one of my pieces. It never gets old; that feeling of gratification when someone else sees your vision for a piece and loves it enough to take it home!