On your mark, get set, GO

Hi All, well it just seems like I can't get myself on here more than once a week lately! But, if I'm scarce it's because I'm working hard on some fantastic transformations to show you soon! In the past couple weeks, since the March 31 sale, there have been a handful of custom orders coming in as well as dozens of appointments with people interested in the pieces left over from the last event. I'm very happy to say we have almost sold out of all the refinished pieces from 2 weeks ago. If you would like to see what remains please click on the photobucket link under 'Shop'. I'm in the process of creating a portfolio album of all the pieces I have done in the past. In my head that seems like a good idea so potential clients can see the range of work we are capable of here...it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it!

So, this little business is not just about being in the garage painting away all day every day. In fact, the last couple weeks have been my busiest yet and I have not painted a single piece! With the custom orders we have going on at the moment I have driven an hour and a half round trip just for a couple cans of ASCP, (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint), spent several days hunting for a set of dining chairs for my lovely, (and patient!), client L, and took a successful disastrous trip to Home Depot for some heavy duty supplies, (including our first power saw!). Free tip, from me to you: 3 little ones under 3yrs, a 4x8 sheet of MDF board, 2 8ft pieces of trim, extremely loud machines, and a handful of supplies to fit around your kids in the shopping cart DO NOT MIX! Leave the kids at home. Also, make sure your vehicle can fit a 4x8 piece of MDF board before you come. We are learning.

Anyway, I wanted to show you a very hard decision one of my clients, K, is having to make for her new TV console. She checked out the ASCP website to look at paint colors, and probably like most people who have seen the site, concluded that the tiny swatch of color they show online just isn't enough!!! She wanted to be able to hold a paint sample up to other pieces in her room and see which would go the best. Who can blame her! Since the store I buy my paint from doesn't have color swatches which you can take home, (and mail), I made my own! I was planning on using index cards but since I didn't have any I used the next best thing I had: the stationary my husband and I wrote our thank-you notes on from our wedding! Now they're in an envelope and en route to K!

Here are the colors K is deciding between:

Duck Egg, French Linen, and Paris Gray

Don't these three colors look scrumptious?! Good luck deciding, K!

Now, I am off to the Garage to work on a bench and set of chairs which I hope to show you at the end of the week! Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

~Chelsea

Our beautiful sale day!

Hello friends! Well, this past Saturday was another Chelsea's Garage on-site sale and the weather couldn't have been more perfect - quite a contrast to the snow we got on our February sale day! The Garage looked great and even featured a couple pieces I hadn't even posted here, (the Cottage Chic Dining table and the Sweet Dreams Headboard, see photos below). The day started with a lot of sweet friends coming by to say hi and take a look...I feel so blessed to have such supportive and encouraging friends and family, let me tell ya! Then slowly, but surely, a lot of new faces started coming in. Some saw the Chelsea's Garage sign from the road, (best Christmas present ever! Thanks, Mom:) ), others had heard about it from a friend, (amen!). So, the word is slowly spreading which I am really grateful for; that's what my little furniture refinishing business depends on!

Here are some photos of the morning, right after I finished setting up:

Tulips instead of snow this time:)

Cottage Chic Dining table debut!

I will always have a few goodies out. Always.:)

Sweet Dreams Headboard debut!

All three of these china cabinet doors sold; the middle one to one home and the two on the sides to another. It was such a joy to see others so interested and taken by something that was so out of the box. Thanks to Husband for rigging them up to be hung on the morning of the sale!

I saw a handful of pieces leave the Garage and go on to new homes on Saturday, but since I've had each piece listed individually on craigslist, the responses have been pouring in and I've had daily appointments set up with folks interested in seeing/purchasing. A handful of pieces remain but the garage is starting to look spacious again....time to start furniture hunting all over!

Thank you so much for following the buzz in the Garage! If you saw anything in the photos that you're curious about, click on 'Shop' and you'll see an entire album of pieces with full descriptions and prices listed under the first photo of each piece.

Also, I have a small collection of decorative items I'd like to be able to give away soon, so if you're a regular here, please become a member, (Garage Guest), so you'll be elligible for some free cute things, (even if you're a friend or family member)!

~Chelsea

A newfound love in 'Duck Egg'

Hey there! I've been starting to get some technique questions and was thinking about addressing all of them in one post sometime soon, but one popular one that I thought I would bring up today is how do I pick my paint color/decide what color to paint which pieces? Here's the thing: I am definitely not a person who collects sample after sample of various shades of the same color. I usually go to the paint store with a specific color in mind and scan the rainbow of swatches until I see it. Perhaps it's because I always have 3 little ones in tow and do not have the time to stand there and compare, but I rarely pick up any more swatches once I've found 'The One'. Colors that catch my eye tend to be very earthy; in fact, here are some of the paint names in the Garage: Coral Reef, Sandstone, Duck Egg, Bayou, Pebble Beach, Cumberland Fog, and Spring Mint. At the moment the Garage is full of over a dozen pieces all ready for this Saturday's sale, and I have each of the above colors represented somewhere in the collection. I absolutely love how the entire group of pieces look together! So many shades of gray, tan, cream, aqua, green, blue..it looks like a cohesive group simply because they're all very earthy tones. I love how you can mix and match natural colors in the home. You don't look outside and think the trees clash with the grass and the sky....so if you have earthy colors in your home, you can really do anything you want! And 'earthy' doesn't have to mean dull or lacking bright colors... Why not have an aqua end table with coral throw pillows and a foggy gray coffee table? Nature works so well inside the home! I know not everyone has the same taste, and thank goodness for that! I love walking into homes and seeing how people show their own personality and individuality through their decor and use of color.

Ok, enough chit chat, (and if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact me)! One of my new favorite colors to use is Annie Sloan's 'Duck Egg' chalk paint. Such a FUN color! It's saturated enough that you could use it year round, mixing it up with golds, dark greens, burnt orange and eggplant purples in the fall and winter, or lighter peaches, corals, grays and tans in the spring and summer.

 Here is a beautiful side table with dental wood trim, fresh from it's 'Duck Egg' makeover:

(29.5d x 22w x 23.5h)

~available for sale~

Here is a chunky wooden chair which had originally been painted forest green on the backrest and legs. I just painted right over the green in 'Duck Egg' and then distressed it enough to see some hits of green here and there on the piece:

(17.5w x 17.25d x 37h)

~available for sale~

The last piece before the sale on Saturday is a cute little headboard that is in the Garage drying from it's fresh coat of....you guessed it, Duck Egg :)

If you are interested in coming by on Saturday contact me and I will send you the address. I hope you have a fantastic finish to your week!

~Chelsea