Fixer Upper Chairs!

Tomorrow is May Day ... in all it’s glory ... and here we sit, in rain and snow.

I know, I know, and I even agree.  We really do need it (snow pack problems and all), but on the other hand, I REALLY do need some color in my life right now.  To combat the gray skies, I came up with the perfect “color project”.  I searched through the store and found these great chairs that could use a face-lift ... then I searched through the some fabric websites and found this great fabric to complete the face-lift job.  Off I go!  

Chairs stripped, old cushions removed and in walks Mom ... always the voice of reason when I’m preparing to do something fun and daring, like ... say ... add a splash of color to a chair.   

I described my project and displayed the component parts, (bright orange fabric with glow in the dark polka dots) and apparently what Mom saw was an opportunity to utilize her favorite saying  ... “Hummmm ... looks like a friday fart at a saturday carnival, don’t you think”. 

There you have it ... project complete - before it ever really launched.  But ... what I have now are six terrific stripped down chairs priced at $20.00 each just waiting for someone to take them home, add some upholstery (of their choice, not Mom’s) and bring them back to life.  

Also, I think maybe I’ve resolved a conflict  Mom and I have always had ... one man’s idea of fresh and fun is another man’s idea of a Fridays’ carnival leftovers!  

Market Umbrella!

Let's just pretend like it's summer! I have an eight foot market umbrella. It's green, but kind of faded on the top. Other than that - it is none the worse for wear. It's stand is a sturdy metal type, and it is as tired of winter as we are! 
Price $50.00

Art!

Decorating isn't just about the floors and furniture you know!  It's the little stuff that makes it interesting.  I have lots of fun vintage "art" to spiffy up any wall!

Old School Desk

More Yard Junk??  Yes ....  This little desk is just weathered and worn enough to have earned a prestigious place in a corner of your garden.  It will gladly volunteer to hold your terra cotta pots filled with big red geraniums!
Price:  $80.00

Mirrors, Trunks and Lamps!

Lots of them!  All different price ranges, all different styles!

Uh Oh ... Earth Day Hangover ...

No ... not the wine induced kind.  This time, it is about information and I am trying to sort through all the green living ideas that were tossed about yesterday.  

Now in it’s 40th year, Earth Day is coming into it’s own.  Earth Day is about sustainable living, reducing our impact, thinking about our choices and committing to change. 

Here are some things, big and small, that people suggested as ways to leave a lighter footprint ...

Share seeds and plugs from your garden. ... plant them once you’ve been shared with!

Pick up trash that you didn’t actually create.

Make a soup out of almost overdue leftovers.

Unplug your electrical things when you’re not using them.

Don’t step on worms and spiders.

Park your big fancy truck and walk - at least once a week.

Drink real water instead of the plastic bottled kind.

Buy real stuff instead of the plastic oil based kind.

Live a Life Less Plastic.  http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/.

Eat food that’s in season

Shop at local stores 

...and here’s my submission ... 

Buy used furniture and re-home yours’ at my consignment furniture shop!

Whatever it is that wiggles your “green” bean, come up with a plan and do it for a year.  It will make you feel good!

If you want to buy something used ... here is a snapshot of my selection!!

A table that plays games!

So here is how it works ... when this game table is in disguise, it looks like a small side table with inlayed "X's" on top. With a flick of the hand, you flip the X's open, give the top a quarter spin and it locks into place to become the perfect game table. As a game table, it features a felt lined surface and built in cork drink coasters! The photo shows it in half open, half closed position. 

Price $168

Botanical Prints!

This week I am doing something different and posting some of the fun little things that make "just looking" a bit more interesting! Sticking with the outdoor theme from last week --- here are a couple of botanical prints!!

Price:  $20.00 each

More "Yard Junk" -- but this is not junk ...

These weathered Adirondack chairs look like they just came off the beaches of North Carolina! A nice addition to my spring garden furniture collection! Price $95.00 each.  Solid wood!

Yard Junk defined!

Bikes, birdbaths and baskets ...

What do these items have in common?

Well .. with the flick of a hammer and a little dab of rust, they become “yard junk”.  Yard Junk ... you know, those imperfect, dinged up interesting pieces that fall into the hands of someone like my mom, who hides them in her garden and re-names them “art”.

Mom is particularly fond of yard junk and to shop with her is an exercise in spying the perfect qualifying item.

Me:  “How about this nice sculpture?”

Mom:  “No ... too immaculate.”

Me:  “Look Mom, a pretty flower in a terra cotta pot ... ???”

Mom:  “No ... too common, everyone does that.”

Me:  “Hey, look what I found ... a gazing ball!”

Mom:  “Nope ... not enough experience ... Wait ... look here ... a boat.  It is broken, it’s flawed, it’s used, it has holes and its’ paint is all chipped, but outside my breakfast nook window it will be the crown jewel.”

... And it is!!!  

Her fine collection has earned her garden a spot on the Missoula Garden Tour as well as a host location for the “First Annual (and then whenever they feel like it) Promise Stitch Gathering” - a not so well known yet quite prestigious event  - if - of course you are a promise stitcher.

My point being ... I think Mom is on to something, and my shop is the perfect place to buy, sell, recycle, convert and re-home your old ... umm ... “stuff”,  into fresh new interesting “garden art” or “yard junk” if you will! 

Swing by my shop and I’ll help you start your own collection of yard junk!

P.S.   An FYI from the expert ... old couches on the front porch are not yard junk, but the stuff in this picture is!

Clean up the birds!

It's time for the Spring stuff to come out of hiding and make their appearance in the garden. Because of it's small size, this iron bird bath is designed for the delicate birds and only one at a time please, but beyond that --- it is an awfully pretty set about in the garden!

Price: $75

end table / holder of stuff!

Here is a handsome, multipurpose, piece to have in your collection! This handy end table will also hold your books and magazines, sewing, knitting, baseballs, mittens and just about any other item larger than a golf ball! 

Price $58.00

Jamaica in Montana

Here is the answer to cold Montana April days ... pretend like you are on vacation with these nightstands from the Pier 1 Jamaica collection. I have two of them! Price $95.00 each

Chair without a seat!

Here it is ... your classic flower pot chair! This chair is ready and waiting to take it's place along side the other patio furniture and fulfill the role as the guy who holds the plant! Price $20.00

Patio Furniture!

Happy Friday everyone!

To quote a sentiment I saw on Twitter this morning ...

“Really?  Is all this snow and rain necessary right now?”

On the bright side - and let's look there ... it gives us more time to anticipate our summer leisure. That's where I can help out. ... Everyday I’m getting in pieces of outdoor furniture.  At least we are THINKING Spring.

Stop by and check out these chairs for relaxing, reading, sunbathing, or whatever summer means to you.  

As for Duncan ... he is sniffing around trying to recall where he buried last year’s bones!

Price $60.00 each

white wicker rocker!

If this vintage wicker rocker were a person - she would most certainly be a Southern Bell!

Price $45.00

Barbed Wire Art!

Our Heartware creator strikes again ... this time with a barbed wire "landscape" wall hanging. Very clever, charming and one of a kind!

Price $35.00

Couch with Spring slip cover!

Custom made couch.  This guy comes with a slip cover which gives it the shabby chic look.  It's like having two couches in one!

Price:  $350.00

Easter seating solution!

Who remembers sitting at the card table during Easter dinner?  More fittingly called the "kids" table!

Price:  $100.00 for the set or pieces sold separately:  chairs $35.00 / table $30.00.

Echo-echo turned ONE this week!

To celebrate, Duncan suggested we run another contest and have a big party,

I considered it for a second and decide we’d do something a bit more subtle and simply answer an oft asked question ...

How did Echo-echo get it’s name?

It goes like this ...

Whatever new acquisition to our family, (a house addition, a baby something, a new car, new shoes ... anything really), considerable time is spent mulling over a name.  We call it out, we rhyme it, we swish it around and we remember good and bad memories it conjures up. Hundreds are discarded before one is deemed appropriate and then we practice it for a while.  Just call this a family tradition.     Always! on these naming exercises - dad kicks back, listens and simply observes the gyrations.  After everyone has used up every drop of their creative juices and submitted their choice, then dad drops his proposal in the name brainstorm game.  Sort of take it or leave it style.

Naming my shop was no different.  The tag line - was already a given - "home furnishings worth repeating" - we didn't realize the name was right under our nose - minding her business in her pasture.

So I wasn't too stunned when I got a phone call from dad.  It was pretty much a one word conversation.  “Echo”, he said.  “Echo echo --- (his creativity showing)  home furnishings worth repeating”.   The spark of his idea? ... His beloved donkey - Echo.  A bit of a home body in the barnyard, a good neighbor, a good friend  and a thrifty

decorator herself!  Her barn is more eclectic than your usual  donkey barns and her donkey furniture, just a tad sturdier than other donkey furniture.

The name fit.  Dad got all the credit even though we all know sweet Echo inspires us all.

So ... Echo - Home Furnishings it became!  Thanks everyone, for a great first year!

Realizing my dream of having my own business, plus the serendipity of meeting a variety of people who share a goal of starving our landfills.  Together we have re-homed lots of good used furniture.  Here's to more treasures you will find in my mini-warehouse in year number two!!

Here is Echo ... pondering a re-model on her fence, and looking forward to something fresh and green in her personal gazebo.

Bistro table and chairs!

A coffee lovers dream table . This fun jazzy bistro is just the ticket to fully accessorize your coffee habit!