Monday, March 31, 2014

Life in a consignment furniture shop - Tip #2


Never Give Up!

Five Years!  Pinch me!   Today it’s been five years since I started Echo Home Furnishings.   Time and time again, I’ve asked myself ... “Is this something?”.   Time and time again I’ve heard the old adage “It takes five years to establish a business” and time and time again I wonder if I really found my special place.

Well today I can clearly answer yes, yes and yes. 

Here’s a quick recap:

year number one ....















{what we lacked in furniture, we made up for in hope and patience}





year number two ...





















{a windfall!   we acquired a house full of fantastic furniture ... and our hopes soared}




year number three ...





















{we moved next door ... only six inches from our old place but we hoped it would be easier for people to find us}




year number four ...




















{we sold our house to buy our shop ... hoping that  downsizing was all it's cracked up to be.} 






year number five ...






















{the ladybugs arrived  ... we hoped we could find good homes for all of them}




year number six ...





















{looking toward the future and we are filled with even more hope!}





























Never give up on your dreams ... even if you're a bird dog working in a furniture shop.  Things have a way of working out .... sometimes even better than expected!

To all our terrific consigners and customers ... THANK YOU!!










Saturday, March 15, 2014

Life in a consignment furniture shop - Tip #1


old upholstery, good bones ... what to do.

I like stuff.  Especially old stuff.  But when it comes to old upholstered stuff ... well, lets just say that sometimes it is good to exercise a bit of caution.  All of this is a segway to introduce my latest and longest lasting furniture obsession ... vintage couches and chairs with fresh new upholstery and stuffing.

We take a piece with good solid bones and freshen it up.  We add new foam,stuffing and springs to make it more comfortable, we cover it with new upholstery to make it stylish and we polish out the scratches to make it shine. 

Here are a few shots of our pieces before and after their makeover.






Clean, Green and Made in the USA!
Our Better than new furniture line.   A collaboration between Echo Home Furnishings and Great Falls Upholstery.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Back in the saddle again!


Testing, testing .... one, two, three ...

Is anybody out there?

I know, I’ve been blog free for about a year now, but as I look around I have some pretty cool stuff to show so welcome back to my life in a consignment furniture shop!

For starters, here are some clever hand made in Montana items passing through my store.

                                                     
                                                    Colorful Beaded Bracelets by Little Song


                   
                                                 Hand Made Tea Towels by Claire's Cottage


                                                Some Clever, Whimsical Mosaics by Lois Warner


... and finally ... by Weathered Works

Letters ... that spell    L O V E!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!