Branching Out. . . The Long Winded Version

As House of White evolves, Lisa and I find ourselves doing things a little differently than we imagined at the get go.  But I figure to make a business work, and to really figure out what we enjoy doing and what will succeed, we have to be flexible.

We started out making over furniture, we still do that, though our large furniture pieces haven't been big sellers.  Chairs, stools, mirrors and frames sell well. Desks, dressers and other large items, not so much.

Early on we branched into decor items--some vintage, some repurposed, some newly crafted. Vintage item sales are hit and miss, the repurposed and newly crafted items generally sell well--especially our paper products (wreaths, garlands etc.), and our framed items (chalkboards, message boards etc.).  Keeping both our etsy store stocked and our booth full (while balancing our home lives and busy, young, over scheduled children) has been a balancing act!

Add to that, our decorating posts about our own homes and projects (which I have to admit seem to be the most popular!), and you might wonder about us going in too many different directions.  Blame it on an inability to focus on one thing when we love so many--or maybe it's merely ADD.  Probably a bit of both!

So ALL that (along with our previously confessed secret desire to be in party planning) got us to thinking. . . how could we combine all that without burying ourselves?

We have come up with a solution we both love and are very excited about.  In case you have been wondering what the images in the post have to do with and how they relate to House of White, let me elucidate you:

Vintage Prop and Event Rentals.  

We will still continue on as before, but in addition to selling vintage, repurposed and newly crafted home decor (and posting about it along with our own personal quest to decorate our homes) we are beginning to accumulate fun vintage pieces and accessories that can be rented out to those of you locals for your next event! We have also begun adding things to our shop that would lend well to events or photo shoots that can be paired with our rental items (like our new flag banners, or even our paper garlands) And of course we will blog about it so the rest of you can get inspiration on how you might use fun old furniture pieces, or canning jars, or old crates to enhance your party, photo shoot, or wedding.

All the items pictured here are from a recent estate sale Lisa and I stopped by. It was packed with cool stuff.  It was one of those houses where the people clearly lived out most of their lives there and now the children are selling it all off, the barns, cellars, house and all its contents.  I only wish we'd gotten there sooner, they were packed with shoppers--they even had flaggers directing traffic.

We hopped out of our car and bee-lined for a stack of the most gorgeous blue canning jars.  As we oohed and ahhed over the fact that they were only $1 each, a man came over and said, "Those are sold already."  We then realized the jars were on the tailgate of someone else's truck!  Somehow we failed to notice that.  He was nice enough to point us in the direction of the canning shed where more jars were. . . but they were newer and clear.  I snagged one in the house, and a couple other neat jugs in the barn.  We did find a fabulous stack of crates in the canning shed though. . .

They didn't clean the items to sell them, and I didn't clean them before snapping pictures, but can you imagine how they might be used?  If not, let me give you a few examples of what to do with crates, for instance:

Pictures from: 1. The Knot  2. Ruffled Blog  3. September Blue

A lot has to happen before we officially get going in that arena, but I thought I'd give you a heads up and see what you think. . . so. . .

What do you think?


In light of this new venture, we are moving our booth at Camas Antiques.  June 1st we will be relocating to an upstairs locations (which we are thrilled about), but a smaller space--so we can focus on the smaller items, the repurposed and hand crafted part of our business.  We will still offer furniture and vintage items, but less of them, as most of those will go into growing our rental inventory.

If you frequent Camas Antiques, our new space is located where Chloe Rose currently resides (she is moving to a larger upstairs space).  We hope you like the direction we are headed and would love hear your thoughts and opinions.

Happy Monday to you!

Basket Case. . .

(Country Living)

Last month while on my birthday shopping trip I ran across the cutest ceramic berry bowls at Anthropologie.  I didn't let myself buy any home accessories that day because I had decided my birthday shopping spree was going to be about clothes.  Then a few weeks later I was flipping through a back issue of Country Living and saw them featured in there. . . which made me wish I had bought them.  I don't remember what they were priced at, but I tried looking them up online only to find they weren't available online.

(Jayson Home & Garden)

So I went surfing around the web and found them at Jayson Home & Garden.  But they weren't cheap--small: $20, medium: $32, large: $38.  I was tempted, but since I had treated the entire month of March like my birthday and spent accordingly, I couldn't do it.

THEN, I came across this ceramic berry basket at Sur la Table.  They only have one style (though you can get it in white or red), BUT it is only $6.95.  Yep, six dollars and ninety-five cents.  So I bought three.  And now I wished I had bought more.  I can't wait for my berries to come on.  I have a strawberry patch and three blue berry bushes that will put these baskets to good use this summer.  For now, I have to resort to buying a few berries, just to hurry the season along.

Forget spring, I have summer on my mind. . . and it's looking pretty sweet!

Family, Sun & Shopping

I'm back!  

After a whopping ten days in Idaho visiting family for an extended spring break, I am home and getting busy.  I can't remember the last time I was away from home for such a long time.  Plus, I hardly even touched a computer!  I was too busy with my family AND Rob's (I have seven siblings all within 40 minutes of my parents, and Rob's parents and brother live nearby too). But the girls got their fill of their cousins and I got to see all my siblings, tried out a new cafe in my home town opened by a girl I went to high school with, and did some serious home shopping!  It may not have been warm, but since it wasn't Washington, it was mostly sunny.  I'll take it.  But seriously, the warm weather could arrive any day now. Please.  

I am getting excited about decorating more rooms (and yes, finishing rooms I have already started--focus is not my strong suit!).  Because after six months of walking in the front door to an empty living room, the end is in sight!  You'd think living a stone's throw from Portland, I wouldn't have to go to Idaho to shop.  But since Rob's father works for a furniture store, we often buy things there--and I bought a couch, a coffee table, a sofa table, and a hutch--and a few other small items, like this bird cage. . .

 I, of course, didn't remember to take pictures of anything else since I was so excited to be actually agreeing with my husband on a couch, but let me just whet your appetite by saying the sofa resembles a sofa from Pottery Barn and one from Restoration Hardware that I have been eyeing, the two tables are made from reclaimed factory floor wood and iron, and the the hutch is a lovely handmade thing in worn shades of blue and wood.

 *sigh*

We are bringing them back with us in two weeks when we return to Idaho for a family event.  But the fun didn't stop there!  A few minutes from my in-laws house there is this FABulous home decor shop, Nest {The Home Store}, that I run to every time I visit Idaho.  LOVE that store.  This time I drooled over plenty--and snapped (grainy) cell phone pictures of a few things.  I wish I had captured more, but I was too busy drooling.

She had four of these big floor mirrors.  Getting them home could be tricky, but I wanted one--and the table behind me too (you can't really see it, but it is made of reclaimed wood and it is lovely).

Two of the mirrors were flanking this lovely bed:

If this set of four metal patio chairs is still there when I go back, they might come home with me. . . along with half her garden section.

(Sorry for the glare--that would be sunshine, something I don't get nearly enough of lately!)

I didn't manage to resist buying a set of these gauzy curtain panels.  I ordered four panels of the robin egg blue striped curtain for my living room.  If I am not careful my house will have blue in every room!

These pictures only hint at the loveliness I brought home, or will bring home.  More on that in a couple weeks.

Now, I am off to ship orders and work on a few more projects so I can update you as promised!

Catch 22. . .

It is always good advice to find a job doing something you love.  My dilemma was/is always narrowing it down to one thing.  I am still dealing with the desire to be a writer/photographer/decorator/shop owner/party planner/bakery owner///. . .  you get the idea.  In the same vein of thought, with regards to our shop, I think it is important to always sell things that we love.  I love that while working on items for the shop, Lisa will occasionally burst out with, "I love this.  I would totally buy this for my house!"

That's sort of the point, of course.  We choose/create things to sell, BECAUSE we love them.

It does, however, create a minor issue.  I often want to keep things meant for the shop.  In fact, a few things I bought before setting up shop, with intentions of making over for my house, have made their way into the sale pile.  For instance, I bought an ugly little stool for my daughter's room.  It had medium brown wooden legs and a hideous brown print vinyl cover with a pleated ruffle trim--also out of the ugly brown print vinyl.  It was, in fact, so ugly my husband thought it would be funny to spray paint the word "poop" on the top of it. . . BEFORE I took a before picture.

This is where I would normally show you a before picture.  I LOVE before and afters, don't you?  But that picture is one of the many lost on my crashed hard drive, so you can't really appreciate the transformation this little stool has undergone.  So without further ado, the after:

I wanted something simple and clean, yet girly and fresh. . . and different.

Can I just say mission accomplished?! Now the only dilemma is I want to keep it.  I can almost justify it by reminding Lisa that I did originally purchase it for Hannah's room.  Or at least I can try. . . which I did.

 (That Windsor chair? Another thing I am having trouble deciding to part with. . .and that pillow. . .? It's unhealthy really.)

That is where having a partner comes in handy.  We keep each other on track.  Otherwise the two of us might just have a house full of really cute stuff and a shop full of. . . nothing (not to mention our wallets!).

But for now, this little number is my favorite. . . until something else I almost can't resist comes along.