My Best Sale Yet

Today I had a 'downsizing sale' to reduce the look of hoarding in my garage. After moving out of the Austin Antique Mall at the end of February, I had mall inventory and my stash of show goods all crammed into one side of my garage. It was actually pretty amazing how well everything fit on that side, but the problem is that too much little stuff sitting on the great farmhouse furniture means that no one actually sees the furniture underneath the stacks of smalls sitting on top!

My mom, who painstakingly helps me wrap and pack the hundreds of smalls that don't sell at shows, recommended that I have a sale to pare down to my favorite Barn Chic farmhouse pieces for the next Junk Hippy sale. Smalls are interesting; they paid the rent at the antique mall, but they require way more time at shows (and haven't been as great of sellers as clothing and mid-sized items). If you are a vendor, you know what I mean - all those breakables that don't sell have to be wrapped, packed, and stored safely. (And you have to remember to actually put those crates of smalls in your trailer before you drive four hours home to realize you left one at the show...)

Selling ball jars and skeleton keys paid the rent for my mall booth. 

There was no better time than the first full week of summer for this teacher to tackle this sale. I spent a few hours one morning assessing the inventory, and afterward I thought to myself, "I really don't have that much!" Most of Wednesday was spent arranging and pricing what I wanted to sell, and I don't know who I was kidding when thinking there wasn't much.

This is one half of the garage. 

How all that fit neatly on one half of the garage is beyond me. And thinking about putting it all back away after taking it all out for the sale was overwhelming. But I am excited to say that mass amounts of these great goods are now in the hands of awesome vendors, creators, and lovers of junk all over the Austin area, so I won't have nearly as large of a task to put it away. Huge thank you to those who came out to shop the sale, and I will spotlight these great vendors, bloggers, and creators who now have a piece of Barn Chic in their inventory in a coming post. 

I tallied how many people came through the garage and it was less than 20. That sounds like it wasn't a good sale, especially considering that I have done shows with over 4,000 people through the doors...so can you believe that this sale with 18 people amounted in the greatest sales ever for Barn Chic Antiques? And zero overhead. I am one happy junker. 

After.

Have a chic week(end),

~Sarah    

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Window Shopping

Nothing like a little window shopping for inspiration...or sheer excitement when you see a few pieces in the cute window display that were purchased from your antique booth! Last spring, I wrote about literally running into several items that were bought in my booth at an adorable boutique-style store carrying cute women's clothing and accessories. The store, Altar'd State, is expanding rapidly among the southeast, and if you have ever been to one, you know why - this store has mastered the art of preserving vintage style through (new) clothing and decor.

Their window displays always get my attention, and this month's arrangement is no exception. It was when I stopped to fully admire the scene that I noticed the luggage purchased from Barn Chic Antiques last spring. I love their creative use of vintage props to stage a vignette that tells a story.

This scene says, "Road Trip!"

The first road trip on my summer agenda is to venture south about an hour to pick up a crate that I left at the Petticoats on the Prairie show. Luckily, a sweet fellow vendor was back in the Ballinger area and helped me retrieve it...so I hope to meet her soon and start getting ready for the Junk Hippy Round Top/Warrenton show on July 19. 

Where are you headed this summer? Hope you can plan a trip to Round Top on July 19! Safe travels to all those summer shows!

Have a chic week,

~Sarah