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Old Lake George: Do I Have A Story For You

Old Lake George: Do I Have A Story For You

The last time we spoke was way back in May.  I posted about being busy and never said anything more, not one little word from Old Lake George. I’m sorry if you felt abandoned 😉 But I am back and do I have a story for you!

One of my dreams is to own my own little shop. A cute boutique that had something for everyone. Pillows, rugs, furniture, paintings and sit arounds.

When I was little, I remember cleaning everything out my closet. Clothes, shoes, books, dolls, coloring books, everything. Although, now that I look back maybe “clean out” isn’t the correct wording. I actually tossed everything from the closet onto the floor of my bedroom. Basically I “cleared out” my closet.

There wasn’t much to clear out. It wasn’t that big of a closet, probably four square feet with four shelves on the back wall, one which was out of reach.

The purpose of my clearing was, of course, to put everything back in, but in its proper spot. I liked to pretend I was setting up a shop.

I remember plugging in a small lamp which I placed on the lowest shelf to make the shop look cozy. Beside the lamp always went my “cash register”. You know, an old receipt book with a number 2 pencil, the metal pokey for receipts and some loose change.

That first shelf was all business!

The remaining two shelves were set up with items to be displayed for sale.

On the first, neatly stacked, size 5T t-shirts and pants, maybe a pair of off-season shoes and socks.

Then the home décor shelf.

I had no idea that décor was a word when I was five, but this is the shelf that displayed a decorative pillow, some of the crocheted doilies that my grandmother had made, a set of napkins borrowed from my mom’s hutch and various sit arounds like a small tea set, a bottle with a penny in it that I got on a summer vacation to the Badlands in South Dakota, and books creatively stacked to fill in the space.

I spent hours and hours in that closet.

When the shop was finally ready, I would run downstairs and tell my family that I was open for business!

One by one they would come to my small bedroom closet and shop. My sisters never bought anything, just grabbed what I may have collected from their room and took it back.

My Mom always bought her napkins back. They were expensive. 4 cents for a set of four and I of course had to make change from a nickel. My Dad usually bought a book and I would have to use paper and pencil to figure out the change from a dime.

The Closet Boutique’s Grand Openings were always a hit!

Now let’s fast forward several years.

You may have noticed several changes on my website.

New logos, new banners, and a new about page. Newness everywhere! And the best part is, I have expanded my Etsy shop to now include an Etsy wholesale shop! My dreams of owning my own shop are finally coming true. It may not be the storefront I imagined when I was little, it’s the adult version of my Closet Boutique.

Old Lake George looks sharper, more defined and oh so French Farmhouse.

In the weeks and months to come, I will be posting about how these changes all came together. Let me tell you, it took a lot more than clearing out the closet.

There will still be occasional DIY projects and, of course, updates on changes in my house. Plus, we are down to the final days of preparation for our daughter’s wedding.

Believe me, when I say that that blog post will be amazing. (Amazing defined as emotion filled.)

But the direction this blog will be taking will be more interactive. I want your opinion about things and your thoughts on certain décor topics.

I hope you stop by often and tell a friend if you like what you see.

Welcome back and thanks for coming,
Wendy

Decorating The Bedroom By Shopping My House and Shop

Decorating The Bedroom By Shopping My House and Shop

Have you ever wanted to redecorate a room in your house but didn’t want to spend a lot of money? I did just that this week. The bedroom was decorated under $100 by shopping my house and the Old Lake George shop.

The starting point for the room was the bed. I have had a down comforter, bedskirt and shams sitting at the dry cleaners after purchasing them from an estate sale.  The 3 items were only $60, for a king size set.

I picked up the comforter set this week and as I was lying in bed that night redecorating the room, please tell me that that is how you fall asleep also, 🙂 , I remembered that I had the perfect curtain fabric.

Last winter when I visited my parents in Texas, one of my Mom’s quilter friends was in the process of downsizing her fabrics.

She had yards upon yards of two particular fabrics that she had intended to make a quilt from, but she changed her mind. My Mom acquired the fabric and used a little bit of it to back a quilt she was making but there was still a lot of fabric left.

I mean, a lot of leftover fabric.

Here are those fabrics all together on top of the comforter and some added sparkle for affect.

Everything is very neutral and goldish. They are tricky to photograph but you’ll get the picture.

No, literally I will show you pictures in a sec.

First lets look at the previous curtains.

Total side story: When I was sewing the curtains, I called my Dad about something. The conversation got around to him asking me what I was doing that day. I shared with him that I was making new curtains.

New curtains? Didn’t you just make curtains? was his response.

Yes Wade, Dad I did. But…never mind. 🙂

Where was I going with this? Oh, right.

After completing and hanging the NEW CURTAINS, (eye roll), I moved the pillows that I showed you yesterday on the loveseat to the bed. I thought they looked even better on the bed.

From the last time I shared these pictures, so many of you were interested in the pillows.

Here is the way to order them for your home.

Metallic silver floral, Striped button pillow, Floral pillow, Buffalo check neck pillow

And now some before and after photos:

The curtains…..

And one more close up….

Simple easy changes.

Wendy

 

PS if you are interested in the Orb Chandelier Swag lights, you can find them here.

 

Sidenote Saturday: Free Shipping

Sidenote Saturday: Free Shipping

Ready for this? Hold on tight……it’s gonna be grainy.

This picture is over 25 years old. 25 years ago last August, Wade and I exchanged wedding vows.

We wanted to do something BIG to celebrate this day so we booked a trip to Hawaii! We are both so excited!!!(exclamation marks for everyone!)

Minnesota to Hawaii in February. This 2nd honeymoon trip might be better than the first one. 🙂

So in the name of celebrating big, I wanted to do something big for all of you also.

So…..today there is FREE SHIPPING on all items in the Old Lake George Shop!

Get shopping here while I practice my luau skills.

Wendy

 

 

 

Quick Little Projects

Quick Little Projects

Earlier in the week our local meteorologists forecasted a cold week. Then on Wednesday, they changed their tune. What was originally a forecast of cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper teens, changed to sunny skies and mid 40’s!

What? Something was said about El Nino and jet streams. Don’t care why it changed, just happy it did!

I took total advantage of the 30 degree difference and went to work in the garage. Over the winter months, there is very little time spent in the garage doing any long projects. If anything, I grab whatever tools I need and bring them into the house to work on things.

Case in point: Wade adding the hooks onto the metal level….in the livingroom…..on the floor…..on the carpet.

I am not the best at putting everything back where it belongs. It’s cold out there so I just toss everything on the work bench. That has made a big unorganized mess at Wade’s work bench area. So I buckled down and put levels back on the wall, screwdrivers back in their holders, drills went where drills should go and on and on. It really didn’t take that long. I briefly thought about tracing the shapes of the tools onto the peg board.

Briefly thought about it. We still have a lot of cold days and projects ahead of us. 🙂

Standing back and admiring my handiwork, I realized how much I still loved the black door that goes into the house. Previously it was white. A dirty, creamy white.

I had used a canyon black Rust-oleum American Accents brand paint. In addition the handle was taped with green frog tape to make it easier to paint around. The coverage was excellent which made for another quick project.

Here is the after and after. I forgot to take a picture of the before so just imagine the door as white orginally.

I still love it. You can never go wrong with a crisp black and white.

Sometimes its the little projects that make all the difference.

See you tomorrow,

Wendy

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Old Lake George’s New Products

Old Lake George’s New Products

Recently we cashed our reward check from Costco. You know that cash back you earn throughout the year from your purchases. It shouldn’t come as a surprise how quickly a 1-3% stacks up considering I never check out from Costco with a bill under $100. Tell me I am not alone on this.
Yes, I take a list. Yes, I only go down the isles that have those items. And Yes, I eat before shopping.

But than Costco puts these front and center as you walk in the door.

 

What can I do when they jump into my cart not even giving me a chance to justify to them that I didn’t NEED them and that they weren’t on the list.

Don’t they look amazing? Blooming tulips in February, in Minnesota. Be still my heart.

So just as Costco has a way of presenting me with cool things that I didn’t even realize I needed, I would like to take a minute and show you the new Old Lake George products!

The day we shot all of these new products created for Old Lake George’s Shop was a great day.

The reason? The day was spent with Spencer.

As I’ve said before, we usually spend the first hour or so catching up on our personal lives. The next hour we review what has happened on the business end of our companies, the third hour we set up and style photos. Typically after that we have some type of training, goal setting and homework for the coming month. Spencer is always teaching me something. Bless his patient heart.

In between all of that, there are always tons of laughs, questions, comments, concerns, patting ourselves on the back and finally bringing each other back to reality and getting to work.  🙂

This first vase comes from an estate sale. I shared its story here.

The second vase was also purchased from an estate sale. I consider this vase a rescue vase. The estate it came from was overflowing with high end home decor. But this elegant white honeycomb patterned vase got lost in the shuffle. So I rescued it and took it home. I hope it can now find a forever home.

Another vintage wood level rack came into my life last weekend. It was part of this weekend. The level received a good cleaning, a massage of hemp oil to rejuvenate the wood, and two rustic iron nails to complete the vision.

And now for the icing on the cake. These tallmedium and small candlestick pillars and their origin.

Thanks for looking through my front door of the shop with me.

See you on Friday,

Wendy

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