I am still working with the girls to get Rough Luxe Marketplace ready for the SALE this Friday & Saturday (10-5pm) but it’s getting closer….lil’ peak for you guys…..also check out FB page for new pics as they get added!

]]> http://www.stylishpatina.com/2013/06/sneak-peek-2.html/feed 0 http://www.stylishpatina.com/2013/06/sneak-peek-2.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stylishpatina/xYtk/~3/zgXZxPvXyPo/vintage-rental-2.html http://www.stylishpatina.com/2013/06/vintage-rental-2.html#comments Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:09:48 +0000 Kelly @ Stylish Patina http://www.stylishpatina.com/?p=7079 continue reading]]>

We did our largest Stylish Patina Vintage Rental event last night with five large seating areas for the Scout Guide Launch event at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria.  We had tons of fun setting it and then actually seeing people sit in the vignettes!

I have been in the middle of selecting a new software for the vintage rental business so that folks can actually view the inventory online.  I made the final decision on software today and we are now in execution stage (my favorite!).  Hopefully by next week we will have the new online inventory system up and running!

We met some great new folks last night, the ladies from Events in the City, Chris from Evergreen Floral, and Aaron at Podolosky Group to name a few.

Check out the new Stylish Patina Vintage Rental Facebook page and “like” us to follow along on our latest business venture!

I just got a bunch more “manly” gift items in the shop so be sure to swing by for your last minute Father’s Day gifts!  A few of the items we have ….

- Golf Ball Markers

- Dock kits

- Shirt dry cleaning bags

- Great books – Dad’s Play Book, Things every husband should know, Things every Father should know, Beer makes dad strong…..to name a few

- Funny flasks with saying on them

- Bottle openers in the shape of wrenches

…and many many more items….we are happy to wrap them in a nice bag for you too! Come and see us!

I’ve been a bit slack on the blog posts because we have been super busy!  We have been getting warehouse in Falls Church ready for the Rough Luxe event next Friday & Saturday (Gatsby theme) and We have our 1st big Vintage Rental install project.

Today we are delivering 4 large vignettes – sofa 2 chairs and a coffee table (plus fluff) – to the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria for the launch of the Scout Guide Northern Virginia.  It’s going to be a fabulous event and we are really excited to be involved but boy oh boy it’s been a busy week.

I promise pictures to come later……wish me luck!

Running a small business can be challenging and one of the biggest challenges and most important parts is finding great people to work for (and with) your everyday.  The only way to grow a business is to delegate responsibility to folks so you can keep moving forward.

After 15 years of running other peoples businesses and giving consulting advice to business owners on how to grow and scale their businesses I often take a step back and take a hard look at myself.  It’s hard to give up control but I know it has to happen so I can implement all the other aspects of the business I have in my head.

I feel so lucky to have first of all my mom who up until a year ago was my right hand woman.  Then I was lucky enough to find Laura through her sister who reads the blog and then recently we added Heather.  Heather was also a referral from a long time family friend.

They both are now working full time with me and not only do we all enjoy each other they are hard workers and I am so appreciative.  They don’t complain when we have to haul furniture all day, paint or clean up the warehouse.  They are the BEST partners in crime I could ask for.  Thanks girls!

Here is a picture of them at the warehouse I know they will kill me for posting it

Our walkway at the house is FINALLY done!  I wanted to share a few pictures of our front walkway that is finally completed.  We have tons to of additional projects for the front of the house but the walkway being done and new front door makes a major difference.

Below are a few other “before” pictures I thought you might get a kick out off…make a house a home is a work in progress on a budget.

Sometimes I forget how transformational a coat of paint is until I look at my before & after pictures.  I was going through a bunch of pictures for an article the Northern Virginia Magazine website and was once  again struck by how amazing Chalk Paint® can be.

One new employee Heather may have figured out a way to make the wax application process even easier….we will share this on a youtube video coming soon.  Now with the warehouse we have more room to spread out do some new classes and create a few video tutorials!

Below is a before and after done in Paris Gray, clear wax and kings gold gilding wax.

I just loaded in a few new dressers for this weekend I wanted to show you all and a couple super fun Father’s Day gifts!   Excuse the pictures they might be the worst iphone pics ever.

I’m getting in lots of other really cool new gifts for Father’s day so more to come…..

The girls and I have been working hard getting our new rough luxe market ready for the 1st monthly warehouse sale.  It’s amazing how quickly 2500 sq ft gets eaten up by furniture!  Our first sale will be June 21 & 22, 10-5pm each day and each month we will feature a local charity.  More updates on who that will be shortly!

The warehouse will also be home to our vintage rental business and I am very excited to be setting up an online system so photographers, brides and event planners can go online look at the inventory easily.  Stay tuned as this evolves over the next month.

I wanted to share a few sneak peeks…it’s far from done..some items will be painted but not everything I want to offer a mix of “raw” and finished furnishings.

Here are a few before and in process pictures. Put the date on your calendar we are just in Falls Church!

Today is a difficult day for some friends of ours.  This post is all about beautiful and happy things.  Cherish your family and friends life is sometimes much shorter than we expect.

Hug your children and loved ones.  Take just a few moments out of the busy day to be grateful.

Just a few photographs to make you smile.

This past week has been crazy busy coming off of vacation and trying to catch up with the shop, the new rough luxe market, vintage rental and my design clients.  I have 2 large design projects going on and a few other smaller ones.

The one client just bought a home in N.W. D.C. and it has been an amazing adventure.  They are currently living in Pakistan….yes I said Pakistan. They are Foreign Service and just bought this home.  They wanted it ready to move into when they returned to the states this summer.  It’s my job to get it ready with the contractors.

So needless to say the time difference is a bit of a challenge let alone everything is virtual!    We are gutting 4 bathrooms, painting the entire home, and replacing counters and backsplash in the kitchen.  This is a designers dream job.  I have loved and obsessed every minute of it.  In some ways it’s terrifying since they have never seen the house but in other ways it such an amazing unique experience!

The style will be a tuscan / coastal feel.  We are using soft and soothing colors, marble and travertine tiles.  I can’t wait to start construction this week so it will start falling into place.  Stay tuned for more pictures!  I’ll tell you about my Vienna client later this week.

We have tons of fun new things going on at Stylish Patina with the addition of the new rough luxe monthly market event and launching vintage rental.

This exciting hands on paint class is for beginners as well as advanced students looking to play with a few new products!  We will experiment with MMS Milk Paint, Pearl of Plaster, stencils and gilding wax.  Hope to see you at our new rough luxe warehouse for our 1st paint class in the new location.