And even MORE February photos!!

Just couldn't resist!!! More aqua, more pink, more red, more blue, more floral, more check, more pillows, more fabric, more RED COWBOY BOOTS, more chenille (ok, so it is not pictured here, but there is lots!), more upholstered, more, more, more, more!!

And some more February photos!!

Is that little chair just the best thing you have ever seen???? Yep, even with Cindy C gone (and we do miss you girl!) there is still PINK in the shop!! That chair could easily make me re-do my bedroom (altho Mike has this thing about pink and flowers!). And pair it with that great white lamp from Coralyn with the viney trim - ooh la la! A couple of shots from Bonnie's area - she has LOTS of her great pictures in there this month - chickens, tulips, birds - speaking of birds - see the cutouts she did - and tulip cutouts too - no not the cheap kind you see every year - really cool, kind of stately tulips!! And what do you think of Rose and Barb's wall art - the staves from an old barrel slightly straightened and held together with a metal piece from some farm equipment - looks great with the plants hanging from it!! So....................are you starting to see why my list is so long? I'll take even more photos this weekend.

February Snippets

The shop is getting ready for you guys to come on over next week. I think the theme for this months sale is COLOR COLOR COLOR. OMG - my list of wants is very, very long. Now there is always something I want at every sale - but these are the I can't live without, I will skip groceries to afford them all, down on my knees, pleeeaaaassssee gotta take them home kind of wants!!! The color in the photo isn't so great - but that red and white check behind that awesome print is the CUTEST little love seat you have ever seen! And there are 2 of the most awesomest white and black print (kind of an updated paisley?) upholstered chairs (my photo didn't turn out) that I KNOW I could make work with it - kind of country, kind of rock and roll!! The bottom photo is one of Rose's awesome "art" pieces with a myriad of junk - sooo cool and you can only see half of it here! Susan has a few pieces in that incredible aqua blue/green family and the cutest chair ever with a very funky dog print upholstery on it. And we have 3, count em 3 guest dealers this month - each with a very different look. We have Rhonda and Terri from Crooked Willow up near Osakis - fun gals with even funner stuff - they had me stopped dead in my tracks with my list. We have Claire, who also sells at Buffalo Nickel, with her chippy paint/slightly industrial look - yep, another list in her area. And last, but not least, we have Marla from St. Cloud - she has the black and white chairs - along with a bunch of other things in kind of a slightly twisted traditional look - the kind of stuff that could fit in anyone's home. And of course all the rest of us with tons of fun and COLORFUL stuff - gosh when I was in there today I totally forgot that it was only 9 degrees outside!!

Before and After

The dental cabinet Mike picked up in Wisconsin - before and after with a funky paint job and lots of cleaning and repair! She turned out kinda cool didn't she?? She'll be in our area for the February sale!

February Sale Preview

I haven't been in to the shop since December - been doing my work at home. But, I hear that some of the gang has been stirring and things are starting to show up. Will be a VERY BUSY week in the shop this week with the February sale coming the week after this. Rose took some photos on her cell phone and sent to me. Just bits and pieces as NOBODY is actually set up yet (well, except for Barb cuz she is always done about 2 days after the previous sale!!) Enjoy!! We'll keep adding as stuff keeps coming in the door. Note the hoops from an old barrel become contemporary art - as do floor tiles painted geometrically. Bonnie has already brought some of her paintings in - chickens and tulips - can't wait to see them!!

Why Our Prices Are Firm (or why do we do the things we do?)

Saturday morning 7:30am - I have been up for 2 hours cuz Mike had to be up at 5:00 to get out and scrape the 2 inches of ice off the van to meet up with a buddy to head down to Zumbrota for an auction. Keep in mind that we live in St. Cloud and we are in the midst of a snow/rain/ice storm and you can skate from our back door to the driveway and from there right out into the street. We have been wanting to go to this auction cuz there looked like LOTS of goodies that we could work on for the February sale. I backed out cuz of the snow/rain/ice storm and the buddy that was going to go with us backed out (due to the fact that he liked living) after driving home last nite from Cannon Falls to Monticello in the snow/rain/ice storm. So Mike found another buddy to go with him - and off they went. He called me a little while ago and said he had met up with Ted and the roads were just fine (of course this was 45 minutes longer than the trip to their meeting place should have taken - even with Mikes driving) and that I shouldn't worry and that they would be just fine. Uh huh, okay, yep. So to get these goodies will cost us a day of time, a full tank of gas, risking life and limb, blood sweat and tears(mine), the time it will take to fix/repair/mend/paint/tighten the goodies he comes home with (Providing they go cheap enough that we can afford them) and the 2 packs of cigarettes, 24 cans of Diet Coke, 3 pounds of chocolate and 10 fingernails that I will go thru today worrying that they will get there and home again on those "just fine" roads. So if I add that all up - if he buys a table for $10.00 I should sell it for $482.00. Hmmmmmmm...................

In all seriousness - we do often go way out of our way to find our treasures, spend days and full tanks of gas and lots of wear and tear on our vehicles, deal with broken fingernails, slivers, scratches, bumps and bruises - and then still have to repair, refinish, reupholster, repaint, re-glue or in some cases pretty much take the item apart and start all over to make it ready to move right into your homes. We try to cover our costs of purchase, repairs, paint, and the portion we have to give to the shop and still have a little bit of profit margin for ourselves (I mean we LOVE what we do - but we have to get a little something out of it!). It is RARE that the cost of our TIME gets built into the items we sell. The goal at SECOND HAND ROSE has always been to have exceptional items, exceptional quality and the best prices - and we work hard to meet all three of those goals on each and every item. So when we say "sorry, no I can't do any better on that" - please don't take it personally. We really mean that we are giving you the best deal that we can. You will see that sometimes pieces get marked down - especially on Sunday!

Well, off to NOT WORRY now for the rest of the day. Does 3 cigarettes, 3 hunks of chocolate, a Diet Coke and a handful of cookies sound like "the breakfast of champions"?? I can probably throw an orange in there to balance it out.

February Sale Is Beginning to Take Shape

We have had lots of time off to sleep and read and sled and SHOVEL and SHOVEL and FREEZE and some of us actually took vacations!! But now we are all running around with hammers and drills

and paint brushes working on our favorite kind of stuff - JUNK!! Just had to show you a couple of treasures Mike picked up this week - the Dental cabinet is first. It has lots of drawers in various sizes and needs TONS of work - but it will be absolutely awesome when we are done!! Next is a Clipper #2B Fanning Mill! We always get excited when we are lucky enough to find one of these. We always get one coffee table made from them (see the finished photo - which by the way is not the best photo but I can't seem to find all of my really good photos). Anyway - our fanning mill coffee tables are always a hit - and then there is all of the rest of the fun stuff that we get to make, design, and build from all of the other cool parts. Not much goes to waste!! I also picked up an AWESOME white 60's table and some great mid-century modern pieces. Can't wait to put them all together. Think I can make rusty, country, mid-century modern, urban chic and traditional all work in one area??????????? Hmmmm, will be a challenge indeed!!