Shop Talk with The Green Door and Plus Encore

I wanted to do a regular series on my blog, something unique that hasn't been done before. I came up with an idea to feature small shops, that are located throughout the country. So, every Friday you can stop by and check out a new shop, and at the same time meet the owner. Some weeks, I will also be sharing some wonderful vendors that set up at vintage style shows. I am hoping that this series will introduce you to some shops and shows, that you might not already know about, and better yet, they might be in driving distance for you, wouldn't that be nice? This week it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Donna from the blog Distressed Donna Down Home. Donna has two booths located inside an antique shop. One booth is called THE GREEN DOOR and the other is PLUS ENCORE. I really like how she has a different theme at each booth. After you finish shopping, you can click here to visit Donna's blog. Click here, to find Donna on facebook.

Hi, Shop Talk readers.  I am Donna from Distressed Donna Down Home.  I am so excited to be here today thanks to the invite from Linda.

In 1998, serious family matters forced me into an early teacher retirement.  I began to gather small groups of vintage items  to sell at a weekly market.

The owner encouraged me to find a store renting booths to dealers.

I followed her advice and opened my first booth in the fall of 1998.  I have been selling at one mall or another for all those years. 

I currently have two booths at Riverfront Antique Mall in North Augusta, SC.  I have been there since 2004.

The booths are officially known as B-5 and B-6.  The large booth is The Green Door for the door I have had in every booth since the beginning.  The other booth is called Plus Encore (even more).  Informally they are called Donna's crazy stuff. 

The Green Door has primitives, books, architectural items, rusty stuff, and eccentric oddities.

These are not pretty, neat booths.

My customers want to scramble through the piles.


Items are displayed with an eclectic flair with suggestions of how they might be used.

Items are grouped by color or shape.

I do hide treasures in each booth.

A piece or two marked below value.

I try to find multiples to display.  This month it has been ladders of all sorts, crib springs, and old books.

Our booths are constructed like rooms of chicken wire and pegboard.

I once bought sixty canes to hang around the top of the booth.

The remainder hang from the rusty frame of bed springs.

Rusty tin roofing tiles stacked in a vintage metal shopping cart.

Doors, windows, shutters, gates, pieces of fencing - all find new homes from The Green Door.

Another purchase several years ago netted a whole truckload of buttons.  I package them in freezer containers.  I started with leftover jars, but quickly ran out.

SSSH!  Do not tell my customers these are the last of the buttons.

Yikes!

Another big seller -  my vintage books.

I want to think they will be read and treasured.

Yes, I know they are more likely to be used for decor projects.


Let's move next door to the smaller booth which is my cottage-y, French-y, girl-y booth.

In fact I have customers who are surprised to find out both booths belong to one person!

Can you say split personality?

Pastels abound here.

Torn cotton ribbons tie bundles of white linens and laces.

Items are chosen for the color and style.

Tarnished silver finds  in distressed pink crates.

Baskets of torn ribbons wrapped around stacks of vintage postcards.

Tattered tags are stuffed into tea cups.

Millinery flowers and French seam binding are used generously.

And remember, everything looks beautiful with a pearl corsage pin.

A current display of china, pottery, linens, and other items.

Again stacks of similar colors paired with things not normally seen together.

Informal tablecloths with formal china.

Yes, I keep my bottle brush trees out all year.

A fake French fifties plaque overlooks the basket of rolled ticking material.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  If you are ever nearby, stop in to browse.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you knew there had to be body parts somewhere.

Thanks again, Linda, for letting me be a part of Shop Talk.  What a great idea!

See y'all!

Linking up here...
Show and Tell Friday
Feathered Nest Friday