oh, how far we've come

I started this blog over 2 years ago. My initial hope was that it would be a creative outlet, give me a place to seek out amazing finds and showcase all the lovely things out there. My secondary hope was I could use my knowledge, learn a thing or two along the way & open up a retail shop....well November 30th, the shop opened! My blog has been quite neglected but my head is filled with so much to share, so I will be posting more in the weeks to come. 

First though, here is the beginning of our (my Mom, Paulette & I) shop. Stumble & Relish, located in Evanston, Illinois (1310 A Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL 60201).

We fell in love with the space that was formerly known as Folk Works Gallery. The previous owners were there for over 12 years so we are hoping to continue their success. The space was cute & quaint and after looking at MANY locations we kept coming back to this one. Plus, there are so many great local shops in the neighborhood! We picked up some great estate sale finds. Thanks to my friend, Amber, this brown metal tool chest is now something we could not live without!

We had SO much help along the way, painting was a huge undertaking and we couldn't have done it without all of our friends & family. Yes, I made them paint the ceiling dark teal blue & it was well worth it but quite a task!

 

Look at the end product! Wow, how far we've come in 7 weeks! We worked to decorate inexpensively but we wanted there to be some character to our pieces- we have a display cabinet that is probably from the 20's mixed with an IKEA rug and back-dropped by our bold paint & simple stencil. Needless to say we like to mix it up & in the end we made it work. The shop will always be a work in progress, the product we sell will be the stars & we will do the best to tell the stories of each piece we find.

Stop by & stumble on something lovely today...