This is one of those pinch-me-because-I-can’t-believe-it’s-real-moments.
I’m part of a designer showhouse — the Chic Chateau Charity Design Showhouse, benefitting ARC of Greensboro.
I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to see my name and photo in the program and to wear a badge that says, “designer.”
The story of how I came to be a part of this amazing project begins two years ago, the last time Chic Chateau was held. My friend, Suzy, did an entire room-by-room series about Chic Chateau on her blog, Worthing Court. We both couldn’t stop raving about how pretty the rooms were, and one of us mentioned how cool it would be to be part of Chic Chateau the next time it rolled around.
And then we kinda forgot about it until this summer when Suzy ran into some designer friends and they mentioned they were working on a space in Chic Chateau this year.
This was our chance to turn a pipe dream into the real thing.
Suzy contacted the organizers of Chic Chateau and asked if they had a space we could decorate, along with our friend and fellow DIY blogger, Marty of Marty’s Musings.
Photo by Joshua Thomas Pugh of Studio 601
Initially, we didn’t think there would be a space for us to design since organizers were pretty deep in the planning process and had already assigned all the rooms in the house. But a few weeks later, the lead designer contacted Suzy and asked if we’d be interested in decorating the garage of the house.
As bloggers who are used to working our magic with limited budgets, lots of DIY and repurposing, we jumped at the chance to transform a space that most people don’t decorate in their homes.
Because if you’re like most people, your garage is so much more than just a place to park the car. For most families, garages are hardworking, multipurpose rooms where you need space for storage, work and play. And you still have to leave room to park the cars!
The theme of Chic Chateau 2014 is midcentury modern, and we were given a punchy, fun color palette that included indigo, apple green, coral and radiant orchid, the Pantone color of the year. We started pinning away and working on a moodboard that incorporated those colors, as well as finds from the midcentury era.
Believe me when I say we have all struggled with doubt, uncertainty and lots of stress about how this project would turn out. Though we collaborated on the design direction of the space, busy schedules prevented us from having a workday or shopping day together.
Marty and I hit yard sales and thrift stores to find the furnishings and accessories we used in the space. Suzy secured a generous donation from HomeGoods that allowed us to stretch our tight $400 budget and add more storage and accessories. (By the way, everything you see in the garage and everything throughout Chic Chateau is for sale; proceeds benefit ARC. So, this is shopping for a great cause!)
Though we worked on the potting bench and garden clock artwork separately, Suzy and I were thrilled with how well these two pieces worked together.
This used to be an old changing table with layers and layers of thick paint.
And Suzy’s clock was a $5 tabletop we found at the ultimate picker’s yard sale.
We’ll both be sharing our before-and-after transformations soon on our respective blogs, so stay tuned for that.
We dressed up dollar store baskets with spray paint and chalkboard tags and added them to this fabulous industrial storage piece from HomeGoods.
That great hand painted Herboriste sign was donated to us by Danielle of The Salvage Sign. (Be sure to check out her page for lots of fabulous signs; she has a booth regularly at the Raleigh flea market and can also ship signs.)
Marty found a set of old school lockers, in almost perfect condition, and we used them for storage near the entry to the house.
These would be fabulous in a mudroom, too.
And you can’t leave the play out of a garage.
I scored a heck of a deal on a vintage girl’s Schwinn bike at a yard sale.
It needs new tires, but otherwise, it’s in great shape. And it’s purple — almost a perfect match to radiant orchid.
It seems like there was so much serendipity at work on this project. These garden tools Suzy found by accident while out shopping one day included almost every color in our palette. And they were perfect for the clock.
We always knew we wanted to use outdoor spigots as the knobs on our potting bench, but I didn’t have much hope in finding them. And then I went to a junk sale and found a whole bucket of them. I only paid $1 each!
I’m really proud of the work that we did on our garage, and so very honored to have been a part of the talented Chic Chateau showhouse design team.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing photos of the full house tour, as will Suzy and Marty.
For now though, I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time in what I think is the prettiest and most organized garage I’ve ever seen!
Chic Chateau is at 2508 Duck Club Road, Greensboro. The showhouse is open weekends Sept. 19-21 and Sept. 26-28. Tickets are $15 for one day or $20 for two. For more information, visit The ARC of Greensboro.
Shauna
How did you get the brick on the bottom below the base boards?
Atta Girl Amy
Shauna, I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that question. The garage was finished by the builder, R&K Homes (http://www.randkcustomhomes.net/). I don’t think it was a veneer. If you reach out to R&K and ask them about the Chic Chateau showhouse, I’m sure they could help you. Good luck.
Shauna
Thanks for the reply. I love how the brick looks with all of your cute additions!
laura @eye candy creative studio
love what you all did with this! My fave was that massive clock & the organization bins – LOVE!
Atta Girl Amy
Thanks Laura. The clock was a big hit. I love how the entire space turned out.
Mrs Major Hoff
I’m most jealous of the lockers–they are in great shape! Also, I can’t believe those are dollar store baskets! So many great ideas!
Atta Girl Amy
You can’t imagine how thankful we were that the lockers were in such good shape. When we found them, we were not in the mood for another DIY project. And they only cost $75.
lisa at Mabey She made It
So cool, Amy! Congrats, and it looks amazing!
Lindsay @ Frenchie
Congratulations! This looks so well done and so fun!
Albion
I never would have guessed I would use “lovely” to describe a garage, but this really is!
Atta Girl Amy
Aww, you are so sweet! Thanks, friend.
Steph @ Crafting in the Rain
Looks amazing! I need to do this in my garage for sure 🙂
Atta Girl Amy
I need to do it in my garage, too! I’ll save that post for Halloween because my garage is scary!
Becky@OrganizingMadeFun
I love your garage design! It’s so cute and super organized! Right up my alley! Becky
Morena
You all did an AMAZING job! I love the way it turned out! Can you do my garage next? 😉
Atta Girl Amy
Thank you, Morena. I’ll put your garage on the list — right after I do my own.
Tracey @Let's Go Junking
Amy, I felt like I was in a dream reading this post. It is all beautiful!
Breanna
This is amazing!! And congratulation to you! 🙂
Maureen
I love everything about this! The clock. The handles on the potting bench…genius! Well done 🙂
Atta Girl Amy
Thank you so much!
Miriam@Hometalk
what a wonderful project — congrats to you all! That tabletop clock is genius, btw. Love!
Atta Girl Amy
Thanks, Miriam. I promise we’ll post all the details soon on Hometalk.
jillene@inkhappi
Oh my gosh. So many details and I love it all! I have to say I am a little obsessed with that clock and potting bench. Nice job and it looks like you all had fun working together on this!
Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage
You girls rock! This is amazing – you must all come to my house immediately and work your magic on my garage! I will provide wine!
Jane @ Cottage at the Crossroads
The garage turned out fantastic! So proud of all 3 of you, and I look forward to seeing more pics!
Atta Girl Amy
Thank you, Jane. Wish you and Leo could have seen the showhouse in person! You must visit NC sometime soon. And we’ll be sharing more photos and projects from the garage soon. Now, if I could only get my own garage to look like this!
Suzy @ Worthing Court
Yes, this was a bit tough to pull off with our time crunched schedules, but in the end it was so much fun! I think it turned out great. I loved collaborating with you and Marty on our projects.
Lisa Cooper
Looks great! Congratulations!
Marty@A Stroll Thru Life
Congratulations!!!! Such a fun project and it look fabulous.
laura@top this top that
hey rock star! congrats. you guys did good!