This summer has been filled with chairs, chairs, and more chairs, and what a whirlwind it has been!  From delivery to party to putting these beauties out there, and gaining a few sales already, I’m so grateful for this experience. Here’s the summer in review…

In June, the 150 chairs that I had manufactured overseas arrived at the port in North Carolina. I had planned to have them finished at a furniture company in North Carolina, but things changed and all 150 chairs came here to my home…on an 18 wheeler…on July 5. 

My family and I unloaded all 150 boxes and sent them off to a storage unit nearby. I kept 32 chairs in my workshop to use as my samples. The following 11 days were a blur as I spent 16-18 hours in my shop working on finishes, upholstery, and the little details. I came inside only to eat and sleep and the only other break was walking my dogs in the morning. 
Why the mad rush? I had booked my photographer, Aino, who flew down from Philadelphia for a two day shoot and the chairs needed to be ready. Her work is amazing and she did not disappoint this time either. You can follow her on Instagram @ainophotography.

Our first shoot was at Woodbine Mansion in downtown Round Rock.  We unloaded them and placed them on this brick walkway and realized, hey, this is a good look! Let’s get some shots here. 

Woodbine Mansion is a historic home from 1900 that had just recently been purchased and was undergoing renovations. When finished, it will be an event center (and I can’t wait to host a chair party there!). 

We did all our photos on the property since the inside was unavailable. We unloaded all 32 chair samples down there in the heat (don’t forget, this is Texas).  I had been in such a fog from the previous 11 days of work, that this felt like a relief. 

Besides the cute brick walkway, there’s a gazebo where we shot the chair collections. Here’s one of the three collections. After about five hours of work, we loaded the chairs back up and took them home to do individual shots. It was a long, hot, sweaty day. 


On day 2 we shot at a neighbor’s home. Her garage is this cute barn structure that makes the perfect backdrop. 


Then, we brought everything back home, and I got cleaned up for some shots in my studio. A shower makes a huge difference!

A couple of days later, I hosted the Chairs Cake Cocktails party at my home. Upon entering, friends signed a chair poster and then made their way into the first room which showed off my Vintage Farmhouse collection of chairs. 

We had a clothes line where guests filled in a card…All you need is a chair and a _______. 


In the kitchen, my husband was making three different signature cocktails. 

And, then we devoured the cakes from Paige’s Bakehouse. We had cake pops, petit fours to match my chairs, and these amazing cream cheese filled cookies. I’ve never tasted anything so wonderful.  Their attention to detail was amazing. They do ship! 🙂  You can follow her creations on Instagram @paigesbakehouse. 


In the living room, friends viewed my Classic Romantic collection of chairs, and I got to visit with all of them. I hadn’t had such a great time in a long time. In all, we had more than 90 people. I made a lot of new friends that night!

Then, friends grabbed a rose and headed outside to see the final collection and my workshop. 


Friends talked outside and also sat around inside my workshop where I had the Boho Chic collection. 

Last but not least, friends got a swag bag with a few goodies inside. I think everyone had a great time—I know I did! And I’m so grateful they came. I made so many new friends.  I’ll be doing this again for sure. 

Then, within a few days I had my first sale! My website hadn’t even launched yet…it’s being built from scratch. You’ll be the first to know when the website is live. I’m so excited for what this year is going to bring. And I’ll be blogging more regularly too. Until next week!