“Mother Knows Best” Needs You!!

Two weekends ago (it actually seems like eons ago, with all the events of the past week!), I participated in a team Guerilla Staging Competition at Mill 77 Trading Company in Amesbury. What a blast!

I was part of the team “Mother Knows Best“, two moms and daughters who love vintage style and decorating, fun competition and winning $$! Just to refresh, we blindly chose a category, then had 40 minutes to transform an empty room from four blank walls with lots of nails and a couple of white columns and hanging ladders into a gorgeous camera-ready vignette. Choosing “Clothing and Accessories” out of a hat, we raced through the store, collecting draperies (our apologies to the owner of that booth) and wrought iron gates, vintage clothing and jewelry, dressers and chairs to create a vintage vignette worthy of any Parisian Boudoir. This is the before:

Here is the after:

Here’s the how-to: we suspended the toile drapes from the two columns, creating a focal wall. In front of that we wheeled in the vintage painted dresser, and used the tall wrought iron gate as a clothing rack. The dresser is laden with crystal and jewels, which, unfortunately you cannot see clearly here. On padded hangers we draped satin dresses and slips, scarves and a fox wrap. Sparkling shoes and boots were tucked under the dresser and antique frames served as jewelry hangers. The chic wool coat with mink trim and the chiffon scarf were on an antique dress form. We added the vintage needlepoint rug featuring many of the room’s muted colors and an antique blue ceramic heater. Finally, we created a small seating area with the painted table and chairs and dressed that with crystal and lace.  And then I Instagrammed it to give it a true vintage feel (well, minus the lime green price tags which we couldn’t remove)

So now comes the part where you can help! We have one more week to collect enough votes, either on Mill 77’s Website or YouTube links, where you can actually see us in action! The team’s room with the most votes wins $500, the runners-up win gift certificates to Mill 77. Great prizes, plus it was actually a fund-raiser for Our Neighbor’s Table in Amesbury- a win, win all around! So now all we need is your vote! If, after viewing our before and after (and remember, we only had 40 minutes!!) you think our Parisian Boudoir is worthy of your vote, please click here by filling in the info requested, along with our team name: Mother Knows Best or here to “Like” our video. If not, c’est la vie, there’s always next year. Here’s hoping for a great week, and lots of votes!! Stay Strong, everyone. Susan