Playdate part 1: Tin Barn Market

I’ve been away from Tin Barn for a bit now… it’s a strange thing really how attached you can get to something that isn’t yours. 😉 Let me back up here, for those of you that follow along on my blog you know exactly who and what Tin Barn is, for you first timers you can catch up on our history, here and here.

In short, Tin Barn Market is a shop in the historic and adorable town of Almonte, Ontario. This shop is full of inspiration, personality and so much eye-candy it takes a few swoops of the store to be able to — firstly calm down —  then to see all of the treasures this space has to offer, vintage goodies, shabby chic furniture finds, precious antiques and loads of inspiration. The sights are phenomenal yes, but to add to that they are located right beside Baker Bob’s, not only are the sights drool worthy but the smells of baking goodness, almost too much for the senses (in a fantastically good way) to handle!  Trying to set the stage for you here, imagine walking into a place where something like this greets you…

And the smell of deliciously beautiful baked goods makes your head swirl! I KNOW, right!!! Okay, I admit I may be their number one fan, but I do not and am not exaggerating. I wish I could attach a scratch and sniff link of some kind here.

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This post is the beginning in a series depicting my three days there… firstly, some teaser pinable images for your viewing pleasure . 😉

Secondly, my goal is to make you fall for this shop, like I have! To tell you the whole story of my adventures combined with some tips and tricks. How DO you create a vignette? Well I’ll tell you how I go about it… pinky swear!

I was asked to come and style or “vignette” in the store. The concept was to take a couple of furniture pieces and style them. When I got there, Errin was the only one in the store, Vicki is on a dream mega adventure, you can see her WANDERLUST series here. Errin said, “I give you carte blanche”, I think at that point I just glazed over… I began right away “vignetting” the WHOLE entire store. I was like a possessed person, I couldn’t stop myself! I kept asking Errin if what I was doing was okay, it was like I was in a very surreal wonderful experience, a dream world. This is what I knew, I knew that this is exactly what I loved to do, I was literately in heaven and could not believe I was actually living such a fantasy! Errin just smiled, like she recognized the trance I was in. Or maybe that smile was terror? :p I truly believe I was meant to meet these two amazing and inspirational and I’ll also throw in fearless women! They, without realizing it, are really showing this designer that there are so many opportunities out there, you just have to believe…

They have shown me that following a dream is not crazy… what started as a mutual admiration has turned into a collaboration and friendship, I am grateful.

Okay, so are you ready for some eye-candy? I took all of these awesome photos with my phone, teasers for my Instagram… you really should follow along, you don’t want to miss anything. 😉 Enjoy the show…

This stunning pop of yellow flowers against the rusty sap bucket is one of my favourite things to do when I, “vignette”… contrast, contrast and contrast some more. Draw that eye in and, bam a perfect vignette! These gorgeous flowers were provided by Erica, you can find her unique and chic floral boutique on Facebook here and don’t forget to check out her website here.

I have a soft spot for handsome soldiers (I am married to one after all)… this soldier happens to be, Errin’s Grandfather. Use the items you love, make that unique to you story…

I love this little vignette, I also love using unexpected things to hold photos & little bits of greenery. This typewriter may or may not be used as intended, but why not create that conversation piece?

Ahhh, collections. I have one or two, okay confession time — it depends on who you ask, I may have more than one or two! 😉 This stunning type drawer with all of its compartments, swoon! The vintage watchmaker vials, double swoon… wouldn’t these look AMAZING hung at different heights with jute, such a lovely sun catcher or a beautiful unique chime?

Books must be the easiest way to add interest to a vignette… have you thought of turning the books so you see the pages instead of the spine of the book? Some  books have that amazing patina from age, so interesting! Tied with jute add a ball of moss (texture) and an antler (height) you have a grouping that people will notice!  Speaking of groupings… you might have heard that groupings of 3’s are one of the, “rules” to create a vignette… it’s a guide for sure, but any odd numbered groupings work!

Lighting – beautiful, interesting, industrial, vintage, sooooo many wonderful ways to add to that vignette and make it shine, literally!

Another little trick I like to use, change the height, use crates, books, blocks of wood a small bench, you name it just give your vignette a staggered look.

Are the innards of these antique clocks not the most interesting thing EVER? Yep, you may have guessed it, I had to use GREAT restraint while I was playing in this shop… I wanted to buy everything!  These guys were hidden and separated! I immediately uncovered them and grouped them for impact!  They are so stunning, I decided to make them a focal point!

I love this little vintage juicer, not an item most of us would use every day… but I’d love to see it every day. This juicer is made a bit more interesting by making curlicues out of pages from an old book… here you have contrast and texture.

Here is yet another way I love to display books… use a leather belt, that’s how kids used to carry their books to school, back in the day. Again, contrast — smooth texture of leather against the weave of the books, not to mention the colour contrast, dark on light.

Did you like the sneak peek? I’ve also given up a few, “tricks” I use when I am “vignetting”… but there is more, oh so much more! Stay tuned…