we're streamlining!

Finders Keepers Consignment Inc now has four stores! So, instead of starting yet another blog, we decided to streamline and have... drumroll please... one blog! So check out the new home for all things Finders Keepers: http://www.consignatlanta.blogspot.com/.

Sweet words we want to share!

A customer wrote us about her experience at our free workshop "Double Trouble," hosted by Finders Keepers Furnishings:


Betsy, I just wanted to let you and Linda know how much I enjoyed the workshop. High time the two of you did one!!! So many great ideas and all very budget minded; you couldn't have done it better unless you did it longer. I called a friend and read her my list; she was just floored and I think will use some of your ideas. I know I will! Please know that ALL the workshops are well done and greatly appreciated in these times when money is tight. Imagination and trial & error are our best weapons. Maybe you and Linda will do a yearly workshop along with your other people that help with our gardens, organization, decorating and keeping our sanity. Decatur is truly lucky to have a wonderful resource in all the Finders Keepers shops. Thanks so much!
~ L. Huffman
 
Thank YOU Ms. Huffman! You made our day :)

Free Workshop this Saturday! Survive the Holidaze...

Holidays are often a time of joy, family, and laughter... and chaos, panic, and pandemonium. And that's when holidays turn into holidaze - and makes you feel like you deserve a congratulatory t-shirt commemorating the fact that you made it through with your sanity intact. Is there a way to make the race to the end of the year go more smoothly? Well, this Saturday, you get a chance to learn how to tie a proverbial bow on your practically painless holiday planning. Finders Keepers Furnishings' free workshop series brings you:Surviving the Holidaze with Jonda Beattie: professional organizer, author, presenter, and owner/operator of Time Space Organization. This workshop will begin at 9:30 am this Saturday, October 8th. Learn more about Jonda on her website: http://www.timespaceorg.com/.

A personal note from Saturday's presenter, Jonda Beattie: Is it possible anymore for your holidays to feel peaceful and stress free. To capture that Norman Rockwell feeling? The vision of the perfect holiday fades and becomes dimmer as we get caught up in the turmoil of overlapping preparations. The holidays become a time of long "to do" lists, over commitment, overbuying, overeating, and sleep deprivation. Let's look at how to make your vision of a wonderful holiday come true by prioritizing, using your calendar, and organizing holiday zones in your home.

Free Workshop! Make your decor work double duty!

Decorating in a consignment store can take a heap of creativity, which adds even more sparkle to the wow factor of Finders Keepers Furnishings. Items in the store often serve double decorative duty. Betsy and Linda - our own Dynamic Duo - has spent the past six years honing their "wow factor" skills How can a wine rack can extend the space in a small bathroom? How do wine glasses make a spectacular centerpiece? There are so many ways to use many items in your house! Learn more at this Saturday's workshop! This workshop will begin at 9:30am Saturday, October 1st. Seating is based on first come, first serve.

Double Trouble! Come pick the very creative and inventive minds of Betsy and Linda this Saturday. Call for details: 404-377-1944

Workshop: Color Splash with Carrie Fowler!

Saturday, September 17th @ Finders Keepers Furnishings: Free Workshop - Color Splash! Want to know the fastest and cheapest way to add life to your room? PAINT! Registered Interior Designer Carrie Fowler, of Carrie Fowler Interior Design will be offering a color workshop to help you add life to your rooms. Carrie will discuss paint color trends, textured wall treatments, wall coverings and how to punctuate you room with colorful accessories. Please bring pictures and fabrics swatches, Carrie will have pint decks on hand to help you individually pick a color! This is great opportunity to have an Interior Designer pick the right color for your home!

Workshop: GiGi Miller - your nest might have gotten quiet, but it's definitely not empty!

We had about 8 for the workshop and GiGi was nice enough to stay after for awhile and help our workshop attendees shop and put ideas into action.She spoke about changing up lamps with new lampshades, changing drawer pulls on dresser for a facelift, switch up area rugs for a new look, update picture frames or refinish them for a new look.

Free Workshops are back this month!

With the new school year upon us, the first 3 workshops will focus on getting your college bound kids in to their dorm rooms and reclaiming your nest once they've spread their wings! Tomorrow, Diane Quintana will give you the scoop on making that big college move easy through preparation and organization that you can do at home before you hit the road. She'll also give you tips on setting up your student's room in a way that will help set them up for success in this new chapter of their lives.

Our workshops begin at 9:30am and will last about an hour. Seating is first come, first serve. Call for details: 404-377-1944.

August Worshop Line-up!

Our free workshop series is back this month! Check out a basic schedule below:

Sat. Aug.6 - Diane Quintana: "back to school" organizing
Sat. Aug. 13 - GiGi Miller: "declutter after they leave"
Sat. Aug. 20 - Suellen Germani: Life coach
Sat. Aug. 27 - Kenneth Rice: re-upholstering

Workshops will begin each Saturday morning at 9am sharp! Call for details: 404-377-1944

New Arrivals!

Check out pictures from some of our new arrivals! And stay tuned for exciting news about a new workshop series coming soon!!

Has boots, will travel.

Yeehaw! Our manager has flown the coop - in an airplane bound for Dallas! Every year our managers attend the NARTS (National Association of Resale and Thrift Stores) conference to learn how to make our stores even better for you. This annual event is held in a different city each year, and will be in Dallas, Texas for the 2011 conference. I hope Betsy packed her cowgirl boots!

If you're interested in starting your own consignment store, or if you already have and want to be a part of an amazing group of THOUSANDS of store owners, check out the official website: http://www.narts.org/.

p.s. Finders Keepers Menswear - our new men's consignment store - is coming along! The build-out is well underway and we hope to open some time this summer.

Name the new store and win $100 cash!

It might be a man's world according to James Brown... but that hasn't been true in the world of consignment. Finders Keepers is one of the few consignment companies that markets menswear. Our mens department has enjoyed a consistent influx of designer and contemporary menswear and essentials, and we wanna show it off! We're opening a new location - right next door to our Boutique in Decatur - to showcase and expand our high-end consignment selection.

Here's where you come in: We need a name for this new addition to the Finders Keepers family. Help us take this new store in the direction that best serves Atlanta's savvy, stylish men. It's easy: just comment on this blog post with your suggestion (don't forget to include a way to contact you) or email us directly at casey.kallenberg@fkconsign.com. If we choose your idea for our new name, we'll give you $100 cash and you'll be featured on our blogs.

We will accept submissions now through midnight this Wednesday, May 11th. So get your creativity on and show us what you've got!

Change someone's world with 50 cents

Shop with any Finders Keepers Store this Earth Day weekend (April 22nd + 23rd only) and help your world and refugees from all over the globe that now call Atlanta home. Residents of our refugee community often can't afford tampons or sanitary pads, and simply go without. Just bring in a package of tampons or sanitary pads for residents of Atlanta's refugee community and we'll take 10% off of your total purchase at any of our stores on April 22nd and 23rd.

What if 50 cents could change the future? For girls in developing countries who miss a week of school each month during menstruation, 50 cents buys a month of sanitary supplies and an uninterrupted education. 50 Cents Period, a joint project of Just Cause, Inc., and the LaVya Initiative, represents a worldwide network of women dedicated to creating more options for girls by providing supplies, facilities and education related to menstruation. The solution is simple; the impact lasts a lifetime. (from http://www.50centsperiod.com/)

This Saturday's Free Workshop: Creating Curb Appeal

Whether or not your house is on the market, curb appeal can be an unsung source of value for your home. If you are selling your home, it's the first impression for every potential buyer. The rest of their overall opinion of your house is colored by that initial introduction. And while you may not realize it, the way the front of your house speaks to you every time you come home can be a source of serenity or stress. You don't have to wait until you're ready to sell to gift wrap that first impression. Learn how to give your curb appeal a little TLC (or CPR) this Saturday as Vickie Bracewell, an award winning local real-estate agent, shares easy ways to cash in on your curb.

Top Tips from Helen Preston

Helen Preston with Rise and Organize shared some great tips for organizing your jewelry with the space that you have. If you missed the workshops, here are a few easy tips that she wanted to leave you with:

1. Give the jewelry you wear most often the prime location - and the same location - every time you take it off.
2. Keep everything in the same area so you don't have to check twenty places for where it "might" be.
3. Determine which approach works best for you: wall, drawer, or surface. Organize accordingly.

See more of Helen's tips on her website: http://www.riseandorganize.com/

Clean and sleek or shabby chic?

My house is divided in many ways: politics, favorite sports teams, etc. We also stand on opposite sides of the line when it comes to decor. I'm a fan of rustic, shabby chic, weathered pieces that look like they have a story to tell. My husband prefers clean lines and 90 degree angles. We're learning to blend and bend our different tastes, but we both loved these new arrivals that just came into the store. Check out pictures below!

New Store Hours beginning in March!

Beginning March 1st, Finders Keepers Furnishings will have a new schedule, and we think you're gonna like it! It's easier to remember, and it gives you more time to do what you love: save money, make money, and shop smart.

New Hours:
Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 7pm
Wednesday 10am - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 7pm
Friday 10am - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm

p.s. Did you know that we have a standard markdown schedule? Once an item has been with us for 26 days, we reduce the price by 25%. Once an item has been with us for 50 days, it is marked to HALF OFF the original price! How do you know how long an item has been in the store? We put the arrival date right on the price tag! Hey, we don't believe in keeping secrets from our friends like you!

An Organizational Wrap-Up Workshop with Suellen Germani

Making Room for Purpose and Passion: Certified Life Coach and Organizer Suellen Germani will discuss how to create room, literally and figuratively, for more fun, creativity, purpose and passion in your life. She'll cover everything from cutting clutter to dumping toxic relationships to reclaiming what YOU want more of in your space and in your day-to-day life.

When: This Saturday, 2/26 from 9:30am - 10:30am
Where: Finders Keepers Furnishings - 2753 E. College Avenue in Decatur
Cost: FREE, of course!

A HUGE thank you to NAPO-GA and a couple of its associate members..

It all began in the back of the room at the January re-scheduled NAPO-GA meeting. A new associate member, Doug from MonkeyBarStorage had set up an awesome display with before and after pictures from a garage overhaul. “I want THAT garage” I whined. There was nothing on the floor, everything was neatly placed on super sturdy shelving and versatile poles and hooks.

Doug and I set up an appointment for an estimate when my husband was out of town. My plan? To redo our 2-car garage that barely fit my husband’s 1973 Mustang convertible into one of these picture perfect photographed garages that would house 2 cars AND all of the stuff.

Day 1: Doug came out and listened to me. He gave me a quote. He rearranged his entire week so we could do this when my husband was out of town for the week.

Day 2: Doug planned to arrive at noon to begin the project. I had to have everything down off of the existing shelves and pulled to the center of the garage, leaving a 5 foot perimeter for his installation. I enlisted Kanu, who works for me, and we began at 8:00 am and had it all down by 10:00. I called Doug and let him know we were ahead of schedule.

I took a picture of the pile and regretted not taking a real “before” of odd assorted shelving piled with stuff and every inch of floor space covered by something. He started working. I went to Big Lots to get 10 matching bins….so my garage would look like catalog. Doug worked until about 5, taking down all of the old shelving and getting everything ready to install the Monkey Bar System.

Day 3: I enlisted the organizational help of Betsy (Parke’s sister) and Haji, who works for me. This was a day of many decisions:
What to
1. Throw Away
2. Give Away
3. Take to Charity
4. Take to Finders Keepers to sell
5. Keep and organize

To make the cut for #5, it had to pass the test of “do I want this in my “new” garage?” We touched every single item in the pile and made a decision on each thing. We made multiple trips to Second Life Thrift Store and Finders Keepers. We call in another NAPO-GA Associate member, Just Trash It, to come pick up the huge pile at the end of our driveway because I was not totally sure that the City of Avondale Estates would pick up so much junk at one time. Just Trash It was great! They told me to fill the partially full paint cans with kitty litter so they could take them….all 50 of them, along with old shelving, wood, broken items and an old hot tub that hadn’t worked in years. Yes, I was on a mission. Just Trash It made 2 trips and the fee was very reasonable for everything they did.

Doug continued to hang shelving in 4 foot sections. Each 4 ft. section guaranteed to hold 1000 lbs!

Our good friend David, a carpenter, came and picked up some items he could use for remodels or for “re-purposing” so those things didn’t end up in the landfill.

We sorted the “keeps” into bins:
1. magic (it’s Parke’s hobby)
2. camping
3. Finders Keepers paperwork for long-term storage
4. Sporting goods
5. Yard stuff and equipment

I even had room to bring up a lot of stuff that had been stored in my basement! Now my basement is much cleaner….but that’s a blog for another day!

Doug positioned various items in the “keep” pile unto the storage system to show me how to use the hooks, which come in about 8 sizes. We started putting everything onto the shelves and learned that the height was perfect for 2 bins high or 3 copy paper boxes high. Everything fit and everything is off the floor….and guess what….It looks just like the catalog picture….don’t you think so?

And finally I just want to say that I could not have done this without the inspiration from being an associate member of NAPO-GA, the help of other associate members of NAPO-GA, Just Trash It and MonkeyBarStorage, the brawn of Haji and Kanu, and the tireless energy and encouragement from Betsy.

Parke was thrilled and more importantly….totally amazed at his new garage which now houses not one car but 2!

stuff... stuff... stuff

yes, all of that was in my garage.

sorting begins!

MonkeyBarStorage to the rescue!

ahh, a nice, clean slate!

Just Trash It had their work cut out for them...

Y'all were amazing!

It's safe to say that I "Got Organized" with NAPO-GA :)

A job well done... and a really good night's sleep ahead

I love surprises!

Free Workshop: Closet Chaos to Closet Confidence

Our very own fearless leader Bonnie Kallenberg took a turn on the free-workshop stage earlier this month to teach attendees how to fall in love with the wardrobe again. The first step: Try every. single. thing. that you own on. If it doesn't fit NOW, it doesn't flatter you, or it doesn't make you feel good when you're in it, get it out of your active wardrobe. You pay for your clothing - which means that THEY work for YOU. And if they're not meeting your expectations, they need a pink-slip departure from your closet. Free up room in your wardrobe for clothing that makes you feel like the very best you, and remember that when it comes to clothing, less is more. A lean, mean wardrobe in which you actually ENJOY every piece of clothing that you're choosing from makes getting dressed in the morning simple and fun.

Taming your Jewelry Jungle

Jewelry is a great way to add a quick finish to any outfit. But it's not so simple to throw on a necklace when it's hopelessly tangled with two other chains and bobbles. And that perfect pair of earrings isn't so perfect when you can only find one of them. Jewelry may seem like a small thing, but when you can't find it or detangle it, that perfect touch can turn into a source of stress and wasted time. During this Saturday's free workshop at Finders Keepers Furnishings, NAPO member Helen Preston will give you simple tips to organize your jewelry with the space that you have, and will help you learn how to keep it that way. This workshop will begin at 9:30 am sharp. Learn more about Helen on her website: http://www.riseandorganize.com/.

Meet Helen this Saturday!

Did you know? Finders Keepers Furnishings has three large cases filled with fantastic jewelry: costume pieces, fine jewelry, gem stones, vintage, and more!

We Got RAD!

Participating in last Saturday's Rail Arts District Studio Cruise Event was awesome!! Local, young artists Meghann Girard and Max Williams enjoyed a huge turnout as thousands of people toured venues throughout Decatur and Avondale. Meghann Girard also organized several local musicians who played sets during the afternoon. Oh yeah, she sang too. Talk about talent! Another cool attraction was the live graffiti demonstration one artist held in our parking lot. Check out a few pictures from the spectacular event: