2015 A year in Review and more about our move…

We started On the Purple Couch in January 2012 while ‘baby’ Edward was only 1 year old on Bonifant St. in Silver Spring, MD. Here we are with the President of the Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce Jane Redicker at our grand opening celebrations..

Many of you have seen Edward grow up in the shop and know that he is no longer a baby but a thriving and wonderful pre-schooler turning 5 this year.  As you may recall we 1st started out doing consignment, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & home decor.

After 1.5 years on Bonifant St. we took stock of ourselves & trends, talked with business leaders, friends, family and decided to make the move to Kensington’s warehouse district and fine tune our business and strategy.

In Kensington we were able to define and refine our business and focus more on decor, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, painted furniture and lots of workshops.  We expanded our workshop offerings from just Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to plant related workshops with our instructor Kathy Jentz, editor of the Washington Gardener Magazine, Jewelry workshops with our instructor Zoe Isaac and parent and child workshops. Check in touch to see 2016’s class schedule…many already listed …

In November I was very proud to  host  my mother-in-law (at the far right below) in our Jewelry workshop…she gave us an “A” rating…lol and she is not a easy grader…just sayin’..lol

I cannot tell you how much we have grown in our understanding of business, trends, design and community. We have also had 3 profiles on TV..woohoo and were profiled on WUSA 9 new TV show Great Day Washington. Click here to see the clip…Most recently I did a profile on Christmas eve..doing last min Holiday decor with Chalk Paint…

In October I traveled to Oxford to celebrate  Annie Sloan’s 25th year anniversary of her development of Chalk Paint.

My bestie Rachel and I hopped over to the UK for a quick 5 day visit for training and celebrations.

So can I say that 2015 has been full!! Yea..its a statement not a question..It truly has been good and the ride and review of where we have come from and where we are going has been good. With that we have been presented with an opportunity that is just so exciting. Its exciting for us as a shop and  as a family. In February we will be moving…

On Feb 1st we will be moving (.7 miles)  up the street to to 10513 Metropolitan ave. Kensington, MD 20895 across the street from the Marc Station and next to Two Coconuts and Catch Can. The new location will put us on the commercial side of the town of Kensington and allow us to share what we do with the community in an incredible space. With large windows and a new and very very updated workshopspace and new retail area we are sure that you will be pleased…and yes Lynne…there will be lots of parking and overflow (free) parking across the street at the Marc station…lol

The renovations have begun and build-out is in process.

See those large windows…omg…I can’t wait to do proper displays…

We are really really pumped and look forward to you seeing the space…Now what are we going to do with all the furniture and stuff that we don’t want to move???

Furniture in the shop is on sale…priced to sell…we don’t want to move things so this is your chance…all furniture 40% to 50% off all Home Decor 50% off or already marked for deep sale….Paintings are priced also to sell…some at $10.00…you don’t want to miss the sale…everything must go…staring now…

Need paint…we have lots of it…..and will reduce the price of the sample sizes and other in store surprises….:)

So with that we would like to thank you again…truly truly thank you for the opportunity to work with you and your families and the community. If you would like to read more about our work with our non profits partners and friends, Community Forklift, A Wider Circle , Habitat Restore  Silver Spring & support of Ebola efforts is Liberia please check out blog and social media post HERE. Be sure to follow us on FACEBOOK as well for daily updates..

If you have any questions about our work, or want to be involved like our business partners and friends in Silver Spring, Negril Eatery and Jaha Hair Studio  who purchased workshop tickets  to be donated to those who may not have been able to purchase tickets or like Jack’s Roofing Company  who heard about our blanket drive for A Wider Circle last Winter and collected blankets …all new and dropped them off to help us with our efforts…fyi…none of these businesses know or asked me to post their names or information but I just needed to ‘shout’ them out and say thank you…

A special thank you to a few customers who dropped off awesome furniture pieces… well because they no longer needed them and felt we could use them and said…Bahia you do what you want with it I know you could use it…to those customers who brought us our favorite candy from  Jamaica..thanks Heather or Judy who brought us lunch & dessert or even the other Judy who drove up twice in the mist of a Winter storm to come and support us when we did our 1st home show and Carrie,  my heart..who swears she and I are sisters from the same mother…(smile).. I say thank you…thank you thank you for loving me/us enough to keep our souls filled with your expressions of love..

So that’s that…from my family to yours…Happy New Year and we wish you all of God’s blessings and peace this year….We are proud to know you and to work with you…we could not have done this alone and thank you for your patronage and support of On the Purple Couch.

With appreciation,
Bahia & the Eddie’s 
Jan 2016

p.s. several customers have asked how  they could help with the move. Yes we need help..please share our info on your listserves, facebook pages, tell your friends about the shop bring them over and of course come and support…it is no secret that Winter time can be a very very challenging time for small businesses…and we are no different.