WHAT YOU DON’T SEE WHEN I’M GETTING READY FOR A PORCH SALE

This week, I’m getting ready for the Edge & Ivory Fall on the Porch sale.

And when I say “getting ready,” that sounds much more organized than it actually feels.

From the outside, a porch sale probably looks pretty simple.

Put out some clothes. Make everything look pretty. Have some coffee. Open the doors.

That is not exactly how it happens.

There are racks to organize, clothes to steam, tags to check, displays to figure out and about 47 decisions to make about where everything should go.

And then I move it all again.

Because apparently the perfect spot for a clothing rack can change dramatically in fifteen minutes.

I’ll stand back, look at everything and think, yes, that looks good.

Then I walk away.

Come back.

Nope.

Move it again.

Owning Edge & Ivory has definitely made me realize how much happens behind the scenes of even the smallest event.

There’s the part everyone sees.

The clothes are hanging nicely. The porch looks pretty. Fall colors are everywhere. Coffee is ready. Music is playing.

And then there’s the part nobody sees.

Me wondering where I put the scissors.

Me realizing something still needs a price tag.

Me deciding at the last minute that a display needs “just one more thing.”

And me promising myself I’m finished rearranging everything.

I am never finished rearranging everything.

But I actually love this part.

I love seeing everything come together.

I love taking clothes that arrived in boxes and turning them into little collections on the racks. I’ll put a sweater next to a pair of jeans and suddenly think, Oh, those need to be together.

Then I’ll add a purse.

Then jewelry.

And now I’ve created an entire outfit when I was supposed to be doing something else.

This is probably why it takes me so long to get ready for these things.

There’s something different about seeing clothes in person too.

You can touch the fabric. Hold something up to yourself. Try on something you might have scrolled right past online.

Sometimes the piece you never expected to like ends up being the one you take home.

I love that.

But I think my favorite part of these events is the people.

Online, I see names.

I see someone liking a post, sharing something or placing an order.

At a porch sale, I get to actually talk to you.

We can laugh about something that looked much better on the hanger.

We can decide together whether you really need another sweater.

And for the record, I may not be the most impartial person to ask that question.

This Saturday, there will also be coffee from Prestinn’s Coffee, which makes the whole thing even better.

Clothes, fall, coffee and people stopping by to visit.

That feels much more like Edge & Ivory to me than simply having a sale.

So if you come to Fall on the Porch and everything looks calm and put together, just know there was probably a slightly less calm woman moving a clothing rack for the fifth time a few hours earlier.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now I need to go find those scissors.

— Joanna

Edge & Ivory Boutique