Get An Inside Look At Life’s Patina’s Barn Sales
The Life’s Patina Spring Barn Sale Is April 26-28
by Meg Veno, owner of Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm in Malvern and Life’s Patina Mercantile & Café at Historic Yellow Springs Farm
Life’s Patina barn sales are seasonal pop-up shopping experiences held 3-4 times per year, typically in spring, fall and around the Nov. – Dec. holidays. Each barn sale celebrates the beauty of the season and recognizes how the significance of the past can be incorporated into present day design.
Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm
We hold our barn sales at Willowbrook Farm in Malvern, a historic bank barn that we lovingly restored over a decade ago. A 15-acre swath of pure heaven that stemmed from an original William Penn land grant in the 1700’s, Willowbrook Farm’s evolution intrigued us and its architectural beauty of an understated European aesthetic lured us in. As we renovated many of its buildings that comprised this once extensive dairy farm, I began to use old, architectural salvage items quite consistently in the design.
Uncovering the layers of Willowbrook Farm in both its story and its buildings, we fell more deeply in love with the uneven stone walls, old wood and stone buildings, the brick and stone pathways, and unusual additions and oddities that make up the buildings of this farm. Deeply living the renovation of this historic farm spurred us on to share its story and its beauty with others… thus Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm was born.
Life’s Patina Barn Sales
There’s a little something for everyone at our highly curated barn sales that mix old and new in creative, inspirational displays, including vintage and reclaimed home décor accents, both restored and new furniture, unique gifts, seasonal décor items, glassware and china, tableware, soft goods, architectural salvage (like old doors and windows), and more. We also invite talented local vendors to showcase their wares, from gourmet foods items to fresh flowers. Our barn sales are open to the public and we don’t charge entry fees.
- Friday, April 26, 2024 (10 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
- Saturday, April 27, 2024 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
- Sunday, April 28, 2024 (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.)
Our barn sales are big production events. It takes us about 3-4 months to put one together. This is why we are not open all the time and do not have regular hours. It takes us so long to search for, purchase, receive, pick-up, unpack, clean, repurpose, tune up and price new merchandise that if you were to walk into the barn during that months-long time period, you’d be shocked by what you see! Each and every nook and cranny of the barn is piled high with treasures waiting for their appearance in their designated spaces.
We want each sale to look and feel different, which takes a copious amount of time! Additionally, unlike many other antique shops, we purchase each and every item rather than bringing in vendors to sell their own wares. Everything you see for sale in our barn has been sourced by us, with the exception of a handful of local vendors we invite to complement what we do, add to your experience at our farm and create a fun, festival-like feel for you.
Creating Our Barn Sales
Phase 1: Atlanta buying trip
We start planning and ordering the new treasures that we will integrate into the old during our annual trip to Americas Mart in Atlanta in January. There, we are able to touch and feel each and every item that we order. We feel that’s integral to the quality of what we offer at the barn. Our hearts are in the vintage items that we find on our treasure hunting trips but when I started this business, I felt that it was important to supplement the old with new items that enrich the design of our vintage treasures and provide beautiful options at many price points. It also enables us to please more of our customers, because not everyone likes ALL vintage. We have our tried-and-true vendors we’ve bought from for years and we also search for new vendors with unique offerings that will delight out customers.
Phase 2: Picking trips
As we await the arrival of our new merchandise, we head out on the road for our picking trips, large and small, hitting some of our favorite spots as well as perusing newfound barns, basements, garages, salvage jobs and the likes. We never know what we are going to find but we are guided by this mantra: Would I put this in my own home? We ONLY buy items that we would put in our own homes. If it makes the cut, it gets loaded into our trailer and taken back to our farm.
Phase 3: Unloading, organizing and moving the bones into place
The small items get loaded into the upper barn to be unpacked, cleaned, priced, and like is grouped with like. After we unload, we inspect each item, specifically large pieces, to see what needs to be done to revive them to their former glory without wiping away their patina. Those pieces get moved into the horse barn. What is ready “as is,” except for cleaning, gets moved into our main stone bank barn. Once loaded into the stone bank barn, the large pieces get moved into their permanent spots for the sale. We call this “the bones” of the sale. Their positions are determined by rudimentary drawings to lay out the design based on sketches that I scribble onto paper.
Phase 4: Installations
While that is going on, we begin to install our light fixtures. We hang our art work, frames and anything else we feel that we should hang. Often, they are heavy shutters or larger-than-expected items since the barn is such a cavernous space!
Phase 5: Restoration, vignettes and displays
Then, by sanding, staining, repainting, touching up and more, we restore and refinish the pieces that need it. Our vintage wares are highly curated, cleaned, repurposed if needed, and made ready to use in your own home, versus the sorry state in which we often find these cast-off items. Sometimes people see the term “barn sale” and assume we are selling discounted items, like a yard sale. We are not a discount shopping destination but we price all of our items well and take a lot of time to research the value of our items and then try to price lower than the market place. The exceptions are our one-of-a-kind, highly unusual items we find in our travels, because our expense to get them home is significant. We also carry architectural salvage such as doors, windows, columns of all sizes and the like that can be used for your own projects. They are very well priced as well.
Finally, we begin ensuring all of the small items get artfully arranged and vignetted into beautiful displays that delight and inspire. We want you to come away from our barn sales with not only items you love and cherish, but inspiration to use things you already have to create beauty in the design of your own home.
Tips On Shopping Our Barn Sales
- Dress for the weather. Our barn sales are indoor/outdoor events, so dress appropriately for the weather.
- Wear boots or appropriate footwear. Parking is in a field which can get wet and muddy, and our barn floors can be uneven, so boots or appropriate footwear are recommended.
- Ask for assistance. Our entire team is activated to help customers. From parking attendants in our parking field to accessing the barn with strollers to finding what customers are looking for and bringing purchases to customers’ cars, our team is there to help.
- Don’t miss our lower barn and outdoor courtyard. Shop the upper barn first, then head downstairs to the lower barn and stables, then end outside in the tented courtyard.
- Make a day of it. Before or after you shop our spring barn sale, head to our newly opened second location, our Mercantile & Café (1657 Art School Road), just 20 minutes away, to enjoy breakfast, lunch, coffee, tea and sweet treats!
- Bring a friend. Our barn sales make for the perfect girl’s day so invite your friend, mom, or daughter to enjoy a lovely day in Chester County with you!
- And bring cash. We have a $25 debit/credit card minimum, but we take cash, credit and debit cards and Apple Pay (at select registers). We recommend bringing some cash just in case.
Life Patina’ Spring 2024 Barn Sale
Friday, April 26 (10 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
Saturday, April 27 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
Sunday, April 28 (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.)
Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm is located at 1750 N. Valley Road, Malvern, PA.
Want more information about our region’s amazingly restored barns? Read about Grace Winery’s new barn in Glen Mills, Jeff Devlin’s Sycamore & Stone in Chester Springs, and Life Patina’s Mercantile & Cafe in Chester Springs.
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