If you go
Red Barn Designs, at 117 Gordon St., can be reached at 706-375-2558. To learn more, visit facebook.com/theredbarndesigns. Store hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
After outgrowing its space within six months of opening in late June 2014, Red Barn Designs is again expanding, this time with its painting parties, which have been growing in popularity since the store moved to its new location last February.
"We have been doing parties since we opened, however they have grown since moving locations as we can now accommodate triple the size," said Jenna Stevens, who co-owns the store with her mother, Mary Hartman.
The store offers a unique variety of door hanger designs created using pallet wood ready to be painted. The flamingos are especially popular right now, Hartman said. Other available designs include a watering can, a camper, a mason jar, a watermelon, a star, a pineapple and a fish bobber.
"This is a fun place for a girls' night out to do something different," said Hartman. "We are more than just a paint party. We are interesting because there's lots of things to look at and talk about in the store."
The four large painting tables are in the back of the store, surrounded by clothing, jewelry and antiques from a variety of personal vendors who have their own booths.
One of the store's conversation starters is the custom "swag shades" hand-created by Stevens.
"You take an old lamp shade that's out of style and take it apart and keep the frame to put the scrap cloth on," she explained.
"With a little bit of paint and fabric, you can turn something old into something new," said Hartman.
Repurposed wooden doors serve as the painting tables as well as partitions between vendors' spaces.
"We collected old antique doors [from] random places," Hartman said.
A ribbon room offers lots of colorful fabric for in-house projects.
A separate space for events is in the very back of the store with unique cloth and lights strewn around the ceiling for a fancy look.
The store recently held a breast cancer benefit for Jennifer Fowler in the form of a painting party that welcomed 52 people, according to Hartman. Painters bought "We Wear Pink for Jennifer" T-shirts to help out with the fundraiser that raised $1,100 for Jennifer's medical bills.
"Some did not even know Jennifer but came out to help anyway," said Hartman. "People from Rossville, Fort Oglethorpe, Chickamauga, Ringgold, Trion and Summerville came. It was neat that so many people wanted to support her that did not even know her."
Stevens said Red Barn Designs often sees a lot of patrons who travel from Summerville, Trion, Soddy-Daisy, Ooltewah and South Pittsburg.
"It's an open paint night with people from all over," said Hartman. "We have the regulars that have made friends."
The store offers bachelorette parties, children's birthday parties and holiday parties. While winter holidays may not be top of mind right now, Hartman encourages people to not wait until the last minute.
"We take orders," she said, adding, "We want to encourage people to do their shopping early. Last year, we had over 300 snowmen [door hangers] that people created. We do want to encourage people to get their Christmas orders in early."