Ellington

A budding business of only two years, The Green Gardinia serves as a vibrant pop of color on Dayton Boulevard. The green shop is packed with quality antiques and unique creations built and designed by owners Keith and Katie Glaze.

“When I buy [merchandise for the shop] I have something in mind the day that I buy it,” said Katie Glaze, who frequents yard sales, estate sales and thrift shops to stock the store.

She and her husband opened the antique shop two years ago after they lost their jobs and, consequently, their home. They put their furniture in storage, moved into an apartment and worked out a way to bring in income.

“I’ve collected antiques for 20 years and a lot of the ones we opened the store with were ours,” said Katie Glaze. “It was hard to let them go.”

She had worked at Lowe’s for years, where she learned painting techniques, how to tile and measure and design cabinets, so she put her skills to work as well.

“I’ve been painting for 25 years. [Keith] leaves all the painting up to me, but he helps me build if I need to build something,” she said. “We actually taught ourselves how to reupholster.”

Katie Glaze painted The Green Gardinia sign situated on the side of the shop, and said she enjoys spicing up older or plain pieces of furniture with her artwork. For example, she turned a small wooden table into a boy’s play station by painting trains and planes on the wood and reupholstering the chairs with matching fabric.

“I think refurbishing chairs are my favorite,” she said. “You get that renewed ‘Gosh this is beautiful/Look what I’ve done’ feeling.”

Pinterest plays a big role in the shop’s success. Katie Glaze has her own Pinterest account from which she gains a lot of her creative ideas, but customers also often utilize the social media site before coming into the store.

“Pinterest has been a big influence with our business,” said Katie Glaze. “People come here looking for items they see on Pinterest.”

She said she is happy to do custom work for her customers, whether they find a piece they want to change within the store or bring an old piece of furniture from home.

Green Gardinia also carries unique antique knick-knacks, hats, scarves and jewelry. Other “unfinished” items that customers can spruce up include older windows and doors.

Though hardship brought the Glaze family to create The Green Gardinia — even the Glazes’ three daughters and 5-year-old granddaughter pitch in — and though Katie Glaze is still working two other jobs, she said she truly enjoys owning her own business.

“The store of course takes my time, but it’s still my time. Maybe someday I won’t have to work those two other jobs,” she said, adding that she’d like to open a second location, perhaps in the Brainerd area.

For more information about The Green Gardinia, call 521-8239 or visit www.facebook.com/pages/The-Green-Gardinia/179455532134752.