Our Story

Stella Novack & Julie Piazza, Co-founders of Chippy White Table

 
 

It all started one magical night…

The night Julie saw the amazing Stevie Nicks perform live with Fleetwood Mac, her best friend Mark asked for her to be his forever girl. Soon after, they began to plan their wedding. Julie knew right away that she wanted a laid-back, bohemian wedding. Mark was down for any sort of wedding as long as there was good food and he could invite his large Italian family. It was essential for them to have their family and friends be a part of their wedding. Julie’s mom Stella jumped on board to help with wedding decor. Little did she know, soon buying decor would become a full-time job!

The decor for Julie’s wedding was all gathered by her mother Stella. She understood Julie’s vision and collected over 50 bottles, 200 mason jars, doilies, lace tablecloths, candles, wood slabs, and more. Together, they set up different table settings in Stella’s living room until they got it just right. Julie wanted to sit in two white peacock chairs at our 36 person head table, and Stella found those too. They also purchased a charming chipped up white table from our local antique mall that was perfect for the desserts, and many other things in the unbeknownst future. Stella shopped at local antique malls and thrift stores to find the right accessories to make Julie’s bohemian dreams come true. Julie’s bridesmaids, a group of creatively skilled women, set-up our wedding tables under Stella’s supervision.

After Julie’s wedding, Stella needed a place to store all the decor she had gathered. Their family matriarch, Grandma Monsey, has been the owner and operator of Greenwood's Furniture store in their hometown of Tunkhannock for over 55 years. Grandma Monsey had a space available above her furniture store, a small, chippy white vacant apartment. The space was dusty and old, but it served the purpose of housing all the wedding decor.

Towards the end of that summer, Stella invited Julie to the small room above Greenwoods. She had staged the decor from Julie’s wedding in the cutest way as like a showroom. Julie asked Stella, "Why are you setting things up like this?" and she responded, "I think we should start a rental company!"

Julie loves interior design, but a rental company? The answer was yes, vintage and specialty rental company from an energetic mother-daughter team who love style and design. Stella is a genius! They hopped on the idea train and started to brainstorm for their new rental business. "Chippy White Table"—the name came quickly. Stella found an old beat-up, chipped-up, white table from Bridgestreet Marketplace for Julie’s wedding. It was only right we named our business after it because it was the first piece of furniture she purchased.

They began to assemble a collection of vintage goods by searching around Grandma Monsey's historic building that has loads of hidden treasures. Lucky for them, she allowed them free reign with her “old junk." They hauled in bottles, vases, trunks, a vintage bust form, velvet furniture—anything they could get our hands on dust off, fix, and bring back to life. Grandma Monsey even got her vintage lace wedding dressing dress to display in the newly christened Chippy White Table shop!

Chippy White Table came to life. Their motto was "Used stuff is the best stuff," and love the idea of someone renting a vintage piece and adding to its story. Word of our new business spread quickly in their small hometown. Before they knew it, brides were calling them to see our collection! It was just so inspiring!