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Bleached Butterfly a dream, then a shop

(Dec. 18, 2014) Taking up one of the few remaining vacant spots in Berlin’s vibrant downtown, Bleached Butterfly has become the latest business to at- tempt to capitalize on Berlin’s cool year.
The business opened Dec. 2 and owner  Autumn  Graves,  who  has  a background as a designer and a florist, said the shop is receiving rave reviews. “It’s going really well,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of good feedback. Everyone’s been super welcoming and supportive and we’re getting a lot of foot traffic.”
That includes traffic from other shopkeepers, as the owners of Ta Da, Sisters, The Church Mouse and Bruder Hill have all stopped in to say hello. “I love the town. Everybody has been great,” she said. Graves described the shop, located on 3 Pitts Street, as an eclectic mix of new and old home goods sourced from estate sales, flea markets and auctions. “I pick too,” she said. “If I see an old house being torn down and there’s a 30-yard dumpster in the back I’m going to be like, ‘Hey, can I look in your dumpster?’ I have found some beautiful stuff in doing so.”
The shop’s curious name has drawn more than a few questions. According to Graves, it all started with a dream. “As corny as it sounds, I had a dream about six years ago that I had this store, and I woke up with this name in my head,” she said. “I figured it had to rep- resent something.” When  she  began  to  unpack  the
dream, “bleached” represented a clear, clean blank canvas. “Butterfly” evoked the idea of potential, of becoming or creating something beautiful. “For me it serves a lot of purpose for the meaning behind the store because I want to inspire people to create things in their home,” Graves said. “Hopefully, I inspire them with what I have, and, in turn, maybe they go home and see things differently and switch up a set- ting in the house. Or maybe instead of having something on the floor, they hang it on the wall."
“It’s just a funky name, and I wanted to brand myself,” Graves continued. “I wanted to brand myself in what I was trying to do, like a Free People or an An- thropologie. They didn’t think of the name and say, ‘Are people going to get it?’ They said, ‘This is how we’re going to brand ourselves and we’re going to represent a certain look and a certain trend and a certain style."
Graves hopes Bleached Butterfly becomes a source for interior designers and decorators in the area.
“They can come and they might have a client who is looking for an eclectic piece or something that’s not so ordinary or cookie cutter or coastal,” she said. “I feel like there’s enough of that over here. There’s enough beached and not enough bleached. “I want to be that person that every- one goes to and says, ‘Hey, Autumn, I found this random piece of wood. Do you  have  any  thoughts  on  it?’  Or,
‘Maybe you can come take a look at the house and see where we could do some- thing different or change a color,’” Graves continued. “I’m hoping to in- spire people and become a part of this new and growing style and trend.”