Let's Meet Susan Brierly Bush
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Susan Brierly Bush
I am super excited to introduce you all to my friend Susan Brierly Bush.
Hello, Susan and welcome to the Chalet. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. Oh, where to begin – please introduce yourself to the readers. Thanks for featuring me and the Big Green Barn in your blogpost, Meryl! I love what I do and I hope to inspire others to embrace their passions and dreams. I live in Morris County with my husband Robert and our rescue dog, Jack. We’ve been married for 10 years and have melded our family of six kids, ages 22 to 34. It’s kinda Brady Bunch, but we’re spread across four states. Robert and I live in a 210-year-old home with an antique barn in our backyard, thus the name of my Big Green Barn business. I’m fortunate that Robert is also my business manager and he often rides shotgun with me when I scour the Northeast for vintage and antique decor.
Susan And Robert
I know you’re a very busy lady. You’re a daughter, wife, mom, business owner, creative director, editor, interior stylist, marketer, thrifter and writer. You have an MA in marketing, you’ve worked for Sotheby’s fine art auction house and you were a blogger for SothebysHome.com. In recent years, you earned an art history certification from Sotheby’s Institute of Art and studied at the New York School of Interior Design. Since 2009, you’ve worked as a style editor and writer for New Jersey Monthly magazine. Last year, you were named the magazine’s home and garden editor. The overall theme in your work and life is creativity and entrepreneurship. Please share a bit of the path your career has taken over the years and how you’ve crafted your career. It’s pretty cool that, in recent years, all my business and educational experience has come together in a synergistic way. I began working in retail when I was 16 and then was a retail manager after college. I worked as a copywriter for advertising and marketing agencies, then got my graduate degree in marketing, then worked as a freelance business writer, speechwriter and creative director for years as I raised my two sons. It wasn’t until 2005 that the magazine business found me. I was the senior editor of NJ CEO magazine, then the style editor of Park Place luxury magazine, and I’ve worked for New Jersey Monthly and New Jersey Bride for 16 years. During my time at the magazine, I’ve met design luminaries like Albert Hadley, Bunny Williams, Vicente Wolf, Jonathan Adler and Stella McCartney. Funny how things have worked out – I’ve simply kept myself open to possibilities and they seemed to find me. I’m also grateful to all the kindred spirits I’ve met through creative networking organizations and Instagram.
The Original Big Gteen BArn
Susan I count myself fortunate because we met through the wondrous world of Instagram and I’ve visited your antique barn for your seasonal barn sales. What was the genus of the barn sales? This business venture began about five years ago, when we had a couple of tag sales in our old barn because I had a bunch of furniture and décor I had accumulated over the years from my past activities in home staging and prop styling. Once word spread and the style editors of Better Homes & Garden, House Beautiful, Domino, Luxe, Veranda and Architectural Digest began visiting, word got out. Soon interior designers and Netflix set decorators found me and that’s when I knew it was time to become an official business. Everyone has been especially supportive because they know that Big Green Barn is a small, female-owned business that sells sustainable vintage décor. That’s what truly makes the barn “green.”
Happy shoppers last weekend at the Barn Sale
Last weekend’s Sale including a snap of you and Karina Larsson who sells custom made pillows and lampshades at the sale.
Jennifer Dengel an Interior Designer from Cranford found a lovely piece of art!
Jennifer and Susan
Big Green Barn shop 912 Mt. Kemble Ave. Harding (same as Route 202 between Morristown and Bernardsville).
What led you to take the very serious plunge in 2023 and open your retail shop Big Green Barn in Harding Township at 912 Mt. Kemble Ave.? How did you decide the where and when of it? In 2023, my husband and I realized that our occasional barn sales were gaining popularity and beginning to morph from an interest into a business. I had considered the idea of opening a retail shop, but wasn’t seriously looking at locations. Then, in the spring of 2023, I sort of manifested my retail location because I just happened to notice a for-rent sign in what is now my little shop in Morristown’s Harding Township. As soon as I stepped into the space, I knew it was meant to be. It was small but adorable. Miraculously, not only was the space already painted green, but my office walls, floor and cabinets had been expertly faux finished by the well respected William Totten of Oldwick. Bill had occupied the same space as his interior design studio years ago. So there was a lot of good creative energy there. Since that day, I’ve more than tripled my space in the same building. Many of my clients live in the Harding area, so I was happy to move closer to them. It was a win-win.
What is your sourcing process? How do you choose your inventory? I occasionally scout at high-end estate sales and auctions. But most of my vintage and antique furniture and décor come from mom-and-pop shops, community thrift stores and humble tag sales. I spend a lot of money at community thrift stores because I like to support their efforts. Working for Sotheby’s fine art auction house in NYC was the experience of a lifetime. It really honed my eye for unusual and exceptional artifacts. Just since last December, I’ve begun to accept select consignments. At least twice a week, shoppers ask me to consign their merchandise or family estates. My passion is keeping high-quality décor out of landfills and it makes me happy to be a sort of matchmaker, uniting shoppers and their finds.
A beautifully curated moment at the Big Green Barn in Harding
How can I not ask the one question I ask every creative I interview - Did you decorate your bedroom while growing up? Please share anything you wish about your younger self. I grew up in the Midwest and my family lived on a small farm for a few years where I rode a tractor with my dad. My two sisters and I would jump into Mom’s station wagon before school to deliver our produce to the local grocery store. My Dad used to flip houses as a side gig and I was his helper. He taught me how to paint and hang wallpaper when I was about 12 years old. I was an unusual kid, not liking dolls or tea parties like other girls. I loved drawing and painting and was obsessed with Lite-Brite and Spirograph. I penned a little newsletter for my fifth-grade Girl Scout troop, was the editor of my eighth-grade school newspaper, worked on my high school newspaper and yearbook, and studied journalism in college. For years, I’ve buried myself in interior design magazines and I love studying art history and design. Did I decorate my own bedroom as a kid? I remember being very excited to choose the wallpaper for my tiny teenage room. And I’ve loved wallpaper ever since.
Susan At the Big Green Barn in Harding
Recently I shared a Friday Grid on Instagram of the color red and you replied: “Decades ago I read an article in Architectural Digest suggesting every home should have a red space. I was so inspired that I ran right out and found the yummiest Benjamin Moore shade of red and splashed it all over my foyer” I know this was the foyer in your last home, a charming cottage. Can you share how long you’ve been in your current home – what drew you to it and can you share your design philosophy. Bob and I were married 10 years ago and temporarily lived in my sweet cottage while looking for just the right home. When we moved into our present circa-1815 farmhouse in 2015 and saw the huge green barn in the backyard, we knew we would eventually turn it into some type of business. Our Colonial-style farmhouse was lovely but very vanilla, so we’ve filled it with colorful artwork, mid-century furniture, quirky artifacts and, of course, scads of wallpaper. We thought it would be interesting to juxtapose a traditional home with lots of mid- century décor and a splashy palette. Rather than decorating our antique home like George and Martha Washington, our style is more like Rob and Laura Petrie – with a cheerful maximalist twist.
Social Media – IG – how has social media impacted your career – your brand? Over the years I had done a lot of blogging for Sotheby’s Home, Bed, Bath and Beyond and New Jersey Monthly. But I had never found the time for social media. It wasn’t until the 2020 lockdown that I threw myself into Instagram. That’s when I began to establish a widespread network of meaningful connections with kindred creative spirits (like you, Meryl!) Now I’m on Instagram every day and I’m continually inspired by my fellow creatives.
Plans for the rest of 2024 & 2025. The Big Green Barn business continues to be strong and most recently I’ve begun offering “house calls” because so many shoppers visit my Harding location and like what they see, but aren’t sure how to pull together multiple pieces of artwork for a gallery wall. Or they need a little guidance to style their coffee table or bookshelves. If they have a big project, I steer them to my interior designer colleagues. But, for smaller projects, I’m happy to pack up a few curated boxes of décor, and maybe a couple of lamps and mirrors, and take it all to their home where I can work a little magic for an hour or two.
As for 2025, I’ve always been a big supporter of the Mansion in May designer show house, sponsored by the Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center. This year I’m feeling inspired to throw my hat in the ring to design a small space, so we’ll see if that might materialize next spring.
Big Green Barn in Harding
Here’s a link to a fun story about Susan and Robert’s home, published in 2017: NJM Style Editor Finds Love the Second Time Around
House Beautiful.com names the Big Green Barn in August 2024 article: 9 Little-Known Destinations Where You Can Still Find Incredible Antiques
Here’s a link to all New Jersey Monthly articles by Susan. And here’s this month’s: Everyday Luxury: Build a Chic Wardrobe With Just a Few Basics
Follow Susan on Instagram: @big.green.barn and @susanbrierlybush and visit her Website: www.thebiggreenbarn.com - meet her in her Shop along the Country Mile - 912 Mt. Kemble Ave. Harding (same as Route 202 between Morristown and Bernardsville).
Susan I can’t tell you what fun this was for me…Thanks again for saying yes when I asked.
I have penned a few articles about my Big Green Barn Visits:
Til next time friends I’ll see you over on the Gram!
