QUIRKS AND ALL. Gorgeous Chaos is a thoughtfully curated home decor and vintage-style goods shop, offering a warm ambiance in its tucked-away space off of Chippewa Falls' N. Bridge St.

There’s that saying, cautioning against mixing family and business, but I’m not sure they ever said anything about best friends being in biz together. Even if there is some saying about that, longtime pals Roxanne Hinrichs and Stacey Bowe probably wouldn’t care.

“This is not our first rodeo,” the pair agreed, seated inside their recently opened storefront. “And we’re happy – probably because we’re having so much fun.”

After quietly opening its doors in August, Gorgeous Chaos is unlikely to fit “hidden gem” status for much longer. Tucked within a courtyard off of N. Bridge St. in Chippewa Falls, an open door and some patio-style outdoor seating are largely the only hints of something more within the 24 W. Willow St. building.

The rust-orange brick building has sat empty for years, once part of the adjacent building which originally operated as Weigand Ford Car Agency in the 1900s. Echoes of its former use are visible inside Gorgeous Chaos, with two garage doors acting as the backdrop to an abundance of curated home decor and trinkets.

High ceilings and intentionally placed tables and buffets help create the whimsical pathways and atmosphere of Gorgeous Chaos, whose aesthetic Roxanne and Stacey describe as “industrial-slash-elegant” and moody.

Their love of quirky treasures is displayed throughout Gorgeous Chaos. While the wood- and metal-accented furnishings are aided by warm lamp lighting, kitchenwares and home accents, smell-good items, faux florals, and much more, intrigue is in the unexpected items...

While Gorgeous Chaos is not technically allowed to post signage (according to the City of Chippewa Falls, its current hours make it more of a "pop up," the owners say), its storefront makes clear someone is brewing some magic inside. 

After 25 years of friendship, the duo feels they now complement each other well as business partners. “She is our financial and business-side person,” Stacey said of Roxanne, with Roxanne responding “(Stacey) has a great eye and is more of the buyer.”

“We really are balanced and, creatively, we’re different yet the same,” Stacey added.

An hour-long conversation about how Gorgeous Chaos was brought to life was filled with laughter and brief tangents about the longtime friends’s adventures over the years. From miscalculated stints working together at an apple orchard to spontaneous trips to the Twin Cities, Minn. area to pick up their latest Facebook Marketplace finds, they walk through life in tune with one another.

For years, they have also specifically enjoyed “the thrill of the hunt.”

Although born-and-raised Chippewa Falls gals, their style of hunting isn’t your average Northwoods, blaze-orange excursion.

“We love treasure hunting,” Roxanne said, Stacey adding, “it’s the thrill of the find; seeing all the beauty in old things and quirky stuff.”

Their love of quirky treasures is displayed throughout Gorgeous Chaos. While the wood- and metal-accented furnishings are aided by warm lamp lighting, kitchenwares and home accents, smell-good items, faux florals, and much more, intrigue is in the unexpected items.

Found throughout its various nooks and displays, Gorgeous Chaos is home to a number of whimsical figurines and items; upright, long-legged frogs holding trays, stone goose statues adorned by ribbon bows, and charming vintage-style portraits of Bigfoot somehow fit perfectly.

The eye can’t help but be drawn to the floor-to-ceiling mural depicting suit-wearing animals enjoying a gentlemanly teatime. “That’s just so us,” Stacey said of the mural.

Gorgeous Chaos is a pleasantly unexpected world of its own, though there were naysayers in the beginning.

“Her husband thought it was our storage building,” Roxanne said of Gorgeous Chaos's location, pre-cleanup. Giggling throughout, the pair talked about the space’s original state and how they shined it up (alongside support from the building’s owner).

“There was an old hot water heater in the corner, grease on the floor – or maybe oil – and we pressure-washed (the walls) to see more of the exposed brick. That just covered me head-to-toe in white paint chips,” Stacey said, laughing. “I was sopping wet.

“No one could see (the vision) at first. (My husband) was like, ‘this is it?’ And finally, when it was done, my husband said, ‘I don’t know how you do it every time, but this is such a cool place.”

New and returning guests are likely to agree, Gorgeous Chaos’s unique array of found items and wholesale home goods are (perhaps surprisingly) well-priced. The selection is likely to shift during each of the shop’s monthly openings.

Gorgeous Chaos will only be open a couple of times per month, its owners explained, for their own capacity (they each still work “regular” jobs) and to create event-like hype for each opening.

“We hope people can sort of plan around the fact we’re only open once or twice a month,” Stacey said. “We want it to be a sort of event that people are excited about, that gets you and your girlfriends together.”

Plus, the duo plan to rearrange the shop’s interior and steadily change items out as the seasons shift and shoppers’ interests emerge. Eventually, they could see Gorgeous Chaos hosting bridal and baby showers, weddings, and other events.

For now, the shop's owners are content to get comfortable within the growing community fabric of Chippewa Falls's small businesses (and that community will get larger, they hinted; the courtyard Gorgeous Chaos is located in will see more neighbors open their doors in the not-so-distant future).

“We’re just excited to be part of something bigger,” Roxanne and Stacey agreed.

Gorgeous Chaos (24 W. Willow St., Chippewa Falls) will share its monthly schedule online through its social medias. The shop's owners can be reached at (715) 225-0950.