Trying to Contain My Disappointment

Six months ago, I was so excited to sign the lease for my OWN space in an antiques mall.  The Minuteman Minimall in Culpeper, Virginia, seemed to be a perfect fit for me.  It wasn't.

(I had already packed the small items in the booth by the time I remembered to take these photos.)

I have been a shopper at the Minuteman for 20+ years.  It used to be a great place to shop ... but it fell into a spell where it was more like a crappy indoor flea market than an antique mall.  It looked to me like the quality of the dealers and their merchandise was on its way back up, and the management assured me that furniture and items like mine were in great demand.  It isn't.

Almost all of the furniture that I moved into the space over the past six months was still sitting there today when The Husband and I went to move it out.  In an effort to reduce the load, I offered a 25% discount for the past month ... only sold the small grey and white chest during the sale. 

All empty.

Was it price?  Merchandise?  Location?  Whatever it was, it took lots of sales of small items for this little venture of mine to cover expenses ... and I never got the impression that it would do anything more than that.  No matter how much I promoted myself in this location, the location itself seems to have worked against me.

Now it's time to rework the plan.  A short-term test will be the Lucketts Spring Market on Saturday and Sunday.  I'm really excited to have a booth there, since I have loved shopping this market in past years.  I wonder, though, how well my stuff is going to do in what I imagine will be a whole sea of competition.

It's not that I doubt that my stuff can compete ... quite the contrary.  I will put the quality of my items and my workmanship up against anyone else's.  I come at this enterprise from a carpentry and remodeling background, I know quality construction when I see it, and I only spend my time refurbishing pieces that are worth my time.

I have considered taking space in another antiques mall ... and I have a couple of recommendations for ones where I would probably do well.  I'm not convinced that this is what I should do.  I also have the crazy idea to have monthly sales HERE.  My little white workshop building would make a PERFECT shop space ... so would the greenhouse when it's empty of plants during the summer.

Both trucks are all loaded up and ready to go.

So, dear readers, I find myself standing indecisively at yet ANOTHER fork in the road.  If any of you have suggestions or advice to offer, please speak up.  I could use some words of encouragement ... or perhaps the voice of reason and experience.  Whatever you have, I'm listening.

Sunday Snapshot... My New Shop Sign

A few weeks ago, I found a lovely woman named Pamela (of Backwoods Cottage) through a comment she left on one of my blog posts.   Pamela's blog is full of great garden info, she loves roses (who doesn't?), and she has the cutest little studio building!  She also makes and sells beautiful handpainted signs. 

I contacted her to ask if she would design a sign for my antique booth, and she was excited by the idea.  After a couple of weeks (to let the Christmas mania subside), she sent me photos of three flower designs for my approval.  All three of them were beautiful, and it was hard to choose my favorite ... in the end, the pink roses win every time. 

After I made my choice, she finished my sign, and now it hangs in my shop for everyone to see. 

It's perfect, don't you think.

Visit Pamela's web site HERE to see more of her beautiful signs.

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

Connie

Another Finished Project Out the Door

I'm thrilled that my 'Yankee Doodle Dresser' has been met with such positive feedback.  It's hard to know what's going to happen with when I step that far out of my comfort zone.  Today, I'll share with you two more pieces that I recently finished.

These tables are solid wood (as are all of my pieces), but they were wearing a dated, pseudo-pecan finish when I found them.  Their details are fantastic ... they just needed a bit of paint and some wax to help them show their best features.

I can't believe that I completely forgot to take any photos before I started working on these.  You'll have to take my word for it ... they were nothing special. 

The only 'before' photo I could find was the close-up of this table leg, and I did this side-by-side to show the progress with each step of paint and waxing.  Look how the hand-rubbed wax finish makes the distressing almost glow!

The tables are from a good maker, and they're solid and well constructed, so they are worth the effort of a redo.

With my trusty can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in 'Country Grey' (which is really almost the color of a manilla folder), a bit of distressing to bring out the details, some Johnson's clear and Annie Sloan dark wax, and the difference is striking!

Like the 'Yankee Doodle Dresser', the finish on these pieces is a bit of a stretch for me ... but think I could get used to producing this patina finish, and I am really coming to like it.  I know that this was definitely the way to go with these tables, to bring out all their moldings and carved details.

This table has one deep drawer, though it's made to look like two.

It feels great to say that these tables are FINISHED!!!  I took them to my booth at the Minuteman Mini Mall last Friday.  

If I'm not careful, I could almost make a habit of finishing things and actually clear some storage space around here ... ha ha, that's not going to happen any time soon ... but I'm working on it.

 

I Changed My Mind

When I went to my booth yesterday to rotate and fluff the inventory, I had planned to bring the red settee home with me.  On my way there, I realized that the settee is BIG, and I don't really have a place to store it till I'm ready to start slip-covering it, so I left it there and I brought the little cream and turquoise table home instead ... the one that was between the two green velvet chairs.  (you can see a photo of it in yesterday's post)  I will keep it at home for a while, and put other things in its place. 

This time, I put this lovely thing into the booth ... I finished it the other day, and I'm eager to show it to you.

It's a Henredon side table with a very sophisticated touch of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint love.  (I totally forgot to take any Before photos of this piece.)  The bottom of the table is painted in my new favorite color, Primer Red.  It's lightly distressed, just enough to add character, and finished with amber and dark wax.  I left the top alone, simply freshened it with a bit of dark wax.

These old pieces are made really, really well ... it's just the style that could use some help.  I love how it looks in this color!! 

Here it is in the booth.  Hopefully, it won't be there for long.

It's a relaxed morning here at the Manor. 

Alice and Dorothy and Daniel and I wish everyone a very Happy Sunday!

Meanwhile, Back at the Antique Booth ...

I go to the Minuteman Mini Mall once a week to check on my booth, rotate the inventory, and fluff things a bit.  When I was there last week, I found it scrambled and it looked a bit bare ... this was a GOOD thing!  Some of my large pieces had sold, and the folks at the Mall had to move stuff around to get them out of the booth.

The big hutch is gone!

 

It's 'Last Call' on these white chairs. At $15 apiece they were a good deal for someone who wanted a project, but no one seemed interested. I brought them home with me, and I plan to repaint and upholster them myself. If you're interested in them as is, or would like to have a say in their redo and put in a custom order, shoot me an email because they're now in the queue in my workshop.

I'm learning as I go with this endeavor.  For the time being, I won't bring any more raw project pieces to the booth.  Most folks appear to want things that are finished.

Here we are, after I moved things around and added some new stuff.

The red settee is the next thing on the chopping block.  If it's still at the booth when I go there later today, I will bring it home and I will slipcover it, probably in dropcloth with painted legs and a cute pleated skirt.  It is coming home with me because I need the space for some finished items that are stacking up in my basement.  The Husband was out of town last week, and I got lots and LOTS accomplished!  (Why is it always like this?)

The barn prints, the red shelves, the step basket, and lots of other stuff are new.

Another challenge has been learning how to arrange my merchandise within the booth to make best use of the space and to showcase the items as well as I can.  I'm restricted by the current configuration of the booth itself ... I can't move the shelves on the back wall, and there's a shelf on the right wall that's about shin high ... you can sort of see it behind the green chairs in the photo above.  That wall used to be filled with adjustable shelves, but haven't needed them so I removed them.

I don't want things to look junky and jumbled ... but I don't want it to look bare, either. 

One of my favorite items is still here, this T. G. Green 'Spectrum cheese dome ... perhaps no one has come yet who knows what this is.  If I had a place at home for it, I would so want to keep it. 

I love this thing!

It feels wonderful that things in the booth are selling.  My job now is to make sure that the merchandise is fresh every week, to make things appealing to customers who come into the shop on a regular basis ... rotating merchandise out that hasn't sold, rearranging what is still there, and bringing in things that are new and different ... I'm having so much fun!  The best part is, this is turning out to be a good way to clear out some things that are causing clutter and chaos here at home.

My Little Slice of the Antique Business

Here it is, your first look at my booth at the antique mall, with the first load of items in place.

All morning yesterday, I gathered things from my stash throughout our basement and garages, polished and priced each of them, and loaded small things into my Jeep.

Large items went into my truck.

The Husband drove the truck and I drove the Jeep..  He helped me unload everything, then he went back home to work.

This space still needs a lot more stuff ... but this was as much as we could bring in one trip with the two vehicles.  It's going to take quite a bit more practice for me to learn how to arrange things to maximize my space, and to still have room for customers to move around.

My plan is to have a mix of items, some finished and some not, to appeal to a wider range of buyers.  If I were shopping and I came across this booth, I doubt I would look at the painted mirror or bed (because I can do this myself) ... but I would be all over the set of project chairs, and maybe that red settee.  There are folks, though, that want their stuff ready-to-go and would make a bee-line for the painted pieces.  If this plan doesn't work, and the project items sit here too long, I can always bring them back home, finish them, and take them back to the booth for another try.

One thing that I especially love is lighting ... lamps and chandeliers and sconces with character.  Honestly, I wish I had a place for this sconce with the green glass shade because it is gorgeous ... and the galvanized porch fixture beside it has just the right amount of rust.

What's the item I most wish I could keep, you ask?  That would be the English cheese dish, in the photo below.  I bought it because I loved the graphic quality of the letters on the chunky white dish ... then I found out what it is and that they go for a lot of money on eBay.  The pine hutch it's sitting on is a piece that I'm selling as a project.  It's a great size, and it's patiently waiting for someone to give it a coat or two of their favorite color.

As I was arranging furniture and small items, I realized very quickly that I have a long way to go before I'm any good at this.  But this is my space to do with as I please, and I will do what I can to make it work for what I plan to sell.   What I need to do next is hang shelving on the blank wall behind the settee to stand large things (like the wicker tray and the lazy susan, above) and figure out a way to display chandeliers (I cannot go any higher than the current walls of the booth since I'm an inside space).  I have a couple of ideas about what to do.

If you're in the neighborhood, come on down and see the place in person!

Minuteman Mini Mall

Route 3, 746 Germanna Highway, Culpeper, VA 22701