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"Promise me you'll always remember:
You're Braver than you believe, and Stronger
than you seem, and Smarter than you think."
- Christopher Robin to Pooh
Last month, in THIS post, I introduced you to my plan to refinish and resell furniture ... as a way to clear some of my 'treasures' around here and to channel my creative, junk-hunting energies into something besides collecting. Initially, I was thinking that I could sell stuff piece by piece, or hold sales here. I quickly realized that there was a better way ... and I went in search of a booth at an antique mall.
Before we went on vacation last week, I spent a couple of days scoping out various locations here in Fredericksburg. Our downtown is an antique shopping bonanza, so there should have been no shortage of great spaces to choose from. Most of the shops had space available, but I wasn't jazzed with the atmosphere, or the other items available in the spaces. Nothing seemed to be a good fit.
While visiting my parents in Culpeper, I stopped into the Minuteman Mini Mall ... which has always been one of my favorite places to waste time and shop. I've shopped there ever since my parents moved to Culpeper in 1996, and I have never been in there alone ... there are always other shoppers in the building. I talked to the manager, liked everything he had to say, and he showed me the three large spaces that were available ... one of which was the absolute perfect space for me!
So, Friends, I guess I am now an official antiques dealer ... with my own 10 x 11 foot space to do with as I please ... which, you have probably figured out, is the space shown in all of the photos in this post. All of the items you see are consignment items, and they will be cleared out by the time I take possession of the space on December 1.
The space needs some freshening up, and I will accomplish this with a coat of paint on the walls and shelves. I'm leaning toward a warm medium gray, with white shelves. This should provide a good background for my pale painted pieces. Beyond this, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do ... I almost feel as if I'm making this up as I go along.
The quote that I used to start this post is one of my favorites, and it accurately portrays what I am telling myself these days ... as I make this leap into the retail antiques market. I admit that I felt a not-so-small twinge as I signed the six-month lease for this new space of mine. I'm pretty sure that I'm in the right place at the right time ... I keep telling myself this.
Any advice and/or reassurance you have to offer will be really appreciated.