Everyday…really, every single day I get asked, “where do you get all of your furniture?” I’ll tell you where I don’t get it.
I don’t go to estate sales. They are usually way too crowded, offer little room for negotiating and WAY too expensive. I tried to buy a composition book at an estate sale. You know, those comp books you needed for science class in school that come in 2-packs for 99 cents at Wal Mart or the the 99 cent store. The guy told me $1. I didn’t mean to, but I laughed out loud. I told him I would give him a quarter. His reply, “no you won’t.” I didn’t bother to go inside the house to look at the other goodies. Funny thing…I just got a new composition book at a yard sale a few weeks ago for 10 cents.
I don’t bid on storage units. I would LOOOOVE to do this, but it is such a risk. I’ve heard about some amazing storage unit sales where a unit sold for $250 and behind the wall of boxes was 18 feet of antique furniture. Oh baby! That would be sweet. My luck, I would pay $250 get a unit with 50 years worth of tax documents.
I don’t go dumpster diving. I hear of some amazing trash day finds and know there is great stuff on the curbs that people just throw out. But, if I happen to be driving by an awesome piece of furniture set out for trash day…and, if I don’t have both my kids with me…and I can load it into the car all by myself…and it will actually fit in my car…and, it isn’t disgusting to touch without washing my hands right away…then I will pick it up! But, I don’t go out of my way looking for curbside finds.
I don’t go shopping at the Goodwill store. They smell funny. Too expensive. Enough said.
I don’t buy furniture direct from people. I get asked all the time if I would buy someone’s antique this or that. Sorry…can’t do it. The reality is, what I’m willing to pay $20 for is worth $200. If I pay even half of what something is worth, my prices will sky-rocket! I don’t want prices in my store to go up. I like that I can sell an antique French provincial dining room set complete with table, hutch and china cabinet for under $1,500 (that would retail in a furniture store for over $7,500) and make enough to cover the cost of supplies, time and overhead. This is my hobby. It’s furniture as art. It’s taking my love of interior design and putting it into action. It’s taking a piece of furniture that I spend four hours refinishing and being able to showcase it for a few days until it sells. It’s certainly not a livlihood and doesn’t pay the bills.
So, in my next post, I will share a bit more about where I do get my stuff. In particular, this stuff that I’ve been working on all week and will be bringing out on Friday (I’ve already sold a lot of stuff this week so there will be a bunch more coming out for Furniture Friday)!
In process-this cute Frenchy desk is a custom order. The only request, “put pink and green wherever you want.” So, I have a plan and it will be ready to be showcased on Friday as a custom job.
Dresser? Desk? Chest? Secretary? You’ll have to wait to find out…but I can honestly say, I love how this one turned out!
This one’s a beauty. Luxurious and sophisticated.
Taste of the Village tickets on sale at the store for $25.
Flashback to the 50’s is this Saturday from 6:00-11:00 pm! We’re staying open until the party dies down and Ih ave $2.00 off Admission Price in the store.
See you this weekend!
