Market Day in Georgetown!

It was a wonderful turnout!  I was so impressed with the other booths, the music and the constant flow of people. The weather was perfect too.  I really got lucky to be on Main Street on the end.  This gave me the freedom to spill out of my 10x10 perimeter.

I took three larger items: the dresser, the desk, and the coffee table.

The rest were smaller: a wicker table, two french chairs, the child's table set.

The dresser seemed to attract the twenty-somethings.  They seemed to love the gold detailing and geometric shapes.  It also gave them a good idea of what I could do with their furniture.  Several people came by to take pictures of it.  I wasn't sure how to respond to that.  Were they wanting to try to copy my idea? Or did they just want to get a picture so that they could think it over? 

The desk seemed to appeal to an older crowd of thirties and forties.  

They liked the moving keyboard shelf as well as the computer-ready cord slots.  The ASCP French Linen gave the desk a roughed up grey look that will work for practically anyone.

The day was full of laughs, conversations, hard work, but most of all, learning. I will post some of the things I learned next time!

Child's Play

Ok, I stepped out of my comfort zone on this one! When I came across this child's table and chair set, I knew I wanted to do something special.  I considered stripes or stencils.  I knew I wanted a bold pattern.  I decided to try decoupage with fabric.

I was nervous, but the second I held the fabric up against the table I knew it was going to be a hit!

This fabric is so dynamic!  I was thrilled to find it in the scrap bin at Hobby Lobby.  I used the Mod Podge made special for fabrics and followed the directions on the bottle.  Once it was dry, I sprayed a coat of acrylic on it, sealing it.  Now little girls can do all sorts of messy activities on it and the mess will wipe right off!

For the chairs, I chose Duck Egg in ASCP.  They were originally white, so I made sure to distress them enough to let that white show through.

I posted this set on Facebook and sold it within thirty minutes!  It was so exciting!

I am also very happy to know the little girl who is getting the set.  She is darling and this perfectly suits her.

I think I will keep my eye out for more children table sets.  This was fun!  And I have more ideas.... of course!

Market Pieces for my Booth

I absolutely LOVED working on this chair!  I am a huge fan of cane-back chairs.

I really liked how the arms of the chair turned out.  That crackle looks so good.  

I debated about whether or not to paint the cane, but I really feel like this looks good keeping it natural

 I have a secret desire to learn how to cane.  But I will have to add it to my super long list with upholstery,  and sewing.  It seems the more I learn, the more I want to learn!

Distractions!!!

Distractions can really interfere with work, but sometimes they are a much needed break.  This weekend I had a wonderful distraction!  Four bunnies!  My friend rescued them from an abandoned nest and a cat.  There were originally five bunnies, but the cat got one of them.  I have raised 2 squirrels, 2 bunnies, countless amounts of birds, turtles, and mice.  I love rescuing small mammals.  Squirrels are my favorite so far, but these cottontails are so stinkin' cute!

This one is Bugsy.  They are about the size of a mouse; they are the smallest bunnies I've ever seen.  Based on their fur, eyes, and ears, I believe they are about 9 days old.  These bitty bunnies require feeding every 3 to 4 hours so I have been pretty busy.

Market is fast approaching and I still have a ton to do.  But who can be stressed out when they are holding one of these bitties? I will post pics of some of the furniture going in my booth tomorrow.  I will have to hand the bitties over to Nina (my mom and partner in crime) so that I can get things done.

Getting Ready!

I am so nervous about the Market on May 10th.  I guess I am equal parts nervous and excited.   I find myself darting around trying to get projects finished up so that I can start working on the details.
Here's what's done:

• Got the tent
• Created/ordered/received the brochures and business cards
• Recruited help with the transportation, set up, and working the booth
• Designed a layout that I think will work

What still needs to be done:

• Clean all small items
• Price the merchandise
• Finish up the screen door backdrops
• Make pillows
• Make a sign
• Get a rug? (not sure about this)
• Pack up everything and get it ready to move

I love to keep busy and this is certainly keeping me busy....

The Road to Round Top (Part Two)

This is part two of a series about what I learned at a popular antique market.  In the last post I talked about a new store by the Junk Gypies and arriving at Round Top.  Here's the part where I really started to pay attention to the details in booths.  I looked at how they were set up, arranged, how people were responding to them, which booths were getting a lot of traffic, and what styles appealed to me.

Zapp Hall is one of the meccas of Round Top.  I have not looked into the history of the building but it is pretty amazing and seems to be at the core of this antique village.  As you can see, the booths are breath-taking with lighting and drapery.  The display is layered in such a way as to draw your eyes into every piece in the booth.  Wow!

 

So here were some of the lessons I learned...

A major part of making your booth appealing is using height.  You want to cause your customers to look at all levels of your booth.  You want their eyes to be drawn upward as they scan around.

It is also important to layer.  Creating some sort of backdrop helps to limit what your customers can see.  Now they see only what you want them to see and they are no longer distracted by other booths or clutter.  I also peeked around this screen and found all of the empty boxes that the owner had used to bring her items in.  So this backdrop also served as a barrier between her inventory and her supplies. 

 

Setting a scene was another tactic booth owners were using.  I am guessing this is so the customer can more easily picture that piece of furniture in their own home.  It also gives your customers decorating ideas.  So even if their home does not currently look like this, the customer can visualize it and dream of how they want their space to look.  Not everyone can look at piece of furniture and instantly know where it can go in their house or how they will use it.

Using empty space was very important as well.  This gal used this wrought iron framing and placed a covered table on the front and then the back.  The frame was sandwiched between the two tables.  She then hung silver platters from the frame and placed different silver pieces on the tables.  Notice she used shelves, a layered cake stand and a magazine rack to layer her items and fill more space.

 

I will be setting up my first booth in two weeks.  I am trying to be realistic about my expectations and capabilities. I will try to use some of each lesson incorporated into my booth.  It won't look as awesome as these, but you've got to start somewhere!

 

Wish me luck!

 

The Road to Round Top (Part One)

The next few weeks will be a whirl wind as I prepare for my first market.  My nights are spent making brochures, designing business cards, painting, waxing, sanding, cleaning, and planning.  My mom, Nina, has helped a lot with picture taking, pillow making, furniture scouting, and even a little painting.  My husband, Jas, has helped with some of the sanding, all of the lifting, and has begun to help me with some of the booth details.

While all of this is going on, I have still been trying to learn as much as I can about this business.  During April the Curbside gang hit the road and travelled to Round Top!  

My mom and I were both excited about this trip because it is a week long gathering of antique dealers, store owners, crafters, garage sale enthusiasts and junkers all coming together to buy and sell everything awesome under the sun.  I decided that this would also be a great way to research and gather information about markets, shows, my customers, my competition, prices and the quality of the furniture makeovers that were being sold.

First stop...  Junk Gypsy!

 

This was fun, pricey... but fun.  I learned a lot about styling, marketing and branding from these gals.  I drooled over their store: The Junk Gypsy World Headquarters.  The store is fantastic, the land they built on is picturesque.  And their style is contagious.  So contagious that many ladies were dressed head to foot like gypsies, almost like a costume party.  The Junk Gypsy ladies have a shrewd head for business and marketing.  The line to the cash register wrapped around the store.  T-shirts were $40, so these girls were making a fortune.

 

Next on the list was the tent city of Round Top!

The tents of Round Top were not a disappointment. 

In the next part of this series, I will show you some of the displays and point out many of the lessons I learned.