How LONG has it been?

I cannot believe it has been since December since I posted on this blog!  I can testify to the truth of the old saying that 'time flies by faster when you get older.'  Between work, family illnesses, and just plain business...I fear my blog fell by the wayside.  A casualty of the war for my attention!

I wanted to resuscitate my blog since we are finally going to open our small, monthly vintage shop.  It too has been a long time coming. We have been hunting, picking, and painting vintage furniture and selecting complimentary items for our shop for almost a year now...and we have quite an accumulation!

We have one month to get things arranged, priced and staged in addition to scads of details to attend to before the Grand Opening date of October 3rd & 4th!

Until next time,
May the Lord keep you and bless you, 
Donna

Whitewashing Wall Paneling with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

My, my.  How fast time slips by.  It has been some time since my last post.

I have shared before that my sister Betty and I are in the process of remodeling an old family carpet store into our very own vintage furniture and home decor shop. We are so excited but it is such a slow go since we both hold down jobs and have family obligations.  But we are making some progress.

We are finally beginning work on the inside (I will post some pictures of our completed cottage/country porch soon).  My brother-in-law has been patching multiple holes in the dry wall (where previous hangers for carpet samples were mounted) and is ready to paint the half of the building he is currently working on.  Why just half of the building you may ask?  Because we have our vintage junk stored in the other half! Our game plan is to do one side and then flip and do the other.

My post-holiday project today was to tackle the wood paneling on the front side of our counter.  I had this vision of a whitewashed effect.  You know, like you see in beach cottages.  I did a little (several hours) research on Pinterest (are you surprised?) on whitewashing paneling and quite frankly they all were very labor intense.  In addition to being a great procrastinator, I am not so crazy about doing multiple prepping steps. That's when I got the idea to try my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!  It is famous for no prep work and I had about 1/3 can of Old White left. So I decided to give it a try.

Please, please do not look at the clutter.

This paneling is the common wood paneling board that dates to the 1980's.  Slick and shiny.

I mixed my Chalk Paint 50/50 with water and brushed it on the paneling. I was not sure if it would adhere since I was not doing any prep work at all. I then wiped off the excess paint gently with an old T-shirt.

My 50/50 Annie Sloan wash

Miracles of miracles, it adhered perfectly!  However, one coat just didn't look right.

Annie Sloan wash on left, wiped off on right

I decided to try a second coat using the same technique.  By now I had it down to a process and had learned how much pressure to apply while wiping off the paint.  With coat number two, it was looking much closer to what I had envisioned.

After two coats...I'm liking this!

The thing about Chalk Paint is it looks flat and, well, chalky. It has a rough, chalky texture as well.

Great coverage...but flat and chalky.

So I decided to use some of my Annie Sloan Clear Wax.  It tones down the chalky look and always gives a nice finish to my painted furniture pieces.  So why not on a wall?

OK...much better detail and the finish is smoother.

After doing the first section I knew this was the look I was going for.

Looking better!

It now looks very cottage-like and once we get the baseboards and walls painted it will make the kind of statement I hoped for.  We still have a great deal of work to do but I love seeing the vision unfold!

All in all...not a bad day's work!

As I was whitewashing and waxing the wall I could not help but think of Tom Sawyer!  I kept waiting for someone to come along and want to have some fun too...but alas....no one came!

Until next time,
Donna

Starting A Vintage Furniture Business...At My Age?

I was shocked to see that it has been some time since my last blog post.  I have been a first rate blogging procrastinator.  But I have found new motivation!  The season has changed, fall has arrived, and I have an announcement to make.  

My sister, Betty, and I have decided to take the plunge and open our own vintage furniture shop!   I am 63 years old and getting close to retirement and she is in her late 50’s!  What are we thinking?  Are we completely bonkers?  Well, maybe...but we have thought about this for some time now.

I decided I have at least one more career adventure in me.  Betty and I love the thrill of the hunt for the vintage pieces we put into out antique mall booths.  We love to find forlorn and forgotten vintage furniture pieces and paint and refurbish them into treasures someone would love to have in their home.  It is more than a hobby with us, it is a passion.  And if you look at our respective homes, it might resemble some sort of vintage furniture hoarding disorder has smitten both of us. We can only fit so much stuff in our mall booths and we are thinking bigger than that.  We began to dream….

Then we began develop a plan.  We began to believe that starting small (even for a small business) and starting on a proverbial shoestring was something we could accomplish.  Fortunately, we have a small building next to my home that served as a family carpet business for many years.  It has not been in service for some time as a business but we have been using the front portion as a storage facility for our vintage finds.  My brother-in-law is using the back portion as a garage to store his motor cycle and work on his cars.  

Talk about low overhead!  No rent!  Just insurance and utilities. With some much needed TLC, we just might make this place into a quaint, little shop!  We had the vision!  Now, it was time to take the plunge. We decided to invest in a new metal roof (already on before I thought to take the photos) and add a country porch to the front to go with our cottage theme.  We are in the process of getting the porch built at this time.

See that RV storage shed?  It will be perfect for furniture sales in the summer months.  That country porch will make a great display area for several of our primitive, outdoor pieces.  My wonderful brother-in-law is a great carpenter which is another blessing to us.

Once we get the outside finished, we plan on spending the winter months remodeling the inside.  I plan on doing a series of blog posts on our progress not only in remodeling but also our experiences in setting up our business.  If you are thinking of starting your own shop, our successes and mistakes (they will come, I am most sure) might provide some inspiration for you.

Until next time,

Donna