I spent the morning “white-washing” a bunch of thrift store finds; tomorrow I need to distress them. These types of items seem to be the primary things moving in my booth right now, so adapting my plan accordingly. Gotta pay the bills!
I know, I should wear gloves…the upside is that this is non-toxic paint 
I have a bunch of posts written in my head that I promise to get to. Just trying to get my act together and last week we had a scare with our oldest pup and had to do the long-drawn (as in all several day), tear-filled conversations of pain management vs. quality of life.
The upside: after a 2nd opinion with our primary vet, after a visit with the ER vet and an orthopedic specialist, we learned that things weren’t so dire and we had more options. Now we get to have our girl around for a little longer and she’s resting comfortably (and this mama is especially relieved)
Last weekend I was planning on working on some orders on Saturday, then catching up with my girlies on Sunday for our monthly brunch. Then I got a call from The Barn saying I had a customer put a hold on two of my pieces of furniture. She was going to come back the following day to purchase and pick up. The customer was interested in my coffee table and french provincial desk – my first two pieces of furniture I refinished. GREAT news I thought – this means people like my furniture and I get to make some much needed cash (booth sales have been awful terribly slow again, as in not even covering my costs this past month unfortunately)!! CRAP I also thought – I only had one other piece of furniture, so unless I worked on new pieces, most of my stuff would be moved to the floor when she came to pick up those 2 pieces; I never imagined someone would purchase two pieces of furniture at once!
So I rearranged my schedule, started painting/staining/distressing two pieces that I had been meaning to get to (nothing like a TIGHT deadline to get you motivated!). I worked all afternoon and right up to dark…putting the finishing touches on the french provincial dresser that I picked up along with the desk and a small table I also purchased at a goodwill.
Of course I forgot to take a “before” pic, but the dresser was the same style/color as the desk I did earlier
Here’s the after!
I had to cancel my plans with my girlfriends and the next morning, loaded the furniture into the car, made the hour+ drive and got to my booth before the customer came and cleared me out of fixtures. The thought of my artwork and goods on the floor horrified me so I was glad I beat her there.
But then came the challenging task of trying to merchandise 5 pieces of furniture into a 6′x12′ booth. Not easy. I called the customer to tell her I was clearing off her pieces of furniture and leaving at the outskirts of booth for easy pick-up. Unfortunately, she had a change of heart and wasn’t going to buy the furniture after all. Appears her husband wasn’t into the style of furniture as much as she was.
Here I was in a 100+ year old, non-airconditioned barn, lugging furniture up the stairs, completely re-merchandising my space and dripping sweat in the 90+ degree heat. And having to scramble the previous 24 hours and cancel my brunch. All. for. naught. Man, selling retail can really bite. To say I was cranky is to put it mildly.
The upside: Well my space is busting at the seams fully furnished and now I have more chances of selling higher cost goods in my booth *fingers crossed*
I had to stuff the coffee table under the small dining table I just refinished in order to get it to all fit!
Oh and did I mention that in my rush to get two pieces completed before the sun set, I dropped the can of very expensive chalk paint…all over our deck?
Top deck
And that it also splattered to the deck below and onto the side of our stained/log home?
Bottom deck
The upside: Both decks needed to be sanded/restained this summer and the paint (CeCeCaldwell Chalk Paint) is eco-friendly, non-toxic and if not sealed in wax or poly, can be washed off (and most of it has come up after some soap and hard scrubbing). I guess it could be worse!
Life is feeling a little “lemony” lately…but hey, at least the weather has been nice! 
