Each week your inbox is graced with beautiful pictures of refinished furniture. Unique pieces. Custom finishes. But there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes well before those photos are ever taken. So if you’ve thought about starting your own furniture refinishing business, or any product business for that matter, you need to know what a typical Saturday may look like for you. Here’s one portion of the back-end of running a furniture blog.
A Typical Saturday
If you think weekends were for relaxing, think again. When you run a furniture refinishing business, the weekends are your two most valuable days of the week.
Saturday and Sunday are the days you most often meet with buyers because that’s when they’re most often available. They’re also the days you do the majority of your shopping for inventory and running around.
Today for example…
Last week I was contacted by two new friends, Anne Marie and Kristine, both of which had furniture they were ready to pass along and thought I may like. So early this morning I traveled 40 minutes north to Newburyport to my first stop where I emptied Kristine’s garage of an antique girl’s bedroom set.
Lucky fo me, one of my very best friends, Dorene, lives in the area and agreed to join me and help me load up our SUVs.
Before I had arrived, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. The photo received from Kristine was dark and the all of the furniture pieces seemed to be stacked on top of one another. What we found, was a happy surprise.
The bedroom set included two antique twin beds, a petite bureau, a vanity and stool, a small rocker, and a desk. The desk is actually not pictured. This had to go in Dorene’s van so I’ll pick that up another day.
Underneath the dirt, dust, and cobwebs was a hand-painted green and yellow design. The set is made by Paine Furniture and the original finish is fantastic; but unfortunately it shows enough wear and tear that it’s better off refinished.
Heading back home, I unloaded the entire set, got on the phone for 30 minutes with friend to copyedit and lay out her resume. Yes, this falls under the writing side of my business so I often get calls from friends asking for copywriting assistance.
The next phone call was to my new friend Anne Marie who also had a dresser for me. She happened to be home so I headed over to her house around 3:00 to find this gem of a dresser.
The dresser is a mid-century laminate over solid wood in excellent condition. Yes you can paint over laminate with the proper steps. If you’d like to know how, remember to join the Entry Ways’ email list so you’re notified of that furniture makeover when it’s ready.
We loaded the dresser into my SUV but that was only after our twenty minute conversation about Anne Marie’s gorgous home. It was a renovated & expanded ranch for which she had chosen the most beautiful color of lilac for her living room. You may be thinking… Purple? Yes purple! But it was the lightest, softest purple I had ever seen and bordered on a very light gray.
The color is by Benjamin Moore and is Majestic Mauve.
Anne Marie’s living room was filled with light from the oversized windows and had a ton of white trim so the very light purple was a beautiful contrast and showcased all of the amazing artwork custom-painted by her family.
I’m guessing that at night the color is gorgeous! Unlike my medium-toned gray living room that turns drab at night, I bet her purple still has a light but bright glow at night.
So can you guess what color I’m considering for either this Mid Century dresser or the girl’s vintage bedroom set?
Back at home, once I had all of the furniture unloaded from my truck, I set it up to take these photos for you. It’s been a long day of traveling, heavy lifting, and meeting new friends, so tomorrow I’ll set to work, removing the hardware, sanding it all down, and painting on the primer.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s progress update.
There is no rest for the furniture restorer. I know that all too well and you have a much bigger job that me Vicki. I only do my own furniture you have to run around to find it all. But it was so worth it, those are pretty pieces with lots of potential.
Yes, it’s the part that buyers often forget when looking at the price tag. It’s a ton of work but that’s one of my many jobs that actually relaxes me. I’ll take the running around and restoring to an office job any day! 🙂