Being Part of the Lucketts Community

I had such a great time last weekend at the Lucketts Spring Market. Part of that was because I was so much more comfortable with the whole process and confident in my product than I was last year. And I had the boy with me, who was the perfect combination of hilarious, supportive, and helpful the whole time.

Despite the minimal number of items I came home with, as we drove away from Lucketts Sunday evening, I was quite sad that the experience had come to an end again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I enjoy being part of the community of vendors at the Lucketts market. I love being part of a group that appreciates the coolness and history of vintage furniture and furnishings. I loved being there early Sunday morning, watching the market come alive with vendors and wandering around, talking to people and seeing what everyone had collected. There were young women my age who had done spaces with friends, women in their mid-30s with kids accompanying them, older couples working spaces together, and many different kinds of vendors in between. Each booth was a collection of history and the way people have lived for centuries, and so many vendors had different takes on how that history has evolved. I left yearning for an opportunity to be part of this community more than once a year.

This time last year, I wasn't sure I was going to Lucketts again, but I'm so glad I did. There's no doubt in my mind that I will want to do it again next year. And who knows? Maybe I'll figure out a way to be part of this wonderful group of people more often. Congrats to all the wonderful Lucketts market vendors -- I hope I get to see you all again soon!

Lucketts Spring Market 2013 Recap

I had a great weekend at Lucketts despite the questionable weather. Friday Bro Brennan and my mom helped me pack up a truck, load all my furniture into the space, and secure it so that it would stay dry in the overnight rain.

Saturday morning the boy and I got out to Lucketts early and set up the space. Even though it rained Saturday afternoon, I sold most of my big pieces on Saturday, which was a huge relief. Last year I ended up hauling home my three biggest pieces, so we were VERY happy knowing that two dressers and a large desk would NOT be coming home with us.

I sold this piece right before the market closed on Saturday. It was my first attempt using milk paint and I loved it! I did this old dresser in Miss Mustard Seed's Linen. 

Sunday morning we got there even earlier to load a few more things into my space. We even stopped at Home Depot on the way there to pick up some clear tarps in case the skies opened up on us again. My theory was that in a worst case scenario rain situation, I could still have my stuff out of the tent and visible under clear tarps instead of packed up in the tent where none of the shoppers could see it. We held our breath almost all day, but the weather actually got better as the day went on, and I never really had to use my tarps.

I did this little piecrust table in ASCP Aubusson Blue. It's still available and will soon be in my Etsy Shop.

Bro Brennan called this my "ace". I was happy to sell it to a really nice couple Sunday. Thanks to the boy for helping us figure out how to take it apart and fit it in a sedan!

I had a set of four of these guys out Saturday, and they sat with little interest all day. Fearing they wouldn't sell Sunday, we cut our losses and brought them home Saturday night. I may paint them and reupholster them, but we'll see. Let me know if you are interested in them! 

I made hanging planters/tea light holder/vases on Saturday night but sold not a one Sunday. A lot of people commented on how they thought they were a great idea, so I'll be writing a blog post about how I made them soon.

In the words of Bro Brennan, "This thing is going to end up in some poor hillbilly's living room." I this ox yoke it to a guy who collects them. Another person who was interested in it wanted to remove the bentwood pieces and run pendant lights through the holes, which I thought would be a really cool idea. Her husband wasn't buying it. 

This little table is still available. It's a custom blend of ASCP Provence and Pure White. This picture doesn't show how blue it is, but I believe it's in a few other pictures on this post.

I sold a pair of these chairs to a lovely woman on Sunday. I have another two that I haven't redone yet, so come back to see how I end up redoing those two!

This old antique Eastlake table is also still available. It has a custom gray blend on the first layer, covered by ASCP Pure White. It will be in my Etsy shop shortly!

The moisture made things difficult -- paint was scratching off of things easily and I ended up having to find a sample of chalk paint to fix a scratch or two. Good thing someone was selling paint at the Market!

I was a little disappointed to see this chair go because it was sooooo comfortable. I don't need another upholstery project (this red wasn't exactly working in our living room), but I could have seriously sat in that thing all day. 

Last year I had put so much prep work into my pieces that I was not willing to negotiate too much on my pieces. This year I made a conscious effort to collect pieces that didn't need a ton of work, so I was willing to let them go for less of a profit margin. I also knew that I would have a tough time offloading some of it post-market since I've been getting low-balled to the extreme lately on Craigslist. I know my prices were lower than a lot of the people around me by the end of the market, but most of them have physical shops to sell out of if their pieces don't sell so they could afford to demand higher prices.

I ended up coming home with three end tables, a trunk, and a bunch of small items that I mostly brought to make my booth look more finished. Those tables will probably be for sale on Etsy shortly, so let me know if you're interested in any of them.

The chairs and the mint table in the back were already sold when I took this picture. Everything you see here ended up coming home with me. Too bad I don't have a before picture so you can see how much was here to begin with.

Did you shop the Lucketts Spring Market? Were you a vendor? I'd love to hear how your experience was! With the Lucketts Market and all the barn sales open this weekend, the Leesburg-Frederick stretch of route 15 was a veritable furniture Mecca. It's a good thing I was a vendor because I would've spent my life's savings on furniture and knick-knacks if I had been a shopper.

My First Sale

You may have noticed the blue glass insulators that pop up in a lot of my styled pictures:

I brought a bunch of insulators with me to Lucketts, and realized that a lot of people don't know what they are. Never fear, I'm here to throw some knowledge on you. Insulators are placed at the top of electrical or telephone poles, where wires are wrapped around them to prevent the wire from touching the wood. Today you can look at the tops of electrical poles and see stacks of ceramic insulators, but before the 1960s, most of them were made of glass.

I love insulators for many reasons. I'm a sucker for blue translucent glass, they catch light beautifully, and they are great for styling just about any surface, especially if you're going for an eclectic (electric?) look. But insulators are near and dear to my heart for another reason: my grandpa collected them.

My grandpa spent his career as a telephone man. This influenced my family quite a bit. My dad and uncle know how to run wire pretty much anywhere in a house, and the entire family has a propensity for backing into parking spaces. I even grew up playing with old rotary telephones that my grandpa gave us when we were kids.

When the telephone company started converting their insulators to ceramic, my grandpa collected the old glass insulators. When my grandparents downsized, he put most of the insulators on a shelf near his workshop. He and my grandma also scattered them throughout their house, a small symbol of the pride my grandpa had in his work long after he retired. When he died, all of his children and grandchildren acquired portions of the collection.

Insulators make me quite nostalgic, and I always think of my grandpa when I see them. But that's not the only reason I decided to acquire some extras and sell them at Lucketts. My grandpa was an extremely handy guy, and as I've mentioned in past posts, he did amazing work to furniture that looked beyond repair. I still remember how every Tuesday, he would go visit his friend Freddie and repair furniture in Freddie's workshop with some other friends. It wasn't unusual to come across a few broken chairs in the cellar waiting to fixed up or re-caned. My grandpa's appreciation for old, well made furniture, his ability to see beauty in broken, beat up pieces, and his sheer love of tinkering and working with his hands undoubtedly influenced my passion for refurbishing old furniture.

My grandpa died six years ago last week. He lived a long and extremely fulfilling life, the kind that you can't help but use as a benchmark for your own. My only real regret is that I didn't fully embrace my furniture refurbishing hobby until after he died. There's so much that I still wish I could learn from him and work into my craft.

So where am I going with this? Well, as I stood anxiously at my Lucketts booth Saturday morning, not having sold anything right away, I wondered if this whole experience was going to be a big bust. But as the boy likes to remind me, I should have had more faith in myself. As the title of this post would suggest, soon enough, I made my first sale. And it was, quite appropriately, an insulator.

My Grandpa played baseball for the Cooperstown Indians on Doubleday field!

Lucketts Favorites: Mid-century Modern Herringbone Tables

Thank you SO much to Becky from Preparing for Peanut for sending me this picture she snapped during the market!

Shortly after I found out I would be selling furniture at Lucketts, I picked up these mid-century modern tables on craigslist.

The finish on both tables was in really bad shape, and had alligatored in a lot of places. The tops both had water rings on them. 

They were very solid and had potential, so I was excited about the acquisition.

To take off the bad finish, I sanded until my hands were about to fall off. I even bought a Dremel Multi-Max with the detail sander attachment to help sand the places where I was struggling and make the process go faster. 

Once the finish was gone, I applied a coat of wood conditioner and then a coat of Minwax Antique Walnut stain. I really didn't like the color I got, which was much closer to black than I wanted, so I put two layers of General Finishes Java gel stain over the Minwax to darken and richen it up a bit. I let the stain dry for a couple days before I got to painting it. 

I knew I wanted to paint a herringbone pattern on these tables in an effort to kind of exaggerate their mid-century, "Mad Men" style. My original plan was to use some of my white Benjamin Moore Advance paint to paint the pattern, but I was coming down to the wire and really didn't have time to wait for the dry time of Advance paint. So instead, I ran off to buy some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White from the Stylish Patina space at Stifel &Capra in Falls Church. 

I chose to use chalk paint mostly because I knew it would dry quickly and cover well. I taped out the row of stripes that faced one direction first and painted the pattern on the table there. Once that was dry, I taped out the rows of strips facing the opposite direction and painted those. 

Here's what the table looked like after I painted the pattern. 

Another advantage of using the chalk paint was that I could sand the pattern very easily without making the paint peel. When the herringbone pattern was dry, I used 220 grit sandpaper to sand the edges of the color and give it a slightly distressed feel. Then I wiped off the dust with a damp cloth. 

To seal the table, I first brushed on a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax. After giving that about an hour to set, I mixed a tiny amount of my Java stain with some wax and brushed that over the entire thing to make the graphic herringbone pattern not quite as severe. I buffed off that wax almost immediately so that it wasn't too dark. 

Side note: Can  you believe this is the only good picture I have of them? Can you believe this is the one I consider "good"? Fail. 

Thank you SO much to Becky from Preparing for Peanut for sending me this picture she snapped during the market!

Unfortunately I didn't take very good pictures of the finished product. They were a hit at Lucketts--so many people stopped by to look at them--but they didn't sell until Sunday. So, note to self: just because something looks really cool doesn't mean that a ton of people will want it in their living room/bedroom. I ended up selling the tables to Amy Theodore of Hunt & Gather, who had some really rockin' mid-century pieces in their tent too. I'm mega flattered that those girls loved these tables as much as I did. 

I know some people came by and took pictures of them, so if you were one of those people can you pleeeeeaaaaase email them to me? You would seriously become my bff. 

Linked to: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Domestically Speaking, Miss Mustard Seed, Redoux, Shabby Nest, Making Lemonade

Lucketts Favorites: Blue Rocking Chair

When I was getting ready for Lucketts, a lot of my friends asked me which pieces were my favorite projects. So, I thought I'd do a few posts about my favorites.

I bought this rocking chair at the last minute, about a week before the market. It had a cane back and cane bottom. The cane bottom looked new, but the back looked terrible. I haven't yet learned how to weave cane furniture, so I decided to reupholster this chair. And I was in such a rush to finish projects that I forgot to take a before picture. Bummer.

Using spray primer, I primed it and painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence. I mostly primed it because I didn't know what color I wanted to paint it, but I'm glad I did because I didn't want any of the black paint to show through anyway. After the paint dried, I went over it with a coat of wax.

I was actually planning to put different fabric on it, but at the last second I realized how gorgeous the retro flowered fabric looked with the blue, so I decided to use that instead. Once I had upholstered the front and back, I had to figure out what kind of trim to use. I wasn't really wanting to sew double-welt cord, so I looked around my house to see what I had. That's when I saw my big bag of cord that I would ordinarily use to sew double weight cord. The oatmeal color looked perfect against the fabric, so I doubled it up and attached it.

I am so in love with this color fabric combo to the point where I might actually do our unfinished dining chairs in this style. I sold it to a lady who has two little boys and was decorating a nursery for her little girl on the way. I love that this chair will look adorable in a nursery but be able to grow with the little girl too.

So that's my favorite. I'll be back later this week with more info.

P.S. Tonight I'm going to see a lecture by Jonathan Adler at the Corcoran with some blogger friends and I'm so pumped. Anyone else in DC going?

Linked to: Primitive and Proper, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Domestically Speaking, Miss Mustard Seed, Redoux, Shabby Nest, Making Lemonade

Union Jack Stool

Last week I mentioned how I normally turn my nose up at trends, and this week I’m going to tell you about one that I’ve totally embraced. I know, I’m such an enigma.

People are painting Union Jacks on everything. A year ago a columnist on Design*Sponge even proclaimed that Union Jack is the new black. I couldn’t help but jump on the train. Not only am I pretty darn British in heritage, the Union Jack is really cool. It’s a bold, graphic, iconic pattern with near symmetry to boot. When painted on unexpected surfaces, it adds a lot of graphic character to a room.

The only thing I don’t quite understand about this trend is that it’s not really the easiest thing to do. I mean yeah, it’s straightforward, but I think free-handing something less precise would be a lot easier. It takes a long time to paint the Union Jack on stuff. If you’re a perfectionist like me, you’re measuring and trying to get your painters tape just right, and then you realize that you have to paint five coats of red to cover the white you’ve already painted, and then you realize that you really set up this pattern on a square instead of a rectangle so it doesn’t look quite like the real thing, but it’s still pretty darn close. Yeah, this was a labor of love.

I wanted to paint something graphic on a stool I picked up on Craigslist, so I decided on the Union Jack. Here's what the stool looked like before:

I was so bogged down in process that I forgot to take pictures of the process itself. I just wanted to get this thing done. Here’s a quick run down of how I tackled this:

1. Sanded and primed the stool with two coats of Zinsser Cover Stain primer.
2. Sprayed the stool with blue glossy enamel spray paint. When I realized how long it takes that spray paint to dry (4-6 hours!), I ran to the store and bought some Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover 2X in gloss navy blue, which dries a lot faster.
3. Sprayed the stool with 3 coats of the new spray paint, flipping it over first and then putting it on its feet to make sure I got every surface.
4. Let the paint dry for a few days and then measured and taped out the white surfaces.
5. Used a brush to paint three coats of white satin Benjamin Moore paint that I had on hand.
6. Let the paint dry a few days and then measured and taped out the red cross.
7. Sealed the painter’s tape by dipping a small-ish brush in white paint and going along the edges of the painter’s tape.
8. Used a brush to paint 4-5 coats (I lost track) of red.
9. Let the paint dry a day and then measured and taped out the diagonal red stripes.
10. Sealed the painter’s tape by dipping a small-ish brush in white paint and going along the edges of the painter’s tape.
11. Used a small brush to paint another 4-5 coats of red for the diagonals.
12. Dipped a very small brush in the white paint and touched up areas where the red had bled through.
13. Brushed two coats of Minwax PolyCrylic over the seat.

As you can see, this was kind of a long process. But I think the stool looks pretty cool. I wish I had made the flag perfect. I hate not drawing flags correctly because it feels disrespectful. And let’s be honest, I already painted the flag on a place to sit your bum. But if the American Flag can be made into bikinis and Speedos, then this probably isn’t too bad. It could even be used as a small night table next to a bed to hold a book and a glass of water. 

This guy will probably come along to the Lucketts Market with me May 19-20!

Linked to: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Savvy Southern Style, Making Lemonade, Domestically Speaking, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, Thrifty Decorating, Miss Mustard Seed, Giggles, Glitz and Glam, The Shabby Nest, Redoux, Finding Fabulous, My Repurposed Life, Elizabeth & Co., Primitive & Proper

Stenciled Chalk Paint Table

If you spend as much time reading furniture and design blogs as I do, you’ve probably read about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Well, I had read about 5 million blog posts where people use this magic chalk paint to change their furniture into a Paris flea market find look alike. I had two major issues with this:

1. While the chalk paint was cute on romantic antiques, I was sick of seeing people apply a "cottage chic", "parisian flea market" style to Danish midcentury modern tables. It just didn’t make sense to me. Some of the furniture looked great, but did every piece of furniture a person laid their eyes on need to be painted? And in this way? Gahhhh.
2. It’s freaking $36 a quart. And by the way, you really have to buy wax to put over it, which is another $26. 

But really my main reason was that there’s this real snotty side of me who just isn’t interested in embracing something seemingly ordinary that everyone else thinks is awesome, especially when I can see how it all turns out online. It’s the same reason why I never read the Harry Potter books. I mean everyone and their mother (literally) was reading it, and I already knew the story, and I didn’t feel like reading a bunch of long books just because everyone else loved them. I’m doing my same snotty move when it comes to the Hunger Games. I also fully rejected Uggs. There are some trends I embrace fully, but those are just some that I have snubbed.

Which is why you may be surprised that this post is about my first experience with chalk paint. Yeah, I caved. It happened after I went into a store for Benjamin Moore paint chips and asked the color consultant what her favorite whites for furniture were. And then I had this conversation:

Color Consultant: “You’re painting furniture? Have you tried that Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?? Oh my gosh, my sister and I picked up some paint and a bunch scrap wood and tried a bunch of different treatments. It is so fun!”

Me: “Nahhh, it’s just so expensive.”

Color Consultant: “But it goes so far! And there’s so much you can do with it!”

Me: “Huh yeah maybe I’ll try that…anyway, do you recommend any whites?”

This store didn’t even sell Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. But it was around that point that I decided if I was going to be even semi-professionally involved in this industry, I should try this new and popular product.  Plus, I’ll admit, I was curious. So I headed to Stifel and Capra in Falls Church and picked up a quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence from the stockist, Stylish Patina.

I decided to do a paint/stain treatment on an end table I bought on Craigslist. Before I applied the chalk paint, I had to sand and stain the top. I applied Minwax Dark Walnut stain to the surface. After the stain had dried for a couple days (not necessary, just my lack of time), I lined the edges of the table with painters table to prevent the paint from getting on the recently stained table surface.

Then I took to my adventure with the chalk paint. And I have to say; it was really easy to use. I applied two coats of paint and let it dry. The next night, I used the same stencil that I created for my desk to stencil the surface of the table while watching Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and Duck Dynasty on TV with my roomie. It was a wild Friday night.

After the paint dried, I went over the edges and details with a sanding wedge. Then I used a rag to wipe off the dust so that I could apply my wax. I ended up buying the Annie Sloan wax because it was high quality, easy to use, and I would’ve had to order other recommended wax so the price seemed worth it. I also splurged and bought a waxing brush because, well, I just love new tools and this one looked so cool.

Waxing was mega easy. I used Miss Mustard Seed’s video tutorial, and I highly recommend you do the same.

After I applied clear wax and let it dry for a while, I used a little bit of my Dark Walnut stain mixed with the clear wax and applied it to the table with a chip brush. I let it dry a tiny bit, and then spread it and wiped off the excess with a clean cloth. I really liked using this technique because I didn’t have to by dark wax (saving me another $26), and because it gave the color some very subtle depth.

The next day, I used a cloth to buff the table, giving it a subtle sheen.

I’m very happy with how the table came out, and I definitely understand why so many people are using chalk paint. It applies easily, and the best part about it is that it’s not supposed to look perfect, so if you make some mistakes, it just adds to the character. And because it covers very well with just two coats, and is easily watered down to give more of a wood-wash look, it does really go a long way. This paint looks good, and it goes on quickly. It may be $36 a quart, but time is money, right? 

I can’t say that I’m going to start painting every piece I see with chalk paint, but I’m definitely going to keep it in my stash and use it when I feel a piece is calling out for it. 

And oh yeah, this table is probably coming with me to the Lucketts Spring Market May 19-20 if I don’t sell it earlier! (If you didn't know I was selling, check out this post.)

Linked: Miss Mustard Seed, My Repurposed Life, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Redoux, The Shabby Nest, Savvy Southern Style, 504 Main, Somewhat Simple, Primitive and Proper

On Going for It

Source: imgfave.com via Sarah on Pinterest

There are very few things that I can do for eight hours at a time and not get bored. But for some magical reason I can spend 8 hours sanding and be disappointed that I need to stop, shower, and, you know, be social on a Saturday night. I have the hardest time dragging my butt out of bed in the morning, but the prospect of snagging a great piece of furniture at a yard sale will get me moving.

I’ve always maintained that I will not be the person who spends 40+ hours of my week in a job in which I'm not content. I know that’s a huge departure from many mindsets, and that it’s a little entitled—many people don’t have an option and do what they can to put food on the table, and I respect that.  But it just seems to me that if I can somehow do something that I love instead, I should do everything to make that happen. And I should do it while I’m young, before I have a family and my priorities change. And keeping a family in mind, I should set myself up with something that could allow me to work and do something I love even when I do have a family.

No, I’m not quitting my job. No, I’m not going back to school to pursue a dream career. I don’t even know what that would be at this point. I do know this: I am completely happy when I am acquiring, fixing, refinishing, and painting furniture. I am so, so, so content to make things. So happy that I had this conversation with the boy, who had a (very good looking, ladies) friend coming to town on Friday:

Me: Soooo…what are you guys doing tonight?

Boy: Not sure, picking up [good looking friend], getting some dinner, and then probably going out.

Me: So you guys probably want to have a guys’ night, right? Because you can totally have a guys’ night if you want to have a guys’ night. I know you haven’t seen each other in a while.

Boy: Uh, yeah maybe. Did you want to go out this weekend?

Me: Uh yeah, sure, I just, you know, wanted to give you guys some time together tonight because I figured you would want a guys’ night and then maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night after my brother’s play.

Boy: What are your plans for tonight?

Me: Well…I was kind of going to sew some curtains. 

Hi, my name is Sarah, I am almost 25 years old, and I want to rush home from work on a Friday night so that I can start a project. It’s a good thing I already have a bf, because I think my chances of picking up a new stud muffin would be pretty low if I continue along this trajectory.

My bf is sweet. When I go home after work and debate between going to the gym and painting furniture, he tell me,“do what makes you happy.” That is almost always furniture/crafting/sewing (which I reason burns some calories and has me in some very muscle-straining positions sometimes anyway). His advice makes me more aware of what I enjoy doing, and prevents me from feeling guilty about letting the floor of my room become overgrown with dirty clothes and my letting my butt get a little bit bigger.

When friends from college ask me what my plans (for life?) are, I don't generally have an answer. I saw an old friend last fall and told him that I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do with my life, and that I had some ideas but didn’t know how to pursue them and blah blah and I was being mega wishy-washy about it. And he wasn't having my wishy-washiness and told me that I could do a lot, I just needed to be more confident in myself. I knew he was right.

This blog has helped me gain more confidence. The wonderfully positive comments on my projects, which have been featured on other sites, made me think, “Hey, I might actually be good at this.” I’m participating in a community of bloggers and furniture people, which makes me feel more professional too. I am by no means an expert, but when friends ask me how to refinish something, I find myself spouting off tons of information to them.

via The Old Lucketts Store

About two weeks ago I came across some information about the Lucketts Spring Market. Lucketts is a really cool “Vintage Hip” store near Leesburg that sells antique furniture from the likes of Miss Mustard Seed and other people who I unfortunately don’t know. I highly recommend a visit if you haven't been there already. Anyway, Lucketts was selling booths for their spring market for $75 apiece, first come, first served. I decided on a whim to fill out the application and mail in my check, thinking that they were probably full of vendors already, but who knows? Friday night, while I was sewing my curtains, my roommate said, “Oh yeah, there’s this big envelope for you that came in the mail.” It was from Lucketts; I’m in! Mark your calendars to come see me at Lucketts on May 19th and 20th!

I have a little under three months to do enough furniture to fill a 10x10 booth and--oh yes--prep for all the businessy stuff that comes along with it. It feels amazing. Finally, for the first time since I was in college, I am working towards a concrete goal. I'm also taking a risk on myself, which I haven’t really done in a while either.

I don’t know if this is the beginning of a selling-furniture on the side thing, whether I could turn it into a full-time gig, or where my career is going. But I know that at least I’m taking a professional step into doing something that makes me incredibly happy, and that’s worth something, right?

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Have any of you sold at the Lucketts Spring Market before? Any tips? Does anyone have a 10x10 tent they need to get rid of? I better stop writing. I have SO much work to do.