It's a Go!

Just a quick update:

I was able to negotiate the size space for Mr. P's Emporium I had originally thought I was getting (see Wednesdays post) in the larger space they had available.  The management in the antique mall are very nice, and the extra 15 sq.ft. will be filled in with their merchandise.  It's not the ideal situation, and I liked the original location I thought I was getting better, but it will work. Yay!!

Because more things need to be moved this way and I could use extra time to get some pieces done anyway, I've pushed back my move-in date to Monday -- so the space will be all set-up and looking good by the middle of the week.

I'll post some photos of my latest finds (I just made a couple of great scores!), and what I'm working on over the weekend -- but I wanted to let you know the space is definitely a go!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Just Ducky

I've always loved those plucky English characters in old films or PBS series who, whenever they're asked how they are doing, answer in their cockney accent, "Just ducky dearie, 'ow about yourself?" 

No matter what's actually going on with them, no matter what trials and tribulations, everything is always "just ducky."

So when it comes to talking about the new space for Mr. P's Emporium, I'll say that things are "just ducky," even though there's been a bit of a glitch.  Or "crossed wires" as I was told today.  Because if I keep saying that to myself, perhaps I'll believe it and not have a minor melt-down!

Basically what it boils down to is the space I was shown is not the space that is available.  (Just ducky .... everything's just ducky ... )  Since I need wall space, (there is a 4' height limit to keep site lines free in the open area, so because I have dressers and sometimes some larger pieces, I wanted a space along a wall where there is no height limit), the two spaces that are actually available are either 2' shorter or 5' longer than what I thought I was renting.

Now I have to decide whether I want to pay more rent and take the bigger space, or take the smaller space -- which has a window in it which I can't cover up, so that limits the wall space even more.  I mean, I wanted to start out small, but that's really frigging small!

Or I can just walk away. But whatever I decide, I need to do it quickly, because the plan was to move in on Friday.

As in the day after tomorrow.

Isn't that ... well, you know ... just ducky!

 

 

So let's chat about something else ducky, shall we?  Duck Egg Blue Annie Sloan chalk paint.  Love, love, love that color.  I had part of a can left over from a previous piece I did, so I decided to do some "assembly line" painting the other day and did five smaller pieces with it.  Actually six if you count the corkboard that's the start of a project I'm doing.

This sweet little vintage corner table started out  with an unfortunate paint job that someone spent a lot of time on.  It's hard to tell by the photo but it had four different colors with iridescent accents.

  

Personally, I just didn't think it worked.  So I gave it a new look with the Duck Egg.  I think it looks so cute and fresh now.

 

 

It would be great in a guest bathroom or a little girl's bedroom.

 

 

 

These two little maple end tables originally looked like this:

And now they look like this (although not the greatest photo to show the colors, the next one is better).

I painted the tops and the bottom shelves in Duck Egg, and the legs in French Linen, then lightly distressed the edges and legs.

I didn't get a before shot of this mirror, but it was a light oak, and nothing to write home about.

 

The Duck Egg Blue makes it much more special!

And the fan and vine detail pops much more with a light distressing.

And lastly, I picked up this little wood spice rack at Goodwill. It was very, very sad. But I patched it up, gave it a paint job -- and it's adorable!

I think these pieces really are just ducky!

I'll let you know what the outcome of the space dilemma is as soon as I decide!

 

French Linen Dresser -- Opinions Needed!

French Linen is one of my favorite ASCP colors. I've used it on my dining room table top and a number of other pieces.

 

Dining Room Table.

You can read more about it here.

I've seen some pieces in Blogland where French Linen has been combined with natural wood, and I thought it looked great -- but I hadn't tried that yet myself.  So when I found this dresser, I knew I wanted to do a combo treatment on it.

It just needed some minor repairs and a good cleaning. 

I painted the top, sides, and front of the dresser in the French Linen, did a light distressing, and finished it with Annie Sloan clear wax.

 
Since the wood on the drawers was in pretty good condition, I just gave the drawers a light sanding, followed by a couple of coats of Howard Restore-a-Finish in Walnut, and finished with Howard Feed-n-Wax.  Easy! I didn't have to strip and stain!  Yay!

I didn't even have to take off the original hardware, which I love.

But here's where I need some help making up my mind:

I originally planned on painting (and distressing) the medallion in the middle of the top drawer too.  I thought it would nicely tie-in the wood with the painted parts of the piece.

But after I finished revitalizing the wood, I decided I like the grain in the medallion, and now I can't decide if I should paint it or not.

 

 

What do you think?

Here's kind of an idea of what it would look like painted. You've got to have vision -- actually, lots of vision! Try to ignore my bad (not to mention I was trying to do it quickly!) Photoshop skills and imagine the color not popping out so much, distressed and waxed. Is that even possible? How about if you squint?  Can you get the idea?

I need to decide soon, because this is one of the pieces I'll be moving into Mr. P's Emporium's new space.

Did I mention I'm officially opening October 1st?  Did I mention I'm a tad stressed out?

We'll be moving stuff in next Friday, so I have a week to get some more pieces painted, and everything tagged.  I have lots of fun "smalls" to bring into the space too, so this weekend I'll be deciding what to bring in first.

I'll be sharing some sneak peeks here and on Mr. P's Emporium's Facebook page next week.  (Please "Like" that page for all ongoing shop info!)

Hope you all have a great weekend!  I'll be here -- painting my little heart out!!

(Don't forget to let me know what you think I should do -- I keep going back and forth and need some input!)

Sharing at:

Elizabeth & Co.: Be Inspired
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Redoux
2805: Potpourri Party
Common Ground: Vintage Inspiration
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
My Romantic Home: Show & Tell Friday
Primitive & Proper: POWW

 

Welcome to my World

It's Friday!  If you were here I'd sing you the "Friday Song," but since you can't hear my magnificent ;-) song stylings in person, I'll just have to wish you the best of days! 

The weather here in Northern Virginia has been absolutely beautiful this week -- sunny, in the 80's with no humidity, with just a hint of Fall in the air.  I've been finishing up a freelance project and painting pieces for my new space, which opens October 1st.

I had big plans for taking advantage of the weather and being super productive this week since I could spread out and paint outside. But as usual, my life gets in the way.

Case in point -- last night I ended up here:

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a bit of a klutz.  Okay, "a bit" might be putting it kindly.  Well last night, with the leashes of two dogs in both hands so I couldn't catch myself, I tripped, fell against our front step, and slashed the front of my leg.

Add the fact that the step is concrete, and I have a worry-wart husband (actually, I think his concern about me is very sweet!), and we had to take a trip to the ER.  He convinced me with his descriptions about various bacteria, and the fact that it hurt to barely touch most of my shin. 

(FYI in my zeal to beat back the flesh-eating germs hubby was warning me about, I used hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound.  The nurse told me that was "old school" and that only soap and water should be used, followed by an antibiotic cream or ointment.  Turns out hydrogen peroxide kills healthy tissue!  So if you didn't know already know this, consider it today's Craigslist Junkie's health lesson. See all the the important things you can learn here!)

An x-ray, a tetanus shot and an ace bandage ensued, and we were on our way home.  Nothing major -- just a long cut, scrapes and a lot of bruising and swelling. I'm supposed to stay off of it and keep it elevated for 24 hours, so my vision of painting up a storm today has now fizzled.

Anyway ... I did want to tell you a little more about the new space for Mr. P's Emporium.  It's at the Leesburg Court of Shoppes, which is right on Rt. 15.  It's about 4-miles south of downtown Leesburg, VA,  and 8-miles south of Lucketts, near Oatlands Plantation. 

It's more of a traditional antique mall than say, a place like Lucketts, and I'll be the only vendor selling hand-painted vintage furniture.  Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing -- we'll just have to wait and see.  In addition to the furniture I'll be selling vintage home accessories and decor items, and some crafts for the holidays. The mall went under new management last year, and they are really helpful to new sellers like me.

I'm going to have a "soft" opening (I'm acting like this is a real store instead of a little space! Oh well ... channeling my old retail marketing days!), and once I get settled in I plan to have a small celebration.  I'll send out notices once everything is formalized, and announce it on Mr. P's Facebook page. So if you're on Facebook, please go "Like" the page. If you would like to be on my mailing list,  just let me know.

The way my life goes, I may be in bandages, a cast, or who the heck knows -- but I'll get it open!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

The Story of Mr. P's Emporium

Finally. The time has come for the story that has to be told. The story the world has been waiting for ...  The true story of Mr. P's Emporium!!!! 

Okay ... well maybe not ...

But I do have some exciting news about Mr. P's, so I thought I'd fill you in on the back-story.

If you've read this blog, you probably know that I'm a bit of a shop-aholic. (A bit??!!)  And my absolute favorite shopping is for vintage and decor.

I've always been a shop-aholic, but the realities of life over the years necessitated that I refine my tendencies to mainly bargain-hunting, which it turned out I love to do. (Who knew? Wish I had figured this out when I was in my 20's--my 401k would be so much larger now!) It's just the thrill of the hunt. So I stalk thrift shops and Craigslist and anywhere I think I might find a deal.

The problem was I couldn't pass up some of the great things I was finding, even if I didn't need them.  So rather than become a future episode of "Hoarders" (although I have a friend who insists I'm still well on my way), I started selling my finds and occasionally some crafts on Etsy.

Because I was going to donate the proceeds of the sales to one of the animal rescue groups I volunteered with, I decided to name the shop after one of my dogs that had been adopted through the group. His nickname is Mr. P.  Hence, Mr. P's Emporium.

The Famous Mr. P.

Then, because I love painted furniture, I decided to try painting some pieces I found in my shopping forays. So Mr. P's expanded to selling furniture. 

I was just kind of meandering and didn't really have any set strategy for Mr. P's until this year, when one of my New Year's resolutions was to get serious and come up with a business plan.  My first goal was to get into the Lucketts Market and see how my stuff sold. I did Lucketts last spring and was pretty happy with the results and the comments I received from shoppers.

So ... on to my news:  I've decided to take the next step and rent some space in an antique mall--Mr. P's Emporium will actually have a home!!  That means I can clear out my garage (and not have to listen to any more snide hoarder comments from my friend)!!!!

I sign the lease on Friday, and will open in October! 

More info to come in future posts!