Investing In Myself: The Tools Of My Trade

There are a hand full of things that are absolutely necessary for me to have on hand in order to run my company:

First and foremost is furniture.

I think we all kinda knew that one.

I had mentioned a few posts back that when I started out I set some hard & fast rules for myself pretty quickly.  I establishes my maximum buy-in right up front and it was $20.  And for that $20 I expected a pretty good sized piece of furniture…….like not a kitchen chair.  And I mean I stuck to it. It wasn’t easy though.  It meant really watching the Craig’sList ‘Free’ section and the Curb Alert’s on Facebook.  The very first time I took Big Daddy with me on a Curb Alert he had a fit!  I however was completely unfazed.  It was a bit rough around the edges bird’s eye maple desk in a decent neighborhood, and we lived to tell about it.

  My neighbor and good friend Wendy got pressed in to service one hot summer evening and road with me over to UNCA for a dresser that was out front of an apartment building inhabited by college kids.  The weed smell would knock you down even out in the parking lot……but nobody bothered us.

Now that dresser ended up being  junk but I was able to salvage  8 really cool, heavy pulls out of that deal three of which I used on this French buffet.

 I had the fever y’all.   I had it bad.

Now I still love a $6 table.

There is no way in this world that I am walking past one of those .

 Currently my Max buy-in is around $75-$80 and I still find myself having to get creative.  One of the reasons I am really careful not to over spend on a stick of furniture is that I know I am going to have to figure paint in to the equation.  Now there are TONS of options out there when it comes to decorative furniture paints and I am as bad as anyone else to be seduced by a gorgeous color card.  So here is how I pick my paint:

*****I read reviews from other, more experienced, well know in blog land & furniture painting land painters.*****

Marian Parsons- Miss Mustard Seed Blog

Liz Marie Galvin- Liz Marie Blog

Rachel Pereira- Shaded Of Blue Interiors Blog

McKenna McCaw- Neat & Navy Blue Facebook & Instagram

Amanda Stanley- Ferpie & Fray Blog & Instagram

I also take note of what they use on pieces they have kept in their own homes.

It is that simple.

Here is a short list of my top five favorite furniture paints in no particular order:

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint

General Finishes Milk Paint

General Finished Chalk Style Paint

Americana Decor Chalk Paint

And I truly do not use much else.

I will say with certainty that General Finishes is the best bang for your buck, in every category you can think of especially the chalk paint:

affordable  price

very durable

easy of application

the closest to a one step paint that I have used

really beautiful colors

ease of clean up

I do go through furniture Dry Spells and from what I read in BlogLand it happens to all of us, unless money is no object.   One of those Dry Spells had a lot to do with why I offer handmade pillows in my shop.   All who actually know me in private life will attest  to the fact that  I am a pillow NUT.  I have deep fabric issues.  I was raised by a Fabric Nut as well so I came by that one honest.  Alas I kinda have champagne taste in fabric on a beer budget.  I have been able to find a few ways to get good quality and current (trend wise) fabrics affordably.  The first trick is to never go in to Hobby Lobby or Joann’s with out a coupon or five.  Sign up for their emails and text alerts for even better coupons.  I have also learned to look  for fabric in odd places.

I found both of these striped fabrics, each about 1 1/2 yards in a Habitat Restore in Morgantown NC for a buck each.

I am crapping ya’ll negative.

The other two fabrics I found for $4 a yard the same day at a fabric store that was going out of business.  They are just beautiful and really great quality. I am hanging on to all of these until Spring when these colors will be more popular.   I do always hit the remnant tables first thing when I go in to BIG fabric stores.  That’s usually where you find the best deals and smaller yardage.  I am actually going to one of my most favorite fabric haunts this weekend, Mary Jo’s in Gastonia NC.  It is unbelievable!  I swear it is in a building almost the size of a Lowes.

Wish me luck!

Paige