2nd Hand Flip – By G. Allen Clark is On Sale now for readers of this site, for the introductory price of $4.95
Have you ever wanted to be in business for yourself, or turn your love of flea market and thrift store shopping into a profitable business? If you have ever had this idea, now is the time. Why get into the business of reselling? According to National Association of Retail Trades, (NARTS) (https://www. narts. org,) a consumer research firm, an average of 15 percent of Americans shop at resale stores in a given year.
The industry has experienced an average growth of seven percent a year for the past two years, and, according to IBISWorld, reselling is expected to increase at an annualized rate of nearly three percent until the year 2021. The number is higher if you add in Flea Markets or sales through online thrift stores.
For consignment/resale shops, it is higher, hitting in the area of 12 – 15%. To keep these figures in perspective, consider that during the same time frame; 11 percent of shoppers shopped at outlet malls, less than 20 percent in apparel stores, and just over 21 percent at major department stores.
For those who are Rich, Poor, or Middle class, the art of the deal is inherent in all of us. The American Dream is built on the adage, Buy Low and Flip It. While many major chain operated businesses close their doors every day, vintage stores, including the small Mom and Pop booths in Resale malls, remain healthy and continue to be one of the fastest growing segments of the retail market.
If you are new to the world of #antique or #EarlyAmerican furniture, choosing the right piece in a store full of antique #furniture can be daunting. More so, if you are looking for unusual or out of the ordinary antique furniture pieces. Might I suggest that you start looking for Pine furniture? Why Pine you ask? Antique pine pieces are scarce, so when you do find antique pine, you usually will be finding something that fits the bill of #unique and unusual.
There are many kinds of finishes that were applied to pine. The objective was to enhance the wood grain patterns that were and still are very appealing in antique and early American decorations. In many cases, that pine cupboard you find can be #refinished in another color quite easily to meet the #decor of any setting.
In general, early #furniture makers used pine to build #bedroom sets, #bookshelves, #cabinets and #dining #tables. Because of this, the use of pine has been coveted, making antique pine furniture scarce. Consider these tips to help you select the best pieces.
First, a short tutorial about the wood itself. Wood for furniture is either #softwood or #hardwood. These descriptions vary on the foliage of the tree, not on the wood’s strength. Hardwood trees (Oaks, Cherry, Maple, and Ash) drop their foliage’s seasonally. Trees in softwood category (Pines, Douglas fir, and Cedar) sustain their leaves all throughout the year. Pines are part of the softwood family and they are grown and utilized all over the world. The grain patterns in Pines vary with the climate in the region grown. Wide grain patterns reflect an abundance of moisture, giving to a faster growth and wider grains. Tight grains are reflective of a slower growth typical to drier climates.
Pine was historically used to build furniture in the #UnitedStates and #England. When you find Antique furniture made of pine, you will have found furniture that was made for the lower socioeconomic classes of their society. This was due in large part because when early settlers came over to the new world; pine was plentiful, thus less expensive compared to scarcer hardwoods like oak and walnut. Scarcity commands higher prices that the wealthy were willing to pay.
Ironically, today pine furniture is embracing a lot of popularity and in fact; antique pine furniture is in high demand. Even #millennial’s realize that the value of a vintage pine bookshelf or chest-of-drawers, because furniture made today is made from cheaply made pressed wood, falls apart before its return on investment can be realized.
Old world furniture manufacturers preferred the use of pine to hardwoods because of its versatility and easy-to-work-with features. Usually, pine is light colored and its knots and grains are prominent and desirable. The more knots and dark grain, the better. I had two Antique Pine Cabinets in my store at the #WildernessTreasure location. I barely got the one in the door and set up, when it sold. I anticipate that the other one (see picture in the following article) will go as quick.
So why consider antique pine furniture over the hardwood variety? Generally, Pine is less costly than other pieces of wood and easier to maintain. A full antique chimney cabinet in solid oak or cherry, similar to the solid pine cabinet I just sold, would cost you five times more. Pine furniture in today’s marketplace however, is also very rustic and perfect for today’s modern country look.
Pine is lighter and easier to move, than modern furniture made from veneer over presswood. Antique oak or cherry pieces are heavy in comparison to the same piece in pine. Why is that important? Ask a millennial who, while wanting value, needs to remain flexible in his or her living location, due to their career choice.
Pine is versatile and fits in with any decor, even ultra-modern. You can change the look with different finishes such as a clear varnish-finish, or stained, or even a washed paint. With the trend towards shabby chic, pine is a perfect choice for the #DIY’er trying their hand at this type of furniture painting.
Antique pine furniture will stand out as unique and interesting because of its prominent knots and grain throughout. This is also a good option since it can harmoniously blend with other wood types, allowing you to mix it with other furnishings in your home.
The quality of antique pine furniture varies widely. If the piece is designed well, tightly constructed, it will not display any signs of irregularities like missing parts, inconsistent outlines or holes where the knots once were. If the wood is old enough, they will be scratched and dented. This is good, because it gives the antique piece the warmth (patina) that is desired in antiques. Be careful however. Solid Pine furniture will warp if subjected to constant moisture and humidity. However, it does well in air-conditioned homes.
Like all solid wood furniture, you must supply some maintenance of your pine furniture. Wood need to be oiled regularly in drier climates. As an antique furniture restorer, I use #Howards #Restore-a-finish in Maple/Pine first, and then apply a coating of Howards Feed N Wax over the life of the piece. You will soon be able to get these products at my Wilderness Treasure location. (5975 N. Academy #ColoradoSprings, CO. 80918.) Ask the front desk for Mom & Me Vintage Linens, Lace & Antiques.
This post is directed to the person or persons who painted the 1927 Singer sewing machine case baby blue – thank you. You have given my husband many hours of pleasure and kept him out of my hair. He has toiled away in his workshop, lovingly removing the hideous color from what he tells me, is beautiful oak. Thank goodness, they didn’t paint the machine itself.
By the way, for all you shabby chic aficionados who are reading this, this was not shabby chic. I’ll be kind and simply say this was at best – a very poor, sloppy paint job. (I said I would be kind) While we love good shabby chic, this was not it. As the appraiser said, because the machine works are in excellent condition and the cabinet was the more expensive seven drawer model at a time when most of the ones sold were the less expensive five drawer cabinetry, the only solution for preserving it, was to restore it to its natural oak finish. Once my husband carefully removed the paint, he refinished the beautiful wood with three coats of hand rubbed Tung oil. That gave it life again and because everything was by hand, he even managed to save some of the old patina that had been painted over.
Once again, I can see where the hand of a young mother rubbed the finish as she guided the fabric through the foot. One of Singers earliest conversions to power, it still has its treadle, but I can see where her foot rested on the power switch and where the soles of her shoes wore the black paint off the side. I can see the dents and scratched made from buttons, dropped scissors and probably a child’s tin toy. If I close my eyes just right, I can even see the gleam in the little girls smile as mother holds up the new Sunday dress she just finished.
The next time you are in Mom & Me’s Vintage Linens & Lace in the American Classics Antique Mall, stop in space B30 and marvel at the simple ingenuity of these beautiful sewing systems. Look at the quality of the cabinetry work. The careful attention to the joinery and style of the design. You know that old world post-war craftsmen created them. Rest your hands on this beautiful machine, close your eyes and see if you can relive its history. Yes, it’s for sale at below appraised value because my husband hopes that its next owner will be able to repurpose the machine, but not want to paint it ever again.
There has to be a point in every cats life when they realize that they just did something stupid; when they run behind the
Cat hiding behind the couch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
couch and, according to the legendary comedian George Carlin, slap paw to head and howl out “F*&$*ng Meow.
My daughter’s kitten had her moment today when she thwarted the laws of nature and in mid-flight, suddenly came face to face with the realization that for every violentaction, there is an equal and just as violent reaction. In her usual morning ‘ kitten run through the house as fast as you can’ moment, she came nose to tail with this old law.
In the spirit of the summer Olympics, her ‘never-before-attempted’ running broad jump from the back of the recliner to the couch was to be her moment of feline glory. However, the recliner was not to be toyed with. It “reacted”, (naturally) by doing what it does best. It reclined – violently. That’s when I saw it; that “stop action” moment, when the human mind records the feline equivalent of “Oh Crap!”
Did she see me – see her? Of course she did, but she was too busy to look “cat cool” and that’s when the second myth was shattered. You can rewrite all text that records “cats always land on their feet.” I have news for you – they don’t. They attempt to make up for it by looking as if they meant to land on the side with their head stuck behind their back leg and their tail stuck in the ear. They do this by imitating their best Fonzy move, jumping up quickly.
This action shatters the third rule of cat mythology. The rule that says all cats are graceful. When cats are ungraceful, (as this one was) in their haste to get away, they scatter everything collected on the table – to the floor – including the full cup of coffee. Then, (this is the best part) they run straight behind the couch – where I am sure they – in the cat’s equivalence of disbelief, slap the old paw to face.
As I write this, hours later, after having cleaned up the last dregs of the overturned coffee and put the table back in order, she has yet to come out from behind the couch. She knows I am writing about her. She hears me chuckling between key strokes. I know this because I hear her “cat muttering” under her breath. Poor kitty. Chuckle.
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About Julie
Julie Clark is a homemaker, mother, teacher of special needs children and an entrepreneur. As a teacher with a long history of teaching students in the elementary grades, she obtained her credentials for Special Need teaching and advocacy late in her career, because – as she puts it, “these kids need to be taken out of the corner and given a voice.”
As a means to lessen the stress that comes when one deals with bureaucracy, Julie – her Mother-in-Law and her daughter, opened the Mom & Me Vintage Linens and Lace shops late in 2011. Now with two locations in Colorado Springs, (The Treasure Shoppe – downtown CS and American Classics on N. Academy) she has managed to gather a rich following of friends and steady customers who look forward to seeing her come in with an armload of vintage linens, fine lace and the occasional vintage purse or pillow to round out her diverse selection.
Julie can be reached by JClark@Linens2Lace.com . You can also follow her blog at Linens2Lace.wordPress.com, and her Tweets at #MomNMe.
Did you ever see lace doilies covering the back of a chair or couch? Think 18th & 19th century, or Byron. Did you know that at one time they were more than decorative? They had a purpose.
You see at one time men of the family oiled their hair with oil of Macassar. It gave them that irresistible look, plus it hid the smell of unwashed hair. Needless to say this oil didn’t do the furniture any good and over time, it would stain it to the point that the material would be ruined. Somewhere along the line, an industrious homemaker came up with the idea to hang a doily along the area where her hubby’s moldy – oily head rested. Problem solved. Easier to wash a doily then to wash a chair.
Now the special use doilies became known as antimacassars. Today we see similar chair protectors on the back of seats in commercial airlines or Amtrak coaches.
Needless to say, we have a display of these antique doilies in our store. Look for them soon on our repurposed magazine rack.
Mom & Me - Vintage Linens, Lace & Antiques 