My New Booth - Part Two

In the previous post I shared the news that I was going to have a booth again.  I also showed before photos of the booth I chose.  Today, the 3 main large pieces were moved in and I was able to make it look "like a booth", if you know what I mean.

I hope everyone's expectations aren't crazy high since I write a blog devoted to tips for making booths great.  If you've read much of my blog, you may remember the post where I pointed out that beauty isn't the most important priority in a successful booth.  Don't get me wrong.  A beautiful booth is wonderful, but there has to be substance in it - namely things people want to buy at prices that are not over the tipping point.  So, even though my booth is not the most memorable and won't likely be an inspiration photo for this blog, I am feeling pretty happy with it.


Here's the booth as you move towards it.  You can actually approach from two slightly different paths, so I have two money walls.  The hutch is my big statement piece.  The oak desk is the piece I hope will sell first.  It's big!

Here's the booth straight on.  I'd like a trendier rug.  The carpet has flaws and the booth really needs a rug.  This one is better than none, but I am definitely on the lookout for something better.  I need to bring in more smalls.  I don't plan on smothering the big furniture, but they do need some staging tweaking.  There's a folding bakers rack near the window.  I had intended to stuff it behind the hutch to hold smalls should any of the large pieces sell.  Since I have the room, I decided to open it up and add smalls.  Right now, all that's on it is a silver loving cup urn.  More's coming soon.

The window behind the bakers rack was good for light, but not much else.  The glass was hopelessly stained and dirty on the outside.  The view is a parking lot and gas station.  I needed a treatment that was easy and blocked the view but still let in light.  I tore a drop cloth into strips and tied it onto the rod.  Very casual.  Neutral.  Creative.  Not original.  I've seen this treatment used in all sorts of ways on Pinterest and favorite blogs.

I have kept the staging on all the furniture simple.  This hutch is my statement piece.  I quickly put these plates in place.  This was a super fast stage using what I had.  It's a little too uncreative.  The arrangement is so predictable.  If the hutch stays around for a bit, which I suspect it will because hutches are slow sellers, I'll hopefully improve on the staging.  it'll still be simple, but a little more creative than this.

One item in my booth is large but NOT neutral  This is a retro piece and I felt that painting it neutral was not the right thing to do.  There are always exceptions to "the rules".   I am very willing to break rules when it feels like the right thing to do.  :-D   Oh, the suitcase - I wanted it to be open.  I'd like it to have some fun display inside, but for now, all I had was this sad little dictionary page pumpkin.

The turquoise tiered shelf is empty for now.  I'm not sure what I'll put on it, but it needs something.   Of note in this photo is the copper tin.  Can you tell what's in there?  OLD TABLE LEGS!  I had a table that I wanted to get my money out of. It was a definite mistake purchase.  My hubby could have spent hours trying to make it over.  It wobbled.  The top had messed up veneer.  Even with lots of work, the table wouldn't sell for enough to be worth the time and effort.  Much easier - sell off the good parts. The table had 5 legs.  Two of them have already sold!   The top will be used to make signs at some point in the future.  It has real possibilities for that.  And there's a great leaf that for some reason, is not veneer.  The legs in the copper bin also serve to hint that the bin would be excellent for holding firewood.  At least, that is my hope.

You'll notice I haven't created a theme booth.  I haven't limited colors.  I have things to sell and I didn't want any limits.  I didn't want to feel obligated to paint things to match.  I'm taking what I have and putting them together as well as I can.  I am trying to make the furniture look as important as I can.

So, that's the booth so far.  It has no ground-breaking decor.  It's not swoon-worthy.  This is a low-pressure, functional booth that will hopefully have decent sales.

I hope this post gives you a little peak into my thought process.  I hope it puts you at ease in case you, too, prefer low pressure.  I think it's a pretty decent booth.  I watched as some customers shopped in the area.  They went into my booth and looked around, even though there's still so little in there.  That's a good sign!  And bonus, a couple of customers looked very seriously at the retro console.  One even took a phone photo!

I'm Going to have a Booth Again!

Well.  I knew I'd go back to having a booth again one day, but I didn't think it would be so soon. I didn't even make it a full year without one.

I have things to sell.  I have found a number of new pieces for my house this year, which leaves me with extra furniture. Plus I'm de-cluttering (even the good stuff!) and having dreams of becoming a minimalist.  (Like that will ever happen.)   I pondered a  number of different ways to sell things, but in the end, a booth seemed to be the way I like best.

I promote two different stores.  I like them both.  I like the people at both.  I was open to having a booth at either location.  There seemed to be roadblocks at one having to do with booth size and workdays.  Everything seemed to fall into place easily at the other.  I'm a firm believer that when you are on the right path things flow easily.  When you are on the wrong path, things block you over and over.  That goes totally against how some people believe - that you should work real hard to overcome obstacles.  I believe obstacles (especially when there are several obstacles) are signs from above telling you that maybe you need to reconsider.

So, I'll be at Collector's Corner this time around.

I had several locations to choose from.  The owner was willing to scoot things around to work me in.

The spot I chose is in an out of the way corner.  It's upstairs.  It's in a room that is a bit dark with dark paneling.  It has two windows to work around, one of which has a less than stellar view.  The ceiling is sloped and only 7 ft tall on one side.  The carpet has a couple of bad wrinkles.  The booth on one side has a bunch of clothes hanging very close to my booth - right on my money wall, no less!  The opposite wall is lattice.  Does any of that bother me?  Not really.

Many vendors would question my sanity for choosing that spot, but I THINK IT'S CHARMING and has wonderful potential. Seriously! And I know - if I set up a nice booth with things people want, customers will find my booth.  :-D  I tell y'all that all the time and now I'm going to practice what I preach.

Here are some of the BEFORE pictures of my booth -

I already know pretty much where I'll be putting everything and what I'll be doing to remedy things that need help.  I'll put down a rug.  I'd like one that fills most of the booth, but for now, I'll be using what I have.  I have a fun grain sack that will hang over the window with the bad view.  It won't cover the whole window.  It's light so it will be bright and cheerful.  The other window will be left open.  It looks out onto some trees.  I have no idea what I'll do about the neighbor's clothing.  One thing I will NOT do is complain to the owner or ask her to take them down.  It's her booth.  My booth is my own little world and that's all I can or should try to control.  I'll do what I can to create a visual border so that no one thinks those clothes are part of my booth.  It's a challenge and I don't have the answer to that one yet! It's a little complicated because I don't want to do anything that might block the view of my money wall :-D

I'm going to keep my booth life as simple as I can.  It's not going to have a theme.  I'm not restricting colors or styles.  It probably won't be a booth that people will swoon over, but hopefully, they'll walk in, browse and see things they like.

Stay tuned.  I should be moving in over the next week.  In fact, instead of working on this post, I should be pricing and getting things ready!!!

PS - In this post I talked a good bit about the faults of this booth.  I want to make it clear that most of this store is really pretty and the owner is incredibly talented.  The store is huge and she's been working her way around improving one spot after another.  I like that I'll (hopefully) be giving this sweet little spot a little TLC.  I don't know why exactly, but even the first time I saw the booth, I was attracted to it.  I didn't know it then, but this was meant to be.