Trend Watch: Reducing Clutter

Over the last few years, I have found myself longing for (and slowly working towards) a simpler life.   My dream is to have a much smaller home with only the things that I love and find useful.  I want more emphasis on making memories than storing keepsakes.

Obviously, I'm not alone in my quest.  In fact, I'd say it's a trend that is growing.  I recently came across a great article (you can read the entire article HERE) that made me think of this trend in terms of having a booth.  Baby boomers are wanting to get rid of their stuff, but their kids aren't wanting much of it because they want their lives to be simpler.

“My parents are always trying to give us stuff,” says Kelly Phillips, 29, a real estate marketer. “It’s stuff like bunches of old photos and documents, old bowls or cocktail glasses. We hate clutter. We would rather spend money on experiences.”

Many baby boomers are downsizing and they have tons of things to get rid of.  That's both good and bad.  On one hand, picking is getting easier.  On the other, the market is getting more and more over-saturated, which makes it harder for vendors to have good sales.

Stephanie Kenyon, 60, the owner of Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers, says the market is flooded with boomer rejects. “Hardly a day goes by that we don't get calls from people who want to sell a big dining room set or bedroom suite because nobody in the family wants it. Millennials don't want brown furniture, rocking chairs or silver-plated tea sets. Millennials don't polish silver.” The formal furniture is often sold at bargain prices, or if it’s not in good shape, it might go straight to the dump.

Should you throw in the towel?  Not necessarily.  You might just need to adjust your thinking a bit.

Tip 1: Stock your booth mostly with things that people actually NEED.

There are certain things people will ALWAYS need.  Even a minimalist needs a bed.  Downsizing seniors have never been a vendor's key market, but even seniors sometimes need furniture.  Their items may break or wear out after years of hard family abuse.  OR, as they downsize, they may want to trade in their huge dining set for something smaller.  OR, they may, like me, want to get rid of things they've made do with and replace them with things that are nicer.

Married couples are often in a constant state of change where home furnishings are concerned.  As their families grow, so do their needs.  Having a child means that child will likely need a bed, a side table and a chest of drawers.  They may find that once their parents downsize, they are the ones having to host Thanksgiving dinners and they may need those larger tables.

Couples working from home may need a desk and shelves.  It's usually not a petite little desk like most people used decades ago.  It's a bit larger (without being overly heavy or massive) with room to work.

Young adults just moving out on their own have lots of needs.  Often they start with hand-me-downs, but they're seldom satisfied with that.  They are eager to redo and sport their own style.

Tip 2: Beware of Clutter!

Few people's needs include "clutter".  When I say clutter, I am referring to things that are not useful.  That includes collectibles, knick-knacks, tchotchkes and do-dads.  It includes furniture that serves no purpose.

That doesn't mean they won't sell at all.  But, many customers are choosier about their knick knacks.  Tchotchkes that are pretty and trendy will continue to sell to most everyone but minimalists.    Pretty decor inspiration photos can be found all over and there will always be people wanting to create similar beautiful vignettes in their home.  These things often are not useful, but they are so pretty that customers still want them.  If you can stock small decor that is both pretty and serves a purpose, it will probably sell very well.

Tip 3:  Don't overload your booth.

It's wonderful to have a good selection of accessories in you booth, but if your booth looks too cluttered, you can actually turn off buyers who are working hard to create a comfortable, yet uncluttered look in their home.  Ponder this... How many times have you walked past a booth that feels too cluttered and junky?  How many times have you wandered into a booth that feels like you wish your home felt?

Tip 4:  Be VERY choosy when you are out picking.

Look for items that you could picture in a nicely done decor magazine photo.

Keep in mind that the vintage 1940's and 50's trend is not all that popular anymore.  Magazines are seldom featuring kitchens with that once trendy, cutesy, vintage look.  I fell in love with that look along with many others a few years back, but like many, I'm over it.  Which brings me to my next tip:

Tip 5:  Watch decorating trends like a hawk and keep your booth current with what's hot.

In fact, try to give your booth the look that your customers are wanting to create in their homes.

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By the way, every vendor's goals are different.  If you looked at my booth these days, you'd probably wonder why I'm not taking my own advice.  My booth's soul purpose is to help me declutter.  With very few exceptions, everything I am selling is coming straight out of my house, including plenty of things that I still love, but just don't need.  My hubby and I are downsizer-wanna-be's.  One day, everything we own will be moved to a very small, but wonderful home.  When that day comes, I hope we have already pared down so the move will be easy.  I hope to have gotten rid of everything that won't be both needed and loved in that cozy little home.  Meanwhile, our current home will feel calmer and less cluttered.  We probably aren't moving anytime soon, but by then, I hope to happily living with less.

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.

Promoting a Mall on Facebook

Robin saw my post about being busy promoting for a second mall.  She left a comment asking for advice about doing social media for a mall with 40 dealers .


Here's what she said -

Hi, Denise. I found your blog and Facebook a couple nights ago and read just about everything you've written! I work in a vendor mall and am trying to build a social media presence for them. I also recently started my own shop space there as well so your vendor posts have been very helpful to me. 

There are some unique challenges to doing social media with about 40 vendors. I hope you will expand your posts to address those challenges for vendor mall type businesses. There really isn't much on the internet that I have found to help with this. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

I promote online for two stores -

I have done online promotions for Rockin' B Antiques for about 3 years. 

I have been promoting for The Boneyard for almost a month.

The two stores are similar in size and have about the same number of dealers.  Their style and price points are very different.

My main marketing for both stores is on Facebook, so that's what I'll tell about here.  This is not rocket science, but I am amazed at how many stores don't do it well.

When a customer looks at a store's Facebook page, they want to see what the store has to offer. I could almost stop my post there.  That's it.  That's what they want.

Customers want good photos and lots of them.  They want to see posts on a regular basis.  A post without a photo is almost useless.

When customers see something they are interested in, they generally have two questions about it - How much?  and   What are the measurements?   You might as well answer all the questions you can when you post.

Some malls show plenty of photos but give no prices.  Regardless of whether the prices are high or low, my advice is to put them out there PROUDLY.  If you don't, you'll end up fielding a million questions, but that's not the main reason for including them.  Sales are better when you put all the info out there. Trust me.  One more tip regarding prices - It's wise to show items at many different price points.

I highly recommend including measurements when possible.  It's often hard to tell the size of an item in a photo.  Again, when measurements are not included, there will be questions - either on Facebook or a call to the store.  I do not include measurements for everything I list.  I only give them if the dealer took the time to measure the item and include it on their tag.  Promoting a store well takes a lot of time.  If I had to measure everything I featured, I'd have to up my fee!

The mall Facebook page should not be treated like a personal page.  You can include just a tiny bit about the owner and dealers, but don't overdo.  There's a fine line between letting customers get to know you and turning them off with TMI - political views, photos of your children, sweet quotes, jokes and other odd info. You can share great decor ideas now and then, especially when it includes a piece similar to something you have in the mall.  That's optional.

If you are promoting a mall, you are not only showing customers what they want to see, you are also doing a service for the dealers.  You need to please them, too.  Whatever system you come up with, try to be fair about it.

This challenge of featuring fairly was harder to overcome than figuring out how to post to increase sales.  The store gets more customers in the door when you feature something pretty at a decent price.  Getting customers in the door is the main objective.  BUT, in order to be fair to dealers, you'll sometimes have to feature things that you know are WRONG - ugly, overpriced, and/or poorly displayed.  No matter how hard you try to be fair, there will ALWAYS be dealers who feel their lack of sales is because you haven't featured their items enough.   They'll see other dealers selling like crazy  Instead of examining the real reasons why their item may not have sold, it's easier for some to think their lack of sales is because you haven't featured their things enough.  Be prepared for that.  I have to say that 99.9% of the dealers I feature for are a delight and they are very, very grateful for all I do.  But there have been a couple of exceptions over the past few years.  If you plan to do the mall Facebook page, be prepared for that to happen one day.

If you are promoting for a mall and you are a dealer there, too, do not... I repeat, DO NOT feature your items more than other dealers.

I have learned plenty more tricks over the years for featuring, but I'm not giving everything away about that.  I'll happily share everything I know about having a booth, but I'm holding onto my promoting tricks. :-D  After all, a girl's gotta have some secrets!   You are welcome to follow the two sites I promote and see if you can figure out the method to my madness.

The BoneYard - Inspiring Photos

Oh-Em-Gee!!!!!    I am still here and promise I'll be back SOON with a new post.   Are you wondering what I've been up to?    I am now promoting a second mall.   It's exciting, but the start-up process has been overwhelming. They lost their Facebook page, so we had to start back up from scratch.  Check it out, if you like.  The decor is really well done, so you're bound to be inspired. 

Here's the link to their new Facebook page - 

The BoneYard on Raymond Hill

Here are a few photos from there - 

Why Did I Close My Booth?

In my very first post on this site - Introducing Vintage Show Off - I said my booth days were about to come to a screeching halt.  Prida, left a couple of comments about that, wondering why I quit having a booth.  I think this deserves a better explanation than I've given so far.  So here's my story for anyone who's curious.

I used the words screeching halt because closing a booth and selling as much as you can before you have to get out, is a LOT of work.  I spent October and November and December working my fanny off.  By the end of December, it was all done and wow, I felt like I'd put on the brakes in my life and could sit and breathe.

Screeching halt didn't mean anything drastic or dramatic had happened.  I had been thinking about closing my booth for some time.  Why?  It wasn't making sense for me for a number of reasons.

ALL of my reasons have to do with TIME.

I am a retired teacher.  I spent 30 years of my life busy and pushed.  When I retired (blissfully at age 50 since I rushed thru school and started my career at age 20) I felt like I had all the time in the world and could take up anything.  I wanted to do something that would give me a bit of house decorating pocket money, but it had to be fun and nothing with set hours.  Having a booth was right up my alley.  But I over-extended myself.

I started by having a booth with a friend.  After a year or so, we split and had our own booths.

My First Tiny Booth on My Own

At some point, I became the promoter for the antique store where I had my booth.  I do the store's Facebook page, their blog, their Craigslist listings and their ads.  That took hours every day and I LOVED it - still do.

My original booth partner and I also became part of a 6-vendor booth called The White Booth.  The White Booth was amazing and such fun. All six of us were very different, but creative and the blended result was wonderful!  The idea was - most everything in the booth would be neutral, but every 6 weeks we'd add in a different color/theme.  It became very successful, which meant it was in a constant state of change. Just as we'd create a vignette, the anchor piece would sell.  I found myself working in that booth way too often.  But I loved it.  Really, really loved it.

The White Booth

You can see these photos and more over on the VSO Facebook Page.

I loved creating a pretty vignette. I love it so much that I could rearrange my booth every week if I had time. As if that weren't enough, I'd help others rearrange their booths if they'd let me.  I could lose a day at the store easily, just getting caught up in this and that and not accomplishing a darned thing for myself.

I loved hunting down treasures, painting and fixing up furniture, and painting signs but all of that was messy and VERY time consuming.  My house had piles of booth related projects EVERYWHERE.  Anyone who has a booth knows what I'm talking about.

My Ball Jar Sign

As if all that wasn't enough, I went in with some other vendors on a paint venture, which was fun and I knew it would be lucrative (and it IS!).

But... all the time I knew there were other things that I SHOULD be doing.  Priorities (and chores) I was neglecting.  I want to spend more time with friends and family. I do my husbands books for his company.  I do not enjoy that AT ALL  am sooo incredibly happy to be able to help with that, but it takes time.  We have to eat, and if I want our meals to be healthy, I have to cook.  A house should be cleaned periodically, right?   I don't have a maid and my hubby is not house trained, though I keep trying.

I was going in too many directions.  I was spread too thin.  I felt guilty all the time for not doing any of it the way it should be done. This was NOT how retired life is supposed to be. Something had to give.  I spent loads of time figuring out what I enjoyed most and what made the most sense.  I had to give up some things.

First, I gave up the paint thing.  Yes, it was going to be successful, but if I stayed in it, I knew it be be way too time-consuming. Plus, my heart wasn't in it.  I thought giving that up would be enough, but it wasn't.

I gave up The White Booth, which broke my heart.  If I was going to work that hard fixing up a booth, I should be concentrating on fixing up my own things.  Over time, my own booth, which I loved,  had become my lowest priority and that needed to change.  I wanted to fall back in love with my booth.

So for a year, my "pocket-money-hobby" was cut back to having one booth and doing the promoting for the store.

I still felt pulled, which surprised me.  I spent more time on promoting the store than on my booth.  I took a harder look at where my time went and what I liked about everything I was doing.

My Booth

I came up with a few thoughts about my booth.  I like arranging it and marketing it.  I like doing a bit of casual thrifting, but didn't like feeling pushed to do it constantly.   I didn't want to work as hard as I needed to to keep my booth full and I don't like a booth that has too little in it.  Also, one of my main reasons for having a booth in the first place was to use it as a method to transform my own house.  I hadn't made enough progress on that.  That priority had been pushed to the back, which was nuts.

Interestingly, by keeping the one thing I loved most - promoting for the store, I could continue to do the things I loved best about having a booth, but without pressure.  I still occasionally get involved in decorating spaces at the store, but just when I'm in the mood and have free time.  I still thrift, but now it's for my house.  I still get to see all my creative vendor friends on a regular basis.  And bonus - my real priorities are getting the attention they deserve.   AND I now have a little extra time to do something I've been dreaming of doing for a long long time - Vintage Show Off.  I sometimes wonder why I'm doing that.  What's in it for me?  I don't know.  I just know that I can help vendors and it makes me feel good to do that.  I've learned some things about having a booth and it seems crazy to not share that.

I think my personality is such that I CAN do lots of things.  But just because I CAN, doesn't mean I SHOULD.    My life is a balancing act and it's feeling more balanced now than it has in a long time.  I'm back in my happy place.

Do I miss having a booth?  Yes, but I know I'm doing the right thing right now.  Who knows.  One day I may open one up again.  Maybe after my husband retires and I am not forced to do the dreadful bookkeeping I don't need to help my wonderful husband with the bookkeeping anymore.   :-D