Being Part of the Lucketts Community

I had such a great time last weekend at the Lucketts Spring Market. Part of that was because I was so much more comfortable with the whole process and confident in my product than I was last year. And I had the boy with me, who was the perfect combination of hilarious, supportive, and helpful the whole time.

Despite the minimal number of items I came home with, as we drove away from Lucketts Sunday evening, I was quite sad that the experience had come to an end again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I enjoy being part of the community of vendors at the Lucketts market. I love being part of a group that appreciates the coolness and history of vintage furniture and furnishings. I loved being there early Sunday morning, watching the market come alive with vendors and wandering around, talking to people and seeing what everyone had collected. There were young women my age who had done spaces with friends, women in their mid-30s with kids accompanying them, older couples working spaces together, and many different kinds of vendors in between. Each booth was a collection of history and the way people have lived for centuries, and so many vendors had different takes on how that history has evolved. I left yearning for an opportunity to be part of this community more than once a year.

This time last year, I wasn’t sure I was going to Lucketts again, but I’m so glad I did. There’s no doubt in my mind that I will want to do it again next year. And who knows? Maybe I’ll figure out a way to be part of this wonderful group of people more often. Congrats to all the wonderful Lucketts market vendors — I hope I get to see you all again soon!

Lucketts Spring Market 2013 Recap

I had a great weekend at Lucketts despite the questionable weather. Friday Bro Brennan and my mom helped me pack up a truck, load all my furniture into the space, and secure it so that it would stay dry in the overnight rain. Saturday morning the boy and I got out to Lucketts early and set up the space. Even though it rained Saturday afternoon, I sold most of my big pieces on Saturday, which was a huge relief. Last year I ended up hauling home my three biggest pieces, so we were VERY happy knowing that two dressers and a large desk would NOT be coming home with us. I sold this piece right before the market closed on Saturday. It was my first attempt using milk paint and I loved it! I did this old dresser in Miss Mustard Seed’s Linen.  Sunday morning we got there even earlier […]

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Come See Me at Lucketts this Weekend!

It’s been a while since I last posted because things have gotten a little crazy around here, but I wanted to drop in quickly and let you all know that I will be selling at the Lucketts Spring market again this year. It’s kind of late notice since the market is this Saturday and Sunday, but if you are headed to the market, definitely come by and see me! I’m in the same spot that I was in last year, under a big old tree and backed up to the parking field near the back gate. I’m going to try to make a sing Friday night so that it’s a little more obvious than last year. Last year, the second I got my envelope I started hoarding furniture. This year I had to deal with school and a busy work schedule, so I couldn’t start acquiring things until later. Once […]

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My First Sale

You may have noticed the blue glass insulators that pop up in a lot of my styled pictures: I brought a bunch of insulators with me to Lucketts, and realized that a lot of people don’t know what they are. Never fear, I’m here to throw some knowledge on you. Insulators are placed at the top of electrical or telephone poles, where wires are wrapped around them to prevent the wire from touching the wood. Today you can look at the tops of electrical poles and see stacks of ceramic insulators, but before the 1960s, most of them were made of glass. I love insulators for many reasons. I’m a sucker for blue translucent glass, they catch light beautifully, and they are great for styling just about any surface, especially if you’re going for an eclectic (electric?) look. But insulators are near and dear to my heart for another reason: […]

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Lucketts Favorites: Mid-century Modern Herringbone Tables

Thank you SO much to Becky from Preparing for Peanut for sending me this picture she snapped during the market! Shortly after I found out I would be selling furniture at Lucketts, I picked up these mid-century modern tables on craigslist. The finish on both tables was in really bad shape, and had alligatored in a lot of places. The tops both had water rings on them.  They were very solid and had potential, so I was excited about the acquisition. To take off the bad finish, I sanded until my hands were about to fall off. I even bought a Dremel Multi-Max with the detail sander attachment to help sand the places where I was struggling and make the process go faster.  Once the finish was gone, I applied a coat of wood conditioner and then a coat of Minwax Antique Walnut stain. I really didn’t like the color […]

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Lucketts Favorites: Blue Rocking Chair

When I was getting ready for Lucketts, a lot of my friends asked me which pieces were my favorite projects. So, I thought I’d do a few posts about my favorites. I bought this rocking chair at the last minute, about a week before the market. It had a cane back and cane bottom. The cane bottom looked new, but the back looked terrible. I haven’t yet learned how to weave cane furniture, so I decided to reupholster this chair. And I was in such a rush to finish projects that I forgot to take a before picture. Bummer. Using spray primer, I primed it and painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence. I mostly primed it because I didn’t know what color I wanted to paint it, but I’m glad I did because I didn’t want any of the black paint to show through anyway. After the […]

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Union Jack Stool

Last week I mentioned how I normally turn my nose up at trends, and this week I’m going to tell you about one that I’ve totally embraced. I know, I’m such an enigma. People are painting Union Jacks on everything. A year ago a columnist on Design*Sponge even proclaimed that Union Jack is the new black. I couldn’t help but jump on the train. Not only am I pretty darn British in heritage, the Union Jack is really cool. It’s a bold, graphic, iconic pattern with near symmetry to boot. When painted on unexpected surfaces, it adds a lot of graphic character to a room. The only thing I don’t quite understand about this trend is that it’s not really the easiest thing to do. I mean yeah, it’s straightforward, but I think free-handing something less precise would be a lot easier. It takes a long time to paint the […]

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Stenciled Chalk Paint Table

If you spend as much time reading furniture and design blogs as I do, you’ve probably read about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Well, I had read about 5 million blog posts where people use this magic chalk paint to change their furniture into a Paris flea market find look alike. I had two major issues with this: While the chalk paint was cute on romantic antiques, I was sick of seeing people apply a “cottage chic”, “parisian flea market” style to Danish midcentury modern tables. It just didn’t make sense to me. Some of the furniture looked great, but did every piece of furniture a person laid their eyes on need to be painted? And in this way? Gahhhh. It’s freaking $36 a quart. And by the way, you really have to buy wax to put over it, which is another $26.  But really my main reason was that there’s […]

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On Going for It

Source: imgfave.com via Sarah on Pinterest There are very few things that I can do for eight hours at a time and not get bored. But for some magical reason I can spend 8 hours sanding and be disappointed that I need to stop, shower, and, you know, be social on a Saturday night. I have the hardest time dragging my butt out of bed in the morning, but the prospect of snagging a great piece of furniture at a yard sale will get me moving. I’ve always maintained that I will not be the person who spends 40+ hours of my week in a job in which I’m not content. I know that’s a huge departure from many mindsets, and that it’s a little entitled—many people don’t have an option and do what they can to put food on the table, and I respect that.  But it just seems to […]

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