Painting Furniture.......What to do, or not to do......

As i've mentioned in past posts, I did not start out as a furniture painter.

Out of necessity I became one.

The depression era furniture that I had in my antique store wasn't selling.

So I painted it.....

And then it all began...

Or should I say, my path took a sharp turn.

I opened SHV in Boonton and I became one of the few painted furniture shops.

And then it changed.....

Things changed and the painted furniture wasn't selling at a high enough price for it to be worth it to refinish it.

The marketplace was flooded with furniture painters.

They were buying what I was buying.

The prices of unfinished pieces was going up.

The prices of finished pieces was going down.

I chose to close my shop.

And regroup.
(I'll admit I was a bit lost, and a bit terrified)

BUT.....

Then  this happened....
I thought hard about the past.
My mistakes in business...etc.
And realized two things.......

1. location, location, location.
You can't wish a location to be profitable.
You can't throw money at a location (till your bank account is dry) because you really want the location to work.
You can't worry about investing in a great location, because while the monthly $$ is much higher, the success in business is much higher too.

 2.It's highly unlikely that i'm ever not going to like old things.

It's been almost 30 years that I have been buying and selling them.
(sheesh a good 20+ years before I started painting furniture)

Sure my taste changes.

(my basic "loves" stay the same, but my style evolves)

And What"s "hot" constantly changes.

The economy throws some curve balls into the mix.

So with these two hard lessons learned, I have finally embraced the idea (read fact) that no matter what is "hot" today,

It won't be....soon.
AND......
location, location, location.

With this in mind I have found a way to continue doing what I love.

Change is really the only thing that is constant.

Recently, I heard someone ask "who is the smartest person?".
His response to the question was interesting.....
"The person who can adapt to their environment".
This makes sense to me.

So as I circle back around from my digression from the original question....To paint, or not to paint furniture?.....I realize that the answer is simple.
If people want it, i will give it.

If you buy it, ill make more.
Simple.

If you remember me from Main St in the Pink House and decide to visit my two locations
(and perhaps a third in the not so distant future)
Realize that SHV may be a bit different.
It's a combination of 30 years in the antique/vintage business and my refurbishing, recreating and recycling all in one.

I hope you love my new (old) look as much as I love creating it.