Starting a booth in my first antique mall was exciting, hard work and a little scary. My first experience was in a new mall where everyone was building their space from scratch which made it less intimidating. I moved in all my furniture pieces and staged them within the space I had rented. This took a minute as I rearranged it a few times before I got it the way I wanted (it always looks different in my mind)
I recall sitting on the floor trying to polish out some scratches on a sweet little china cabinet I had in my home for years when a man and his wife walked up and asked if they could give me some advice. Of course I was eager to learn as I accepted the pearls of wisdom this couple wanted to share. The husband said he would be right back and walked away while his wife stayed to introduce themselves and share some background with me on their history in the antique business. Her husband returned with some 000 steel wool and a tin of Restor-a-finish in his hand ready to show me the quick and easy way to make my furniture look new again. I looked puzzled as I was just sure that steel wool would scratch my furniture instead of smoothing it out. He poured out a small dot of Howards on the 000 steel wool, told me to apply it in the direction of the grain and like magic, easy peasy my furniture was like new again.
Moral of the story: listen to your elders, invest in the proper tools and your journey will be easier. At the time in 2008 Restor-a-finish 1) wasn’t as easily available as it is today 2) was more expensive than most furniture polish but is so worth the money as it does smooth the finish out along with the time savings in labor which far outweighs the cost.
I made some new friends that day, good people that I still call friends today.
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