Furniture – Love My DIY Home

Cat Lady, Gardener, Furniture Flipper

The Cat Lady, The Gardener & The Furniture Artist A Tribute to Women Who Still Have So Much to Give It’s 5:30 AM A sparkle ball is rolling across the bed like it’s game time in the World Cup. My seven year old fur ball, Mia, is the star forward. Most would find this irritating—but when you’ve bonded with a creature so small and full of trust, these moments become sacred. Her tiny paws curl around my fingers, her chin rests on my wrist, and her purrs echo what we both know deep down: I am her safe place. There’s beauty in that kind of connection. A quiet, fulfilling kind of purpose. Mia, my early morning purr machine and unexpected reminder that being someone’s safe place is a gift. Then comes the garden. Walking in flip flops through dew-kissed grass toward rows of zucchini, beans, and blossoming tomatoes… this is … Read more

Bad Advice Alert #1: What New Flippers Shouldn’t Believe on Facebook

Bad Advice Alert: What New Flippers Shouldn’t Believe on Facebook When you’re new to furniture flipping, it’s easy to get sucked into the advice whirlpool—especially in Facebook groups where everyone seems to have an opinion. Some of it is gold… but a lot of it? Not so much. If you’ve ever been told to skip prep, the brand you are using is why “this or that” is happening, or that “anyone can do it” with zero experience, you’ve probably run into a few of the common myths that make flipping harder—not easier. In this post, I’m breaking down one popular (but very wrong) tip floating around online, so you can avoid frustration and flip with confidence right from the start. PEELING PAINT I recently read a post in a Facebook group from someone that was very distraught because she bought a buffet from a local flipper for $400 and … Read more

Beat the Facebook Marketplace Algorithm: FREE Workshops!

Join me for a three day event where I’ll share my strategies for getting more views and top dollar for your furniture art. And it doesn’t hurt that not only will your confidence soar but your frustration will flee! BTDT! SESSION #1: Find out easy to implement strategies to not only get more views but to get top dollar for your furniture art. SESSION #2: Develop a strategy for before, during and after the sale that will WOW your customers and demonstrate your professionalism. SESSION #3: My #1 Strategy to beat the Facebook algorithm and get your furniture in front of possible buyers over and over and over. Go HERE to register and get FREE access to the workshops!

Unique Sixteen Drawer Cabinet Redesign (PART 4)

Today, I’m going to take you behind the scenes for the last set of drawers in my workshop cabinet. It’s been such a fun project! You know, I’ve been using this cabinet to store all those random tools and furniture parts that used to be scattered all over my workshop. And let me tell you, it’s not just super handy, but it’s also super cute! I’m a firm believer in surrounding myself with beautiful things, especially in my workshop. It just sparks that creative fire, you know? What’s really cool about this project is that each drawer front has a unique design. It’s like a mini canvas where I can express my personality and showcase different furniture redesign techniques. It’s creativity on a teeny tiny scale, and I absolutely love it! In case you’ve missed out on my previous posts, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here are the links: … Read more

[VIDEO] Master the Art of Antiquing – Retique It Glaze Tutorial

The Art of Glazing Yep. Glazing can be intimidating! I remember the first time I used glaze on a couple of pieces. Oh my, I’d thought I’d ruined it. But then a weird thing happened. I waited a day, took another look and LOVED it. So now I always tell my members to wait a day before deciding that the outcome wasn’t good enough. It’s funny what one day will do to your perspective. Yesterday I glazed the doors on my end table and at first I thought that I wasn’t happy with how it turned out. It didn’t look like picture I had in my head. But then it happened again! Today I LOVE it and I can’t wait to list it. What a transformation! Here’s the BEFORE with another piece I picked up at the same time. It was cleaned, repaired and primed with oil-based paint. My … Read more

[VIDEO] Kurtzweil’s Antique & Restoration Antique Shop

JOIN ME FOR A VIDEO Tour of Kurtzweil’s Antiques & Restoration We needed to know the market value of an antique side-by-side China cabinet we snagged recently, so we went out on New Year’s Eve looking for antique shops that either had the same piece or an owner that could advise. We ran across one we’d never been in before in Steven’s Point here in Wisconsin. The owners have two buildings side-by-side, one with all furniture where the wife restores pieces for the showroom and the other full of the typical antique things like old toy trains, magazines and housewares. I took a video because we were so impressed with the furniture showroom – not only with the amount of cool pieces, but the prices were ridiculously low compared to others we’ve seen. The husband had been in antiques for over 30 years and was kind enough to take a … Read more

[VIDEO] Tool Tip – The Allway Contour Scraper

Sometimes there is a simple solution to a pain in the wazoo situation when it comes to prep. Have you ever had to remove from the bottom of an end table foot those nasty ol’ stick on floor saver thingys? I have and it occurred to me that I had a tool that would make short work of a dirty job – I no longer had to try to pull them off with my fingers. I know, it takes me a while sometimes but I eventually find an easier and painless way to do things…because I hate prep, and it needs to be done. This is a short video showing you how I used a simple tool – the (afflink) Allway Contour Scraper. I use it all the time for so many different things. What’s your fave tool? Let me know in the comments. My workshop is full of great … Read more

[VIDEO] Furniture Flipping Marketing Tips – Reposting Strategy

DON’T LOWER YOUR PRICES! I’ve been asked by my FB group, For His Glory Furniture Flipping, to create some videos on marketing our flipped furniture. I thought you might like them as well. Do feel free to comment with tips of your own. Let’s get this industry back on track asap so we can all build our businesses and grow our audience to the way they were before all this stuff happened…you know what I mean! Part 2 – The Reposting Strategy Next up: DEALING WITH LOWBALL OFFERS Talk soon,

[VIDEO] Finding the Time to Flip

I’ve gotten many comments like this, “Val, I have no idea how you get so much done!” or, “You amaze me at all the things you do, how do you do it?” Well, some of my ability to accomplish as much as I do is through planning and patterning. I learned it back in the day when we were raising our 15 kids at the same time we were in the ministry doing 111 different things. The days flew by and the list kept getting longer, so I had to do something to keep on task and accomplish the things that mattered to me. Patterning is developing good daily habits, creating a lifestyle that was productive in a way that I didn’t even have to think about what to do next. It’s eeking out time to do at least a little of what needed to be done, giving myself margin, … Read more

[VIDEO] A How-to Patriotic Coffee Table Set Tutorial

We’ve had these two pieces for a long time sitting in our garage. I was never really sure what I wanted to do with them. It’s no secret that coffee tables are hard to sell, so I was wanting to do something special with them to grab the attention of possible buyers. It’s a balance. You want to redesign your furniture pieces in a way that will appeal to a large audience, but if you stick with a simple, one color design, people might just scroll on by. But if you get too creative, your customer group will seriously narrow. BALANCE is the key. We do tend to redesign according to our own individual tastes, our own style, which isn’t a bad thing if our vision isn’t too wild or on the other end of the spectrum, boring. It’s no fun painting a piece in a way that we dislike. … Read more