"Booth Ownership 101 !!"

Hi Bloggerettes!  Peggie and I fluffed up our booth yesterday.  We added some new things and reorganized a little.  Wanna see?

It's very important to both of us that our booth looks good.  We both take great pride in finding and selling items that we love.

I've been doing this for about two years now and Peggie has been doing it for over 10 years or more.

We both have booths at Miss Minnie's Antiques and we

share Perfect Imperfections at Fancy Flea Antique Mall.

Let me tell you what I've learned about this crazy booth business.

(caution....long post, so you might just want to look at the pictures!)

Believe it or not there is a right and a wrong way of

decorating your booth. We're no experts but we both have experienced trial and error. So, I'm going to share some things that we have learned that might be of help to those of you just starting out or would like some pointers in "Booth Ownership 101!"   

If you want to attract as many buyers as possible then you have to work at making your space

appealing. 

Start with the bones of the booth.

Create interesting walls and dividers between your booth and the others next to it.  Have surfaces on which to display your items.

Have good lighting.  Create vingettes.

Just look at the idea used by one of the other booth owners.  She brought in a tree limb to use as a focal point in her booth.

We love it!

Leave an open walkway in your booth to invite shoppers to come inside and linger awhile.

Keep your booth well stocked with items that attract buyers.

Peggie and I can stuff a booth with more stuff than you can imagine!

If we don't have space enough then we go up,

  and stack as much as we can!  Tables on top of tables, stuff on top of stuff.

But, we do this by making sure that our displays are

fresh and different weekly.

One very important tip is to make sure your items are clean and presentable.  You know we love our chippy and rusty and crusty but we don't love plain ole dirt!

If an item has been in our booth for awhile, we rotate it.

and sometimes, we repurpose it or change it completely.

We keep our booth looking good by constantly reading the blogs, reading the decorating magazines and finding out about current decorating and crafting trends.

It's also important to have a focal point in your booth, whether it be  a special piece of furniture, a mirror or a shelf full of interesting items.

We think it's important to mix looks. Like juxtapostioning the soft shabby look against

the industrial chic look of the antique metal roll table. 

Mix in some primitive pieces with some shabby and romantic.

Add some bling and sparkle with some farmhouse pieces.

Show buyers what they can do with your wonderful pieces.

Set up vingettes that will appeal to their senses.

 

Have business cards printed and available in your booth.

Make sure that everything is priced.  Use pretty tags and ribbons and pay attention to the details.

Fill containers, bowls and urns with paper shred or straw.

Add crystals to your candlesticks.

Most of all, have fun!  Enjoy looking for new items. Go to auctions, flea markets and other places to find unique, one of a kind items.

There are no hard and fast rules just the experience and wisdom of those who have been doing this for awhile.

~~hugs~~