Who You Are.

I tend to keep my "business" and my "personal" lives separate. Having a business is kind of like being a journalist--I feel that in business, you should keep your private thoughts to yourself to a certain degree. I think I'm doing a better job than most journalists these days! However, a little piece of me goes into each and every item that leaves the porch, so I think that's it's okay to share something with you. Today is a big day for me, because seven years ago I didn't think there would be a "today". I didn't even think there would be a Christmas 2007, but there have been six Christmases since March 29, 2007 and I am hoping there will be many, many, many more Christmases and March 29ths.

Me, bald and wanting to go hand out pencils at the airport.

Pink was never really my color. Even in the 6th grade when I wore a pink-striped Ralph Lauren polo and pink swish Nikes to the first day of school, I think I would have rather worn anything but pink. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34, I threatened everyone I knew with certain death (theirs) to NOT bring me anything with a pink ribbon on it. I'm not a flag-waver, a sign-carrier, or a get-out-there activist. I prefer to shout softer, and use my mind and hands to get my point across and to further a cause. Those that know me might say otherwise, but I could really be a raging activist if I was just a bit angrier...

I'm also not a big proponent of the "having cancer was a gift" line. I'd give that cancer back in a minute if I could. It was not a "gift". It didn't make me a better person. I was pretty damn "better" before it, but for so many years, it defined me. It scared me. It terrified me to the point that every little bump and bruise and pain was most likely the end. That "end". For a few years, I figured I was just going to die anyway and I was tired. Like, to the bone tired. I took care of my family as I should, needed and wanted to, but there was nothing about "me" that was all that special (other than being the token breast-cancer girl out of my age group of friends). Don't get me wrong--I wasn't pitied, or ignored, or held to a higher standard because of the cancer, but I slowly began to feel that maybe I wasn't going to die and maybe I should once again become a participating member of working society. 

 Drugged up, but loving my little man's hydrangea wreath.

Since 2007, I have had a lot of changes in my "professional" life. I closed my children's boutique in 2009 after owning it for seven years, I started doing more and more work for local fundraisers, and fell back in love with the best part of my boutique--creating on a daily basis. I loved the store for a very long time, but eventually decided that it was eating up too much of my life (and heart and nerves). The two things I told people I missed were the babies (ahhh, the smell of a new baby that won't keep me up all night is Heaven) and the custom projects. I couldn't just go out and smell random babies (I would prefer not to be incarcerated for that kind of shenanigan), so I gradually got back into creating.

I ran head on into Porch Productions. I revisited techniques and learned new ones. I bought paint and paint and more paint. I stocked up on brushes and power tools. I scoured every nook and cranny of yard sales, antique stores, thrift markets and created a network of awesome people that find great pieces for me and those who listen to me complain about how a layer of paint is going on. I still do all of this. This is IT. Having Porch Productions in my life has filled me up. I now worry more about the weather and "Can I finish that desk this week?", than my back hurting and "It's mets." I get immense joy from seeing the look on a customer's face when they see their re-created or newly created treasure for the first time. I can give more to my fundraisers not only because there is more to give, but because I can also create for them. I'm actually in the process of partnering with someone in a retail environment (but on a much smaller scale than the boutique), which is crazy, but I now think that I can start something and be around to finish it. I am finally where I am supposed to be--in my heart and on the porch.

 Glad I'm not a lefty.

Check your Porch Production's piece...somewhere on it is a fingerprint from this hand.

It's my "signature".

If you have read the "About" section on my page, you know when I first refinished a piece of furniture (around 1997). If you have read my other blog posts, you know about the letters and the sweet nurseries. If you have browsed my page, you know what I do now. By reading this blog, you now know what Porch Productions now does for me--for my family, for my self-confidence, for my survivorship. I don't owe cancer anything. I owe the ability to be tired after working hard to the countless sweet girls who are not here anymore. The ones that held my hand (both virtual and in real life) when I was no one but a "breast cancer girl". It's always going to be a part of me, but now when I am introduced to someone new, I'm introduced as the girl who owns Porch Productions.

When you think of my small business, don't only think about how I am taking pieces destined for the trash heap (recycling, anyone?) or giving people the option to buy small instead of big (there is no CEO over here). Think about what it means to me to be someone who takes these two hands, these sometimes neuropathic legs and this fuzzy chemo-brain and creates. Someone who found out she was someone she used to be before, but better and happier. There's more to the porch than just wine, and there's more to me now than that vague memory of the cancer. This week, I am even painting a 1950's vanity...pink. On top of that, last Christmas I asked for (and got) a new compressor. This year, it's a new high-falutin' respirator.

To buy or not to buy? Can I sell it? That IS the question...

I have a lot of inventory right now. Not because I am a hoarder (okay, I am), but because when I find a really great piece at a great price, I buy it. No hesitation, no plan of what I am going to do with it, no consideration of having space to store it until I get around to working on it. The most important part of that? The price.

When I find a great piece, and I think it's priced too high, it's not because it's not a good price for that item as is. It's just not a good price for ME. See, I don't buy pieces and just resell them--I transform them. Transforming takes a lot of time, effort, and materials. For example: if I see a great desk (I buy a lot of them, hence two blogs posts on desks) for $100 and it it's in great shape, I have to look at the costs of all that it will take to "transform" it. Let's break it down:

If this desk had been $100.

Most likely, I am going to have to sand it:  Mouse pads $6/pack and sheets $10/pack = $16 and 1 hour of labor to sand it, and that's only if it isn't a really thick layer of poly or 14 layer of latex paint that someone thought would be AWESOME on their desk.

Desk $116 in just material costs, plus 1 hour of labor.

Now that I have it sanded down, I might still need to prime it. If that's the case:  (3) cans of primer $8/each = $24 and about a half hour of labor.

Desk $140, plus1.5 hours of labor.

After all that bidness, it's now time to put a finish on it. I do not love to stain, so I am not going to figure in the cost of that (materials or labor), but I will say that the labor is a lot. Let's say I decide to use chalk paint, milk paint, or any other specialty paint. I like to do two coats, no matter what it is. Quart of specialty paint:  $38, plus 2 hours of labor. I might need a new brush and since I try to use really good brushes, which makes for an even finish, let's just say a new brush is $16. 

*I rarely use the whole quart of paint on any one project, but what is left isn't really enough to do another large piece.

Desk $194, plus 3.5 hours of labor.

If I want to distress it a bit, I once again have material costs--sanding block $5 and Mouse pads (we'll just consider that I didn't use all of the first pack). Let's give it a half hour of labor.

Desk, $199, plus 4 hours of labor.

Wait--that's not it. There is still a top finish, or maybe even some dark wax that goes on before I can even get to the top finish! Since I tend to not dark wax an entire piece, I am also going to leave that out of my little estimate here, but dark wax is about $45/tin. If you use all over on a large piece, you can easily use about a quarter of a tin! The labor is crazy--just imagine wiping on and wiping off Crisco (but less pliable) on an entire armoire. Sounds like a party, doesn't it? So, back to the final finish--I like a satin clear coat. A desk takes about 4 cans of clear coat, if done correctly and for a smooth, even, durable finish. The clear coat I use is $8/can. Used labor is about 20 minutes 3-4 times, but I'll just keep it at an even total, and estimate the total labor up until this point at 5 hours.

That $100 desk is now up to $231, and there isn't even any labor added to this total, or wax.
Ouch!

Even knowing all of this, I tend to end up cutting my labor charges way down on almost every piece just to keep the end total down, which sounds like I am kind of getting the shaft on the only thing that doesn't come out of my wallet! Thank goodness I love what I do!

So, the next time you wonder why you saw a desk at that yard sale for $100 is not going to be $100 when it leaves the porch, you know a little bit about why.

There is a lot of material cost, time and love put into each Porch Productions piece, so I hope that you feel the love coming off of it every time you look at yours!

Want to see how this desk turned out? Visit www.facebook.com/porchproductions tomorrow to find out!

A desk is a desk is a desk?

It's awesome how many people are taking the time to learn how to take something so-so and turn it into something fabulous. My journey started from necessity (and lack of funds), went through wanting to please my customers in my children's boutique and has now it become a bustling little business!

You might think that everyone who refinishes furniture does the same thing--sure, we all repair and prep the pieces, but even when different "artists" work on a piece with the same functionality you can see the light that shines from each of them individually...

Take a look at the three desks below and see if you SEE what I mean...

Desk 1:

Coral with lightly distressed edges (dark wax lightly applied) and satin finish

www.facebook.com/porchproductions

Don't just look at the shape of Desk 1. Look at the color--it's bright and just pops! It's an all-over finish, meaning there is only distressing on the hard edges (see second photo). The hardware was painted in an aged bronze to balance out the coral. You can't tell in the photo, but the satin finish gives it a subtle glow with a smooth feeling.

Desk 2:
Two tones of butter yellow with sage green accents and heavy distressing with clear wax finish
http://www.designsbybrie.blogspot.com/

Again, the difference in Desk 2 and Desk 1 has nothing to do with it's shape! Brie used two tones of butter yellow and sage green peeking through to give this desk a soothing feel. Distressing is used on the hard edges as well (with dark wax added for emphasis), but also on the top (see top right of second photo). The hardware was painted a soft white, which makes this neutral color-scheme pop for itself! The clear wax finish gives the piece a creamy feel.

 Desk 3:

Vintage white finish with heavily distressed edges and all over dark wax with clear wax finish

 https://www.facebook.com/VintageFication

Again and AGAIN, the difference in all of these desks is not the shape of them! Mary started with a solid vintage white, and then heavily distressed the hard edges (second photo). She used dark wax all over the piece, and less on the drawer fronts, which gives the white it's smokey feel and creates a two-tone look. The hardware is an old-gold metallic, which just increases the lushness of this piece. Clear wax finishes it off.

So...what have we learned here?

Just like someone who paints on canvas, artists who paint on furniture each have a different method to their madness (or happiness in these cases). Our minds all have a different scheme of colors in them. Our hands all have a different touch to them.

Our clients all have a different need.

However, we all want to make those clients happy. That's one thing we all DO the same.