From Hobby to Small Business - My Furniture Painting Journey
Hello!
I'm so happy that you have found my blog!
Let me introduce myself. I'm Jen, furniture painter and shop owner, living and working in Bolton, Lancashire.
I fell in love with furniture painting around 12 years ago and it quickly progressed from a creative hobby to a full blown business.
Here I am painting a retro larder cupboard!
How my furniture painting journey began
Back in 2010 I bought a beautiful, shabby chic bedding box that had been painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Feeling inspired by this vintage piece of furniture that was sat in my bedroom, I decided to buy a pot of Annie Sloan's Old White and paint the rest of my bedroom furniture to match!
I instantly fell in love with the whole process of painting furniture. Starting with the trips to charity shops to find the treasure, heading to my local interiors shop to choose the right colour then transforming unloved, brown furniture in to spectacular, eye-catching beauties!
But furniture painting as a hobby quickly took over my house! I'm sure many furniture painters can relate to this. There are only so many pieces you can create before you run out of room.
A recent dressing table transformation
Starting a furniture painting business
It wasn't initially my intention to start a business but my lack of space meant that I had to sell some of my creations in order to continue painting more pieces of furniture. I initially started selling my pieces cheaply on Facebook marketplace to cover the cost of my materials (so I could just buy more paint!)
But in 2017 my second daughter was born and I had the same dilemma most young families face in that if I went back to my full time job I would spend most of my wage on childcare costs. With plenty of support from my wonderful husband, Mat, I decided to set up a small business.
Stocking furniture paints
Once I became established and selling my pieces was going well the next step for me was to start stocking products. My background is in retail and with 15 years experience in a management roll and a BA (hons) in Business Management it was time to put my knowledge in to practice!
As I was still working from home my choice of brands was limited and after some research I discovered the wonderful Wise Owl Paints. Wise Owl was formed by two best friends who have developed this brand using science and integrity.
My paint sales were doing well and I added different products to my offer which meant once again, I was running out of room for stock.
Opening my shop
As soon as I spotted the shop being advertised I knew it was the one for me. After a quick look around to confirm followed by a long wait to sort out the paperwork side of things I finally move in in June 2022.
Thirteen Furniture shop 2022
Opening the shop has allowed me to add new brands to my offering. In 2021 I added Fusion Mineral Paint. Fusion was an easy choice for me as its brand and popularity speaks for itself.
Then I followed this with Annie Sloan. Annie Sloan is the Queen of furniture paints and introducing this range has felt like a big milestone for me adding a creative edge to the shop.
My humble beginnings started with that one pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and now to see it on my shelves each day reminds me of just what I have achieved.
Shelves full of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!
And so here I am!
I started this blog so that my customers can find out about me and the products that I stock. The background in to the brands that I work with as well as how to use the wonderful products that I have on offer.
I firmly believe that who you do business with matters and we can make choices on the world we live in by how we spend our money.