I’m pretty sure that some of the visitors to my shop come in, take a look around and think to themselves “I could do that!”  Well here are some pretty convincing reasons for you to trust me to do the job instead!!

1)     Look at my clothes!  They are totally covered in paint – and I like to think I’m a pretty neat painter!  Granted, I have been using the same boots and gilet for a couple of years, but my jeans and T-shirts get rotated on a regular basis!  You may think a pinny will be sufficient to protect your skinny jeans, but that paint has a way of finding somewhere unwanted to splat itself upon.

2)     Look at my hands!  Do you treat yourself to a lovely manicure?  Do you have beautiful soft skin?  Now compare your hands to mine…..  short, unpainted nails, rough skin, a couple of war wounds from using scissors to get the lid of a rusty can of paint (really bad idea by the way), and paint of all colours all over them!!!

3)     Look at my workshop!  At the back of my shop I have a couple more rooms to work in.  I have the rainbow room where I do mostly clean jobs like sewing and upholstery, or small jobs like the personalised paintings and door hangers.  This room also doubles up as the crafty party venue.  Next to this room is the messy workshop where I sand and paint the big pieces of furniture, and mix up the paint colours.  The floors of both of these rooms are both pretty paint splattered.  Do you really want your dining room / conservatory / kitchen floor looking like that!?

4)     Look at my yard!  Maybe you think that one day you’ll lug that ugly old wardrobe out on to the patio and paint it there…  Trust me; I thought the same thing when I took over the shop a year ago.  ‘Ooh’ I thought ‘a handy yard for me to paint in when it’s nice outside!’  The trouble is that the weather conditions are never quite right – too hot and the paint dries too quickly; too windy and the bugs and dirt are blown on to the wet paint; too cold; too wet; too snowy….

5)     Look at my years of training and experience!!!  If I haven’t already managed to put you off then the best reason to get me to paint you furniture is because I know what I’m doing!  I know which filler to use in to use in those holes.  I have a huge box of screws, nails, knobs, hinges and brackets to replace the missing ones and fix the wobbly bits.  I know what grade of sandpaper to start with, and when to move up a grade.  I know which adhesive will stick that peeling laminate down, or when it makes sense to remove it altogether (and how).  I know whether the dark wood / orange pine needs a water-based or an oil-based primer.  I know when to use a brush or roller to apply the primer.  I know how to apply the paint to avoid streaks, lumps, drips and patches.  I know how many coats to apply and how long to leave it between coats.  I know how to clean the brush and roller afterwards!!  I know which type of paint to use and how to mix the perfect colour.  I know whether to finish it off with a wax, glaze or varnish to protect it for as long as possible.  And better than anything else I can draw a freehand butterfly beautifully in 30 seconds flat!!!

If I haven’t bored you half to tears then hopefully I’ll have convinced you NOT to try this at home, and let me loose on your furniture instead!!  Also, I’ll probably get it done quicker that you will!!!!!

It has been a long time since my last blog post and I really must try harder!!  I haven’t got a good excuse for the beginning of the year, other than lots of painting to be done, but more recently I’ve been very busy ~ I have totally reorganised the whole shop!

It all began at the beginning of April – I had to get my accounts up-to-date for the pesky tax man….  Seeing the facts and figures all laid out in black and white was quite scary.  It suddenly became quite plain that a lot of my stock had been sat on the shelves from the moment it came in.  I realised that I needed to stop being a lazy shop lady and pull myself together.  I had to take the hard decision to ask a lot of my stockists to remove their lovely pretty things – but if you come in and find something missing, just ask and I’ll do my best to help you out!

I have decided to concentrate on the things that sell the best – namely the painted furniture.  With this in mind I have turned the front room into the painted furniture room – where we have furniture painted in lovely bright colours for the children, and other shabby chic pieces painted in subtler shades for the grown-ups!

The back room is now home to the furniture that needs a new lease of life, chairs that need upholstering, shelves that need a lick of paint….  It all looks a bit brown, but if you can bring a big dollop of imagination with you then you’ll be able to see past that!  The furniture I have on display is just a fraction of what we have in storage, so please ask if you can’t see what you are after.

I can also paint your existing furniture in the workshop at the back of the shop.  So if you have something that does the job perfectly, but just doesn’t look very pretty, please email a photo to me at info@rocketandfairydust and I’ll give you a free quote.  I can also keep my eyes peeled for the perfect piece, or point you in the direction of some great junk shops to go treasure hunting in!  Also, don’t take your old furniture to the tip – bring it to Rocket + Fairydust!!!!

I have retained 20 or so of my best selling suppliers, and will blog about them soon.  So in addition to the furniture, we also sell complimentary ranges of cushions, doorstops, bespoke artwork for children and grown-ups, decorative items, Decopatch kits, kids jewellery and hair accessories and of course – bunting!

I’d love you to pop by soon and see what I’ve been up to, and maybe you’ll be inspired to bring a tatty old piece of furniture back to life!