Happy Valentine's Day from Poppy & Co.

We love our customers all 365 days of the year 

and on Valentine's Day we want to say thank 

you to all of you who love what we do. 

We're so fortunate to do what we are 

passionate about and are so grateful for each 

of you! 

From all of us at Poppy & Co.- thank you! 

Image found via Pinterest here

Characters @Poppy & Co.

The Poppy Girls, Alison, Merri, & Crystal are all somewhat... characters.  Even our contributing vendor, Devon of  Bride on a Bike, has more than meets the eye.

One of us is especially prone to making up words and they become a large part of the Poppy & Co vernacular.

Another Poppy girl thinks that life is one big jingle and is constantly making up little dittys.

The third has perfected the art of knocking things over in true comedic fashion.

We also possess tons of hidden talents and superpowers such as:

• The ability to go around the room and tidily line up things in neat little rows. 
• The ability to rearrange the entire shop faster than you can say ohmygoddidshemovethingsaroundagain?
• The ability to lift furniture by oneself out of the car, down the street, and into the shop. Whoa. 

Some of us love cracking jokes, writing random fiction, watching scary movies, making inappropriate innuendos whenever the opportunity presents.

Some of us love country songs, baking cookies, taking photos, and flirting with cute cowboys.

Some of us love decorating, drinking wine, going for runs, and listening to get-your-pulse-racing music.

We're zany, funny, goofy, silly... and we're also passionate, serious, and dedicated.






We laugh, we cry and sometimes we agree to disagree.

We also have some FUN characters who come into the shop. Because there is nothing more fun for characters to meet more characters- am I right?

• How about the customer who serenades us entire songs? LOVE. 
• Or the customer who rearranges our stuff? We get you. 
• Or the customer who tells jokes so bad that we ugly-cry? More, please! 

 

Press! Poppy & Co. in the News...

This week we've had three press pieces written up about Poppy & Co. Here, here, and here!  We have had such a tremendous response to the coverage; we're truly humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring.

Our regulars, who have been shopping and visiting us for months (at our old location and new one), have been the most gracious and supportive fans.  Slowly, but surely word of mouth has gotten out because of our loyal customers who keep coming back and keep telling others about us. Thank you! We are so grateful that you love and appreciate what we do. We sure do appreciate you right back!!

If you're new to Poppy & Co. this week, welcome! We hope you visit us frequently (at the store, on our Facebook page, and here on the blog).

Here are some things you might not know about us.

We're not a consignment store or antique store.  We're a little bit different.  We're three women who run the store as a co-op, but we each have our own business too.

Nest
Euphemeral Designs
The Modern Cottage Company

Go check out each of their blogs/Facebook pages!

We do the majority of the work ourselves. We find stuff, we haul it home, we paint it/refurbish it, and we bring it into the store. Each item is unique, and one-of-a-kind.

We have different styles. Alison of The Modern Cottage Co. is (as her business name implies) a modern twist on cottage chic.   Merri of Nest is French rustic, Crystal of Euphemeral Designs is glam chic.

We're furniture stylists. We like to paint furniture and make them over in our signature styles.  You can take one buffet and each of us would paint it four different ways.  We're creative entrepreneurs and we love what we do.

We're the new kids on the block. We've been at our current location for just over 6 weeks at 

Poppy & Co. 

765 Broadway, Tacoma, Wa.

Wed-Sun 11am-5pm

Come on down check us out!

Why We Paint Furniture

That piece of furniture that your dad told you not to paint it... you know the one I'm talking about.  The one that has the beautiful time-worn oak finish.  


Well, we painted it.  Oh, yes we did.  


And I know there are a number of you who send out a collective "WHY?! Why would you paint that?!" 


So lets talk about some of the many reasons why we in fact do that very thing, paint wood furniture. 


In no particular order... 

• It's what makes us different.  You can go into a lot of stores to buy unpainted furniture.  Antique stores, consignment stores, big box stores. With some exceptions of "found" objects that are perfect just as they are, we're hand painting every thing ourselves.  We're unique and we like that. 

• We're also pretty "green" - we're re-purposing furniture that otherwise would be discarded. It's not going to a landfill. It's being salvaged, repurposed, restyled, and upcycled.   

• We're keeping it local. We're not ordering wholesale from China. We're buying from local folks and supporting the local economy that way. Our business dollars also stay in the community. We support other local business as much as possible, including where we shop personally. 

• Furniture is our canvas and paint is our medium.  You might look at a piece of wood furniture and appreciate it for what it is, just as it is. And that's great.  We look at a piece of furniture and see unrealized potential. We're artists and we're attempting to elevate pieces to new heights of beauty and expression. 

• I don't think I could stop myself even if I wanted to. I've got the bug, bad. I like painting, I love painting, and even more importantly... I need to paint. If I go a week without painting, my mood changes and not for the better. I literally itch to put paint to brush and create my masterpieces. I have a list of dream projects in my head, waiting for the right piece and right time.  And when they do come my way, the last thing I think about is keeping them just as they are. 

• Many of us painted our own furniture as a way to be budget conscious decorators in our own home.  For myself this meant I had a lot of hand me downs and thrift store finds when I first got married at the tender age of 18. Some of those pieces are still in my home to this day.  Painting was one way to unify mismatched furniture. It was also a way to create a beautiful home without spending a lot of money.  And I know a lot of people are in the same situation - wanting beautiful homes but not able to afford furniture that costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars.  Through trial and error, I've learned over the years what kind of paint to use, what kind of steps to take, and what kind of pieces of furniture are going to stick around in my home and become beloved objects (Usually the statement pieces, and not the things I painted white- interestingly enough). 

• Painting furniture is not new. It's not a fad. The history of furniture painting is positively and literally ancient. From the ancient Egyptians to 2012... people have been painting furniture as a way to elevate and enhance their homes. It was a sign of wealth and artistry.   Furniture painting is part of a long standing, well respected artistic tradition that will continue for as long as people use furniture in their homes.  

• Last, but not least... when we do bring unpainted furniture into the store, it almost never sells. Or it takes months to sell. Customers know us for painted furniture and are coming in to buy painted furniture.  And we do it really well. 

One Dresser's Journey: From Lost to Found

This post is all about the journey a piece of furniture goes through from lost and discarded, to found and transformed. 

Meet one of my favorite dresser projects I worked on a few months back.  Lets call her Isabella. 

Beautiful, isn't she? 

Lets break her down by hours worked and supplies invested. 

MONEY INVESTED: 

Original purchase price: 100 dollars. 

Paint: 38

Wax: 35

Knobs: 40

Chalkboard paint: 12

Gas: 20

Total: 245 dollars

TIME INVESTED: 

Finding: 1 hour

Driving Time: 2 hours

Sanding, cleaning, and other prep: 1 hour

Painting: 5 hours

Waxing: 2 hours

Distressing & Buffing: 1 hour

Total: 12  

Labor cost 25 dollars per hour x 12 hours =  300 

Wholesale price: 545

Wholesale prices are typically worked out by adding together labor plus supplies.  Retail price is usually twice the wholesale price. 

How much did I sell this baby for? For under 275.  She was sold for under the wholesale price! 

So please know that when we say Poppy & Co is committed to keeping our prices low, we really mean it.  We are selling at under wholesale prices. You would be hard pressed to find even an unpainted piece of furniture for that price.  Think of the time, labor, money, and love that goes into each of these creations.  We are so proud to offer something at incredible value, something beautiful and well made, with history, with soul, and with our own artistic influence. Furniture is our canvas, and paint is our medium (why we paint furniture instead of leaving the wood alone deserves another blog post!)   

It is really hard when our prices are already so low, to know how to handle it when customers ask for a better price. Truly, the prices marked on our items are our very best price.  If I go lower on my own items, I often sell them for a loss- and that's not good business, right?  The argument could be made we should be raising our prices, not lowering them. And believe me, that conversation has gone on in the shop more times than I care to count.  But for now, take advantage of the great value we pass on to our customers! 

To read more about Isabella, click on the link to the original post,  here

Oh, those summer nights

I really want to write this post for the girls.  Someday we'll look back on this and remember that night... 


Last night we sat outside Alison's house on her big porch. Another time and another place we would have been in the South, stretching out our legs after a long, summer day, drinking our lemonade (spiked with gin perhaps?) and talking.  Or not talking. Just being. There is such a sense of solidarity when you can sit with women you care deeply about and not have to talk. Just share the silence.  

Last night the summer night sky crackled and rolled with us girls as we laughed.  I think the heavens were laughing too, don't you?  


We talked about scheduling (can we be open more, do we really want to be open more... yes we do... yes we will), about dreams, about ghost stories (of course), and mostly we talked about the future.  


We have so much future stretched out in front of us and in between each of us.  I can taste it and it tastes like sultry summer nights, sweet tea, and paint in our hair.  I think we're goddesses of paint, don't you? There is so much power in our fingers and in our hearts. We're goddesses of creation, goddesses of beauty, goddesses who are coming into our own glory.  Intoxicating, isn't it? 


It is no coincidence that summer holds for each of us the fire of creation and the fire of forging dreams. With every brush stroke we're painting our way toward something more, something better, something together. 


I heart these women. So much.