How to keep your style new and fresh

Friends I'm guest posting this weekend over at The Three O Clock Winds!

I was really excited to write about the prompt Erica gave me - "How to keep producing restored pieces that are fresh and new."

It's so easy to fall into a rut sometimes so I think this is an important topic.

Here's part of my post below and you can read the rest on Erica's blog!

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Erica asked me to write about how to keep your work new and fresh when you are restoring furniture.

This is such an important topic!!

 Let's face it, almost anyone can take some spray paint and paint a piece of furniture.

But just because you put a new coat of paint on a dresser etc doesn't mean it's worth much more than what you paid for it at the thrift store.

You want people to see your work, stop and say "That's what I want! That's what I've been looking for." You want it to speak to them personally and for them to feel that this piece was made just for their home.

It can be SO easy to get into a rut of pumping out piece after piece that look almost identical to each other.

And while there is a time and a place for that, remember that no two people are the same so why should two pieces of furniture so be the same? :)

Here are some tips that I've learned about how to keep your work fresh and new!

# 1 Emotions rule

In order for people to let something into their home (and in order for them to pay good money for it), they need to have an emotional connection to it. And this starts with you...even before the piece is finished. 

When we're out searching yard sales and thrift stores it's so easy to buy something just because it's cheap.  Don't get me wrong, I love cheap....and free is even better :)....but cheap shouldn't be the guiding rule in whether or not you buy something. You need to have an emotional connection to the piece. You need to be excited about all of the possibilites it holds!! You are going to be spending a LOT of time, energy, sweat, and resources restoring it. If you aren't excited about it, chances are you'll bring it home and it will sit in the corner of your garage for a long time. Also, I promise that if you are excited about and connected to the piece your work will be better and people will see that when they come to look at it. 

Read the rest here!