The New Adventure for My Dear Trash!

It's always a great day when Laura and I can take a break from the kids, laundry, cooking, cleaning, ebaying, etc. etc. etc. and spend some time together. When we're together we talk about our latest finds, our top sellers, our kids, husbands and our future dreams. Last Wednesday we set aside the afternoon, got a babysitter for the little ones and headed out on one of our infamous shopping trips. The itinerary included clothes shopping, an estate sale, a candy store and a junk shop. The clothes shopping was fabulous, the candy store was adorable the estate sale was too far away so we didn't go and the junk shop was amazing. When I say amazing I mean life changing, dream filling amazing. Was it because they had an entire room of antique windows and doors? Maybe. Or that it was stacked to the ceiling with reasonably priced, unique finds? Could be! Or is it that the owner asked Laura and Me if we wanted to rent a space from them to display all of our trash? Definitely! I'm not sure if it's the fact that Laura was a communications major or that she just lights up a room when she walks in, but people are drawn to her. I'm one of those quiet shoppers. I enter the store, make my purchases and leave. Laura, on the other hand, visits with people, passes out business cards and bonds with fellow shoppers. Qcumberz is the junk store, located in Phoenix, Arizona. After a few short minutes of entering the store, we're talking with the owner and he's showing us spaces we can rent. We shop around, I find the perfect antique window for a project I'm working on, and we agree to take the weekend to talk to our Mr. Rights and think about the opportunity. Today, my friends, Laura and I became partners in our first retail space!!!! I took a before picture so you can really appreciate the Qcumbers junk store atmosphere. Take a look.Bright yellow walls, brown lattice and cement floors- Doesn't it look like a dream come true to you? Here's the transformation...
We just love our little space (8x10feet). It houses all of our favorite finds. Let's take a closer look...


Laura picked up the etagere (what-not shelf) and I painted it up (it was black), sanded and painted the shelves, then added antique sheet music and book pages. Here's an up close...
I love how this turned out. We're not currently selling this piece, as it makes such a great display. Here's more pictures of the space.

See that bright yellow wall peeking out? I did my best to cover up the wild paint by taking doors and giving them a paint and distress treatment and lining them up on the back wall. The doors will stay in the space and be a great backdrop for our trash.

I can't tell you how exciting it is to enter a new venture with Laura. We hope all of the local readers of My Dear Trash will come see our new space- it will be changing every few days. Tomorrow, Saturday, Qcumberz is having a ginormous parking lot sale. Laura and I will be bringing additional pieces to sell at very reasonable prices. Please come see us and all the fabulous find Qcumberz has to offer. I just want to say how grateful I am for the readers of My Dear Trash. Laura and I are so inspired by your comments. Without your support we really wouldn't have had the confidence to enter into this new adventure. Let us know what you think and share any suggestions you may have regarding retail sales. Hope to see you tomorrow at Qcumberz 4429 North 7th Ave. Phoenix 85013. Love, Kelly