Big News - Antique Mall Booth

Well, I have to say - I am super excited!  I took the plunge and Chablis and I have rented a booth at an Antique Mall near our lake house.  This is something we've been wanting to do for the longest time.  Getting a space at a mall in that area isn't easy - they fill up quickly.  There are several malls in the area but I really wanted one where we could display vintage items as well as furniture and other items we re-purpose and only a few offer that option.

So the space is ours as of today!  It's going to be a huge task moving all the stuff we have in Chicago down to the lake.  It's going to take a couple of trips.  Louie and I have been working all week on furniture to bring down.  Our garage is stacked with items in various stages of being finished.  My front room has a huge tarp on the floor with items that I'm painting and mod podging. The bedroom has stacks of items that are finished.  I've been pricing things like crazy.  It's been a whirlwind.  I have barely slept because my mind is spinning with ideas and "to-do" lists.  I go to bed and lay there and then get up to write down an idea and then I can't fall back asleep.  Please tell me I'm normal.....

I need larger pieces for displaying items in the booth.  So far we haven't found a lot of promising pieces, but we have several tables and desks and will make due until we find what we need.  I keep telling myself that the booth is a work in progress and it's probably going to take a couple of months until it looks like what I picture in my head.

Today we hit a huge Church rummage sale and an estate sale.  It was lots of fun buying things I would normally pass on because I didn't want to list them in my Etsy shop.  We literally packed the car so full that we couldn't get anything else in it and now we have a bunch more stuff to work on to get ready for the booth.

Want to see what we got?

A coat rack and a picnic basket....

Photo frame, bag of clothespins, bag of paint brushes, some hooks, a galvanized bucket and a small trunk....

The dry erase board has a chalkboard on the reverse side - I loved it when I saw it.  I think the dry erase board side will be replaced with a cork board.   Some photo frames....

This gigantic picnic basket was brand new, still in the box and inside it has plates, bowls, cups, napkins, a tablecloth and a beautiful red and blue liner.  The cart has wheels on it and a lady standing behind me in the check out line was green with envy.   I also got a small box and another picture frame....

A hat box and a Craftsman toolbox...

A pair of oval picture frames....

Check out the vintage shoe shine box and it's filled with all the stuff you need to shine shoes. Does anyone even shine their shoes anymore?   A silver plated tray and matching covered butter dish....

A wash board and another basket....

This is a really nice chair.  My parents were standing in the front doorway of the rummage sale, waiting for me to get there and my mom was guarding the chair like a lioness.  She knew I'd want it.  Chablis has already laid claim to it for her dining room....

I've been picking up vanity mirrors like crazy lately...

Some pictures that I bought purely for the frames....

A brass daisy photo frame and a shoe brush....

Another large basket, a rooster bandana, and 2 more pictures....

Like I said, we have a ton of stuff to work on for the next week.  I am almost finished with a trunk that I've been working on and this is one of the first items that will be displayed in our booth.  All I have left to do is distress and wax it.  I am loving the white color of this one....

I am nervous as hell to open this booth....Will anyone like our stuff, will anything sell, is there a market for what we do?  I know a lot of you have booths in antique malls, so if you have ANY advice or tips, please let me know.  We need all the help we can get.  Please wish me luck!