Day 8: social media

The to-do list of a small business owner is long. For every item marked off, two more things pop up. Even for someone like me who loves a list, it can be overwhelming.

 

I find electronic updates on my list all the time. We need to: update the website (always), post some pictures on Facebook (once/week), start to use twitter again(?)...but where to draw the line?

 

I saw a blog yesterday with, I think I counted correctly, 17 buttons. I feel comfortable enough in my hipness to tell you I had no idea where most of them went.

 

fivethirty uses Facebook primarily as a way to communicate with our online customers/friends. Since I've started the blog, I do links on Facebook. It is where I feel most comfortable and it is easy to navigate. We have a twitter account we barely use. Maybe it's the character limit that is intimidating??

 

I really like Instagram to quickly edit pictures and Pinterest for ideas. I haven't set up accounts for the store yet, but I probably should. I'll add it to the to-do list!

 

 

Bye for Now,

Erica

 

 

 



Day 7: Hello, Marty

I thought I would take a break from the projects for a bit to introduce one of the fivethirty crew.

 

 

Marty is married to Jim's sister, Becky, and he has been with us since we started. He is in charge of all things online: eBay, etsy, the website and he helps with facebook and this blog.

 

 

Marty started selling musical items, primarily custom guitar picks, on eBay many years ago. His experience has been invaluable!

 

He is an avid music memorabilia collector, has been mentioned in the liner notes of many albums and enjoys spending time with Becky and their two kids.

 

 

Bye for now,

Erica



Day 6: the industrial look

My personal style is ever-changing but I am drawn to all things vintage hip. I love industrial and utilitarian items, galvanized metal, heavy wood and letters/numbers of all sorts. So, this latest project from the barn is one of my faves to date.

 

 

I wish I had a before picture. It was pretty rough. The drawers were green and red (think December 25th). The exterior was white with bits of army green everywhere.

 

 

And, here it is now...

 

 

 

It is painted in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Shutter Gray and some leftover black from an old project. Sixteen numbered drawers of industrial, card catalog wonderfulness!

 

 

Here's a close up of one of the drawers. We did a mixture of numerals and written numbers but put extras in for the eventual owner.

 

I.LOVE.IT.

 

Bye for now,

Erica

 

 

 



Day 5: I love paint

I mean, I really love paint. A lot. If I made a list...well, maybe I shouldn't do that. Let's just say it would fall somewhere between my mom and greek yogurt.

We were knee-deep in projects last week...

 

Project 1: Large buffet done in a Sherwin Williams sample quart from my mom's remodel. It is creamy white and gorgeous.

 

 



 

{before}

 

 

{after}

 

Project 2: Adorable table done in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Shutter Gray.

 

 

 

Project 3: Gorgeous turned leg side table. We gave it about 6 weeks in the store with its original wood tone but couldn't resist. It is painted in a sweet pale, pale pink.

 

 

More to come...

Bye for now,

Erica

 

Day 4: We're Baa-aack

Hello! Hope you had a great weekend! I spent it with some of my favorite people: the fivethirty "regulars" and my family and friends.

 

We took some time off between Christmas and Back-To-School to rest and travel to Florida so the store was closed for over two weeks. It was a hard decision, but I am so glad we decided to do it. Spending time with the boys and my mom in Florida was relaxing - it was important to me to give them lots of love after basically abandoning them since we started the store (slight exaggeration due to mom guilt).

 

 

We came back to the remnants of the Blizzard of 2012! It was perfect because we were warm and cozy and the kids still got to have one snow day before they went back to school! It took a day or two to get the house under control since the stockings were literally still hung by the chimney with care.

 

And then, we started on the store...it was a little daunting. Christmas decorations to put away, furniture to rearrange, a window to redo.

 

 

the newly rearranged kids section...

 

new bookshelf done in miss mustard seed's milk paint (linen)

 

I try to use our finishing products with other paints periodically so I can show people how they work. This is a chalk painted table with our antique wax.

 

Bye for now,

Erica

 

Day 3: Year in Review, part 2

Hi there! Yesterday I gave a brief rundown of the first part of 2012. Here’s what happened from the opening through Christmas…

We had a wonderful preview night on September 6^th and had a great time meeting people during Zionsville’s Fall Festival weekend. While we were already advertising our partnership with Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, we did not have the paint until the following week!

 

The first month was terrifying. I thought we were so prepared. I had backup furniture in the wings, but I didn’t think we would need backups for the backup backups. It was overwhelming and fantastic and is still a little humbling. (Thanks again, Zionsville!)

As a shopper, I’ve noticed most retailers go from Halloween decorations straight to Christmas decorations. We tried to give Thanksgiving it’s due but really just made more work for ourselves.

 

(do you see the turkey on the table?)

We started getting questions about Christmas decorations the second week of November. Another lesson learned.

Christmas in the Village is one of Zionsville’s busiest days. We did a milk paint giveaway, had refreshments and demonstrations. It was standing room only and so much fun!!

 

Have a great weekend!

Bye for now,

Erica

Day 2: 2012, Year in Review

2012 was a great year for us. I have stayed at home with the kids since our oldest was born and haven’t had all that many conversations with adults in the last 10 year. Well, mama went back to work in a major way!

 

I’ve painted furniture for my family and friends forever and my husband can fix almost anything. We decided to combine those talents into fivethirty resale: antique, refurbished, secondhand.

We started the business in December, 2011 and really got rolling at the beginning of 2012. We wound our way through a couple of antique stores and started to find our footing.

 

We became a Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Retailer and decided it was time to open our own place. We played Goldilocks a bit trying to find a place until we found one that was just right.

In July, we signed a lease for a property on Main Street. It was fun and stressful and empowering and a little bit scary. I’m not sure who thought of doing the window while we were moving in, but it was a great idea so I’ll take credit for it! Here’s what Zionsville saw at 20 N Main for most of the summer!

 

We opened on a spectacular night in September! More to come tomorrow…

Bye for now,

Erica

 

Day 1: Hello!

I’m doing it. Finally. A blog. A blog? Here it goes…

My name is Erica and together with my husband, Jim, we own and operate fivethirty resale. We are a small business on Main Street in Zionsville, Indiana.

 

I hope to use this blog to keep you up-to-date on our store, Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint and our projects, and the joys and struggles of running a small business and a large family.

I know what you are thinking (because people ask all the time): “Why fivethirty??”

My dad, Dan, died in 2011 and we wanted a way to remember him as we embarked on our business adventure. He was a collector, a picker before anyone knew what one was, a world traveler who enjoyed sharing his stories and finds with everyone he knew. He was a hard worker and an entrepreneur who lived and worked for many years of his life at mile marker 530 on the Ohio River. And, so, fivethirty resale was born!

We have a small group of “extended family” who help us. We will introduce you to them and pass along some of the fun that is four boys age 10 and under!

Bye for now,

Erica