Have you ever tried flipping furniture? Have you ever found an old piece of furniture from a thrift shop, a flea market, or a garage sale and wanted to transform it into something unique?
A stay-at-home-mom turned mompreneur has been flipping furniture since the pandemic started to fund the business she started during the pandemic.
Tami Farrell is the co-owner and co-founder of Madre Wine in Southern California.
And she has been scouring for different old but quality pieces to flip so she can use the profit to add to her funds for Madre Wine.
Tami has always been creative and loves to tinker with different projects. Her Tiktok account actually started with videos of her science experiments with her young kids. And now, she’s graduated to flipping dresser drawers, chairs, dining sets, and tables.
How does she do it?
She said she looks for low-priced quality pieces on Facebook Marketplace, NextDoor, Offer Up or you can go around your neighborhood before trash day and see if there are old pieces lying around. That’s how Tami finds the pieces she flips.
How do you know if it’s a good quality piece? Finance writer Sarah suggests checking sturdy pieces that only have a bit of wear and tear. Don’t even think of trying to flip cheap furniture. They were bought at a low price when it was brand new for a reason. Yes, you can fix it. But sell it at a profit? That will be very challenging.
Of course, you’ve got to have a creative eye as well.
It’s not just a matter of sanding it down and cleaning up the piece so you can sell it for a profit. It’s called flipping because you’re flipping it to become something totally different. So you gotta be creative. The only limit you have is your imagination.
If you want a big profit, you gotta go big with this new design. If you’re unsure, ask someone you trust for their two cents. Maybe they can give you a few more ideas or a few tweaks to your idea.
For this piece Tami got, it used to be a vintage secretary desk. She wanted to retain the desk part but got rid of the tall shelf on top of it.
After getting rid of the heavy top part, she proceeded to sand it down. Sanding down wood helps to avoid splinters and smoothen the wood before painting it.
Tami decided to ditch the existing hardware and use new ones for the flipped piece.
And it looks better and more modern, don’t you think so?
And, of course, the color needs to be updated. No one’s going to buy it for hundreds of dollars if it’s still the same tired color, right? And white (with a pop of another color) is always a good choice.
Still think flipping furniture is something you’d like to do as a side hustle or a possible business? Then remember these three things.
- Start simple.
- Be creative.
- Be patient.
Want to see the final design? Watch this video!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
@tami_farrell Can I make $500 off free furniture? What do you think of this flip? #PepsiApplePieChallenge #upcycling #boho #flippingfurniture #vintage #upcyle ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
