TLC Vintage Collection Store is Now Closed

Thank you to our many wonderful customers over the past six and one-half years. We closed our store so Janet could retire on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

We are in the store this week -- April 16-18 -- from 10 am to 2 pm -- if we still have items you may need. We are working on packing up the rest of the store, meeting customers who reserved items and generally cleaning up.

You are welcome to stop by and visit us and purchase remaining products through Wednesday! We will be happy to take a break and chat with you!

Once again, thank you for your patronage over the years!

TLC Vintage Customer Appreciation Days!

Announcing Customer Appreciation Days at TLC Vintage Collection, Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14. With just 8 business days left before we close our doors, we thought an appropriate thank you to our customers -- new ones and those that have been with us since we started in 2011 -- would be to throw a little party!

Come and enjoy some treats from 10 am to 5 pm our final two days of business. Door prizes galore! Deals like you have never seen! We will consider all reasonable offers on remaining inventory! Annie Sloan products will be at minimum required distributor prices starting Thursday, April 5. But don't wait until our final two days to purchase your favorite colors. Paint is dwindling on our shelves quickly now so we don't want you to miss out!  We are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- April 5-8 -- and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday -- of our final week beginning April 10! And then of course our party days, Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14.

 We have lots of amazing small decor items, chandeliers and furniture that must be cleared out by the end of day, April 14! We are ready to wheel and deal so we don't have to figure out what to do with it and you will have an amazing piece for your home!  Also lots of remaining DIY products and tools!

Need painted chairs? We've got them! Need a Victorian French style couch and chair -- got it! How about a craftsman style desk -- we've got that covered! See you soon and let us thank you in person for being such great customers!

TLC Vintage Collection to Close Its Doors

TLC Vintage Collection will begin a store closing sale Thursday, March 1 after six-and-a-half years of business. It has been a wonderful journey but it is time for me, the owner Janet Roewe Piller, to move on to new adventures. We anticipate that our final day will be no later than end of business, Saturday, April 28. The store will close earlier if inventory is depleted. However, we will maintain our workshop schedule through Satuday, April 14.

With a few exceptions, everything in the store will be at 40 pct discount from listed price, unless marked sale price. The exception will be the Annie Sloan product line, including Chalk Paint, which will remain at our current prices, which are near the distributors required minimum price. If we run low on product, we will place another Chalk Paint and supplies order around April 1 for pre-paid customer needs.

Our customers who require product to be shipped may continue to shop on line until April 1, when we will close down our website at www.tlcvintagecollection.com. Shipping purchases after that date may be made by calling the store at 515-276-1577.

Store fixtures will also be for sale at very practical prices. Certain items may be paid for and reserved for collection when the store closes or special arrangement in order to assure shelving and lighting during the closing sale and until our door is locked the final time.

I cannot thank enough our 6,000 plus customers over the past many years for their patronage, friendship and loyalty. Thank you for sharing your projects with us and for turning to us for instruction, advice and a shared interest in beautifying furniture and your homes. I have learned so much from you and enjoyed the may friends I have made over the years.

TLC Vintage was fortunate to be the very first retailer of Annie Sloan products in Iowa. We rode the wave of the repurposing and upcycling and shabby chic markets and the enthusiasm for simpler do-it-yourself products that are eco-friendly. Now I can see that this was the perfect meeting of several movements and products. We are seeing a change now on a number of fronts: the very sharp rise in on-line purchasing and home delivery, a decline in the painted furniture movement, increased competition in sectors that we are prohibited from marketing in and a saturation of products in various areas that affect our store.

Those factors being what they are, it comes down to a business and personal decision. I have many interests and a wonderful family and home. All of those are beckoning to spend more time and energy enjoying and exploring them. Retail is hard -- don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Long weeks, long hours, lots of paperwork, seasonal changes in buying patterns. It is an experience that I thrived on and enjoyed -- like putting together the pieces of an ever-changing jigsaw puzzle.

We hope to see all of you at the store during the coming weeks to shop for your favorite products or to purchase that perfect vintage piece you have been eyeing for some time. My knowledge, desire to help my customers and passion for the hunt for vintage pieces does NOT get locked away when we turn off the lights and lock the doors the last time. I will be happy to assist you with product questions, where to shop in Iowa and beyond her borders for your favorite product lines or even to paint a custom piece for you. We will be happy to provide you with names of other retailers or share how we have found our one-of-a-kind over the years. Pick up another one of my business cards because my cell phone is readily available for a call from you.

Thank you, and once again we continue to appreciate your business and friendship.

All my best,    Janet Roewe Piller, owner
                        TLC Vintage Collection
                        515-276-1577 (store
                        tlcvintage@tlcvintagecollection.com

Fainting Couch Revival

So this old gal has been languishing in my garage for a few years! Finally, a difficult winter meant my vehicle had to have shelter. The fainting couch came into the shop with the hopes that under that old amateur upholstery job we would find some carved wood.

Alas! The answer was a resounding NO! And the very old wood was covered in screw and nail holes and things needed to be shored up! Based on the age and dryness of the wood, we believe this to be at least a late 1880s couch. Thanks to our handy Loretta, repairs were made to stabilize the piece and we used one of our favorite products, Wood Icing Textura Paste to fill holes and smooth out the surface. Instead of wood fill, Textura Paste is used as it is so easily sanded smooth. And we didn't stop there with the Wood Icing.

Textura paste was used over a stencil to create a design since we had been disappointed by no wood carving! You apply the  paste with a spatula or offset knife as thinly as possible. Then take off the stencil. Allow to dry, then sand off the sharp bits.

Next we applied Old White Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan. We did get some bleed through from the awakened tannins in the wood, but we ignored that because we were going to crackle the paint. So next we applied a coat of Artisan Enhancements Easy Crackle. When it was dry, we painted the piece with a top layer of Coco by Annie Sloan.

Unfortunately, our cracks were very fine, but they are there if you look for them. At one point we thought we would put metallic foil over the Wood Icing, but in the end opted to just distress. We did this because we really like this look with the upholstery Loretta did using Annie Sloan's French Linen and Old White woven linen.

Now she is just waiting for a new home in someone's classic Victorian or a downtown loft!

 To learn more about Annie Sloan products, Wood Icing and Artisan Enhancements, visit our website at www.tlcvintagecollection.com.   We ship!