Building your shop's props room.

If you were ever enamored of your local theater's props room, you know what I'm thinking: YOU NEED PROPS! Bits and pieces you can use to "dress the stage"... and of course, your consignment, resale, or thrift shop is a stage where you perform every day!

Now normally, I would tell you to make sure everything in your shop is for sale. (If you really don't want to sell, say, your sales counter, you just have a price noted that's way above what anyone would pay!)

But there are some things which are just so useful as props, you need to find them, use them, and keep them. Such as containers:

• Baskets to hold things. Choose shallow over deep. You don't want people digging 5 layers down to see the hairbows or candles.
• Bowls. Again, choose wide-mouthed and shallow.
• Trays do much the same, corralling and highlighting categories of small goods.

Figurines, statuettes, mini-pedestals to use as small risers and platforms for showcase items. Keep them neutral so the beads or scarf you drape gets the attention.

Swaths of fabric, ceramic tiles, placemats to subdivide showcases into "departments" or break up shelves full of wine glass after wine glass. Draping fabric over a box or block of wood will give you the height you need to utilize deep shelves well.

Placemats also protect for-sale furniture and enhance the home decor you gather on each piece. I'm partial to mirrored placemats, and even (felt-bottomed) mirror tiles and trays for sparkle.

WARNING!

Stick to your theme. Enhance your shop's image by choosing your props carefully and with an eye towards fitting in and sitting back. No Chinese red baskets if your shop's colors are pastels; no hand-hewn dough bowls if your shop is cutting-edge metro chic. I know you know this... but I also know some props are hard to resist if they're a bargain! (Those are the ones you resell.) 

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Copyright 2011 Kate Holmes, TGtbT.com. All rights reserved and enforced.

Resources

Elsewhere on TGtbT.com:

Let's SHOP! Great finds from yard sales, clearance sales, flea markets and more.

On Auntie Kate The Blog:

You're not HIDING your best merchandise, are you?

Here's the props I'd use in my showcase.

SHOW it to SELL it
Making your Merchandise SO tempting they can't resist
BUYING it!
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