Adventures in ATL: Flea Market Fixer Challenge

Now that I’m getting adjusted to life in a new city, I feel like I’ve been exploring non-stop. There are so many cool places to check out, shops to pop into, etc. And I’ll take any excuse to get out of the house for a while. Exploring I will go.

So when Valspar asked me to update a piece of furniture as a part of their Flea Market Fixer challenge, I (very happily) agreed.

The rules are simple. Find a piece of furniture in need of some TLC and give it new life with the help of Valspars Chalky Finish Paint, which launches on March 1st at Lowes. Information on the product will also be available on their website at that time.

It was a fun little adventure, driving around the city searching for the perfect piece for the challenge. But things took a slight detour when I realized that the best / only flea markets happen just once a month. I tried, oh I tried! But the flea market situation was a little bit of a bust…I stopped by one in Stone Mountain over the weekend and… I will just say it. I got right back in the car and left. Not good. Not good at all.

So, I moved onto plan B. And headed out to a couple of shops (Decades and Paris on Ponce) that always have great stuff, along with a photographer (thanks Kimberly!) to document the occasion. The two shops I went to have a mixture of affordable odds and ends and pricier pieces. So I just had to hunt around and cross my fingers.

It should be noted that Paris on Ponce is only a mile or two from my house. Which means I’m in there almost daily. Sounds like an exaggeration. It’s not.

Moving right along…there were some really great pieces at Ponce (like that set of tulip chairs), but I didn’t have any luck finding something to remix / make over.

So, we drove out to Decades for round two of searching. Success!

I found a small side table with a cool shape and just knew that I had to take this little guy home with me. It looks like it’s been repaired toward the bottom of one of the legs and I’m not a fan of the color, but the shape is good. And I can fix the color with paint super easily. Yay. ‘Flea Market Fixer’ found!

Then I did a few more loops around to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I found all the things…including my spirit animal, which happens to be a ceramic beaver. If you can look at the face on this thing and not crack a smile, we cannot be friends. The end.

In other news, these lights were pretty awesome too…

And I found some mini letter books as well. You may be thinking, cutting up books? Nooooo. I get it. I really do. But I mean, look at that ampersand in the middle there. It deserved a photo.

Anyway, after I took my side table home and shed a tear for leaving my spirit animal behind, I put together a quick inspiration board for my makeover plan…

Like I mentioned before, I’m using Chalky Finish Paint from Valspar, (find it at Lowe’s starting March 1st). And I am pretty excited to try it out because there are several different finishes that can be applied for these paints (antique, distressed, satin, and ultra-matte). I’m deciding between an ultra-matte or satin finish. What do you think would look best?

As for the color, I’m fairly certain I’ve settled on Woolen Stockings, which is a really pretty grey – similar to the hanging light fixture in my mood board.

I’ll be sharing how this mini table makeover turned out in just a couple of weeks. So stay tuned.

Photography by Kimberly Murray for Paper & Stitch

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This post is in partnership with Valspar… I’m really excited to be working on a series of paint posts with them throughout the year. So expect to see more makeover stories (big and small), DIYs, and more. Can’t wait to share what I’m working on. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Paper & Stitch running.