Hi! I’m Courtney.
These are my parents, Dave and Cathy Prebich, owners of All Things New Again, a furniture and paint boutique.
My parents started woodworking as a hobby in the 1980’s. Because they do everything with gusto, they soon had more shelves than wall space and more holiday decorations than they could give away to all of our family and friends.
When we moved to Virginia in 1991, my parents were doing a craft show just about every weekend. My sister Colleen and I grew up helping them paint wooden snowmen, assemble reindeer, pack everything up and unpack it in a school gym or a community center or outside in some field (and pack and unpack some more!)
It was a lot of work—but it was also a lot of fun!
In 1998, my parents purchased this little white house in Leesburg, recruited 50 local and national crafters, and opened the doors to their own store, also called Sawdust Specialties. Colleen and I were really excited to see our Mom’s dream of opening her own shop come true. (And we were really, really excited we wouldn’t have to do all of that craft show packing and unpacking anymore!)
After 15 awesome years of operating their shop, my parents decided to retire last year. Their plan was to fix up the building and sell it so they would have more time to do retiree things like sleep in, hang out with their grandchildren and relax.
We all sort of wondered how long that plan would last. You see, my parents do many things very well. Relaxing is not one of them. It turns out their retirement lasted for one dinner.
Our whole family went out to celebrate, but before dessert was served my parents were cooking up a plan for a new kind of shop, thanks to one simple little question I asked.
“What am I going to do with that huge stash of furniture in my garage?”
In 2011, I had a baby and quit my job to stay home with my son. One Saturday morning, Mom invited me to go treasure hunting with her for the flea market room in her shop. I was hooked! I soon had so many pieces of furniture in my garage that we were parking our cars in the driveway and I was painting out there until midnight every night after my husband and son were asleep.
It was a lot of work—but it was also a lot of fun!
As we joked about the stash of furniture, we kept coming up with great ideas like:
What if we opened a new shop and sold our own eclectic brand of handpainted upcycled furniture?
What if instead of one flea market room, we turned the entire upstairs of the building into a treasure hunting hotspot where other DIY’ers could find their next great project to paint?
What if we sold paint too so people could get their projects and their paint in one convenient place?
And what if we created a studio and classroom where people could come to learn and share new ideas?
The more we thought about it, the more awesome this new furniture and paint boutique sounded. Then we came up with the perfect name: All Things New Again.
The opportunity to become American Paint Company retailers fit perfectly with our new business plan.
Everything came together for us at just the right time and we opened All Things New Again late last year.
It is a lot of work– but it is also a lot of fun!
At All Things New Again, we rescue beat-up old furniture that nobody loves anymore and we make it beautiful again.
American Paint Company’s all natural clay, chalk and mineral paints are perfect for helping us, and our customers, do just that.
Here are a few of our recent American Paint Company projects:
[Fireworks Red, Leather Boots, Amber Waves of Grain and Cannonball]
[table is Beach Glass; chairs and stripe are Surfboard]
[Sackcloth, Limoge and Crushed Tea]
[Nana’s Cupboard, Beach Glass and A-Maize-Ing]
Great story!
Thank you Mary!
A family affair! Love your shop and all the wonderful treasures. Best wishes!
Thank you Jennifer!
I am trying to locate a bottle of backyard pond to touch up a project/ Also is there a way to remove the wax finish that was put on the chair so that I can touch it up.
Thanks.
sharon
Dampen a lint free rag with Denatured Alcohol and gently rub the area you want to remove the wax it will not remove your paint if done correctly. Please check our online stores under the “shop” tab to locate an online retailer to purchase Backyard Pond or you can contact a retailer near you by checking our “Find a Retailer” tab on our website. Good luck and enjoy painting!