Furniture Consignment Gallery Blog

She exhaled a string of expletives into the phone. Thankfully, I wasn't the target. The culprit was her husband. With only one week to go before the family was moving into a grand new house, he'd called and scheduled my guys to strip the house of every stick of furniture.  

His plan was to sell just about everything at FCG, and redecorate in a style that trumpeted his recent success in the corporate world. He demanded we strip the place of furniture ASAP. The closing on the new house was in one week. His plan was timely, organized and efficient.

Trouble is, his plan lacked support on the domestic front.  His wife had a different plan. Hers was to fret, fume and procrastinate. She liked their old house, the old neighborhood - and the furniture. "Absolutely not," she said when I called to say our truck would be pulling into the driveway in an hour.

She hadn't packed a single box. Every dresser in the house was stuffed with clothing, she said. The wedding china was still on display in the cabinet in the dining room. Empty the house of furniture? "I'm just not ready!" she exclaimed. "Can't we reschedule?"

We were caught between husband and wife. And let me tell you, that is not a pleasant place to be. Especially when you're dealing with a high-testosterone husband and a wife skilled in guerrilla warfare.

Spring's busy moving season can be challenging - for our customers and for FCG. Our homes and furniture are loaded with meaning and memories.  Add an ounce of conflict to the stress of a move and the entire situation becomes highly combustible.   

At FCG, we try to be sensitive. We scrutinized our jam-packed schedule and managed to give the woman a few more days to pack. When we arrived, we moved quickly and quietly. We took it all, leaving only the mattresses on the floor. Our last item: the expensive leather chair from his home office. When we left, the two were in a state of shock.

Every morning, we go through a full loaf of cinnamon bread at our house for breakfast. I dunk slice after slice into the toaster, then butter them up for our three boys. That's our morning ritual.

Cade, my oldest, was hovering over my shoulder this morning making a claim on the next hot slice. At 15, he is growing faster than kudzu. As I handed over the toast, I took a step back and suddenly realized we'd crossed a milestone. Cade is now taller than me.

What struck me is that he'd grown right before my eyes but the change hadn't registered. I'm always busy juggling the day-to-day responsibilities of fatherhood and running a small business. But over time small changes every day really add up.

Later, at work, I realized something similar had happened at Furniture Consignment Gallery. Our Chestnut Hill store has evolved over the past few months to become the pre-eminent showroom for pre-owned contemporary furniture in or around Boston. How did that happen?

Consider the evidence. This week, we accepted for consignment two bold and curvaceous sofas by Rolf Benz, along with a glass coffee table and a sofa table. New, the set cost more than $13,000. Germany's Rolf Benz is a revered name in contemporary design, known for its quality craftsmanship and comfort. At FCG, the sofas are each priced at $999. Our consignor also brought us a set of sleek blue dining chairs also by Rolf Benz. New, each chair is $1,800. We're selling the set of four for $1,600.

Also in Chestnut Hill is a Ted Boerner sofa and armchair in white leather, originally purchased from the high-end contemporary store Design Within Reach. This week, the showroom is filled with the most sought-after designer names in contemporary furniture, including Hans Wegner and Roche Bobois.

Upscale contemporary furniture is extraordinarily expensive when bought new. The top manufacturers use genuine chrome, quality metals, lucites and premium grade leathers. But like the pre-owned market for traditional furniture, the discounts and deals are amazing when you buy at FCG. We don't waste your time with knock-offs and no-name brands. In Chestnut Hill, we've specialized in selecting the best in contemporary design.  

So we've grown at FCG, and we want to call your attention to the changes. Stop by the store on Route 9, westbound, in Newton. You'll find a breathtaking array of the highest quality contemporary furniture at amazing prices.

"Do I look like a Wellesley housewife to you?" he said with mild irritation.

Well, I thought, no. He looked like an overworked handy-man. He was wearing jeans, a ratty sweater, an unlaced pair of L.L. Bean boots and a cap advertising Miller High Life, a lowbrow swill.

But here we were standing in front of a stately mansion in that swanky town. I was firing questions at him about the high-quality furniture he was consigning, including a Baker Colonial Williamsburg dining room set, a Councill Craftsman server, a secretary by EJ Victor. And he was getting exasperated. "I don't know anything about furniture," he said.

Some customers are a "riddle wrapped in a mystery," to quote from Winston Churchill. There had to be a story here. There was.

After a wildly successful decade on Wall Street in the 1980s, he retired at the age of 36. The suburban life with wife and kids had no appeal for him. His stock options gave him the opportunity to exercise what he called "the coconut option."

He made a life for himself alone in the Florida Keys, sailing, fishing and toasting the sunset with a beer from his front porch. For company, he had a dog.

"I get them from the pound when they only have a year or two left of life in them," he said. "Then, I spoil the hell out of them." He tossed a tennis ball across the lawn. The old mutt leaped up joyfully and took off like an Olympic sprinter.

I had to ask. "How does a single guy who couldn't care less about furniture end up with a big house filled with the best of it?"

Turns out, his dad worked for the phone company. His mom was a housewife. With six kids, they had enough for the essentials - but no luxuries. When he made his fortune, he bought them a big house, then took his mom furniture shopping. "That was fun," he said. 

Now, twenty-five years later, his parents are moving into an assisted-living facility. The house has to go. Ditto the furniture. He wasn't taking so much as a lamp back to the Keys. He likes the simple life. "You gotta know what makes you happy, man," he said.

"We just got a bigger place!"

They were young, excited and expecting a new addition to their family any day. The couple burst into the showroom earlier this week and, after announcing their big news, they hurried off in opposite directions to shop.

Anticipating long nights with a fussy newborn, the father-to-be quickly found his favorite piece: a $1,710 leather loveseat sleeper by Hancock & Moore. As a father of three, I had to stifle the urge to educate the poor guy. Just because you buy a sleeper doesn't mean you're going to get any sleep after the baby arrives.  

Meanwhile, on another floor, his wife had fallen in love with the Princess Bed, a fantastically frou-frou structure decked out in acres of pink and yellow.

"I think it's a girl," she confided shyly, "but we don't really know..."

I quickly steered her towards more gender-neutral baby furniture. Turning the Princess Bed into a rocket ship or racecar if a little lad showed up would be a major challenge for a sleep-deprived dad.

After weeks of hibernation, shoppers are starting to emerge from their winter dens. And with them come the challenges of helping them navigate the turning points in life. I've missed that.

In Chestnut Hill, I was happy to see a longtime customer looking at a dining table of inlaid mahogany and eight leather chairs. Downsizing from a grand suburban colonial, she was scouting out items for a new condo overlooking Boston Harbor.

"Dining room seating for eight? In a condo?" I asked gently.

"Oh," she laughed. "I keep forgetting we're downsizing! And that means smaller!"

Finally, a normal week, I thought. Customers young and old are starting to trickle back into our stores. I'm happy to see familiar faces - and new ones. We've got showrooms well stocked with furniture for all kinds of fresh starts. The sun is shining. The snow is melting. Spring will be here soon.

If you are Selling your home and you have furniture that you no longer need, the buyer of your home should be the first option to purchase these items and here is why:

• If you can secure the sale of your furniture with your buyers, you remove what can be a stressful task from your list of things to do.  You have enough to worry about when moving so take this off of your plate right away if you can.
• You may be able to avoid costly moving and storage fees.
• You get your money with less hassles and get it right away.
• You eliminate the risk of damage by leaving the furniture right where it is.

How do you agree on price?

• Don't be greedy.  
• If your furniture is 5 years or older be prepared to sell it for a quarter of what you paid for it.
• If your furniture is newer than that and in "Showroom" condition, then push your asking price to half of your original purchase price.  
• For the sake of simplicity, you are willing to sell the items at a discount from what you could achieve on the open market and you need to explain this to your buyer.  

Too many people make the mistake of shooting for the stars and turning off the most logical suitor -- the buyer of your home.

If you are unable to work out a deal with your buyer, it is not the end of the world.  If you have upscale items in excellent condition, then the next stop should be a high end furniture consignment store.

When  my wife, Diana, first passed the NCIDQ exam and began her career in Interior Design armed with a 4 year degree from the fine University of Kentucky, she landed a fantastic customer.  Being young and thrown in the middle of an exciting project,  she was learning on the fly and creating great designs that the customer loved. The clients were buying the best of the best.  They asked Diana to pull together a plan for a guest bathroom as part of the project and Diana obliged.  After reviewing the proposal, the gentleman said, "Diana, I am not sure what a $1,400 toilet paper holder looks like, but I am quite certain that we don't need that."  Lesson learned!  There are times to push a client to spend money on certain aspects of a plan and there are times to bargain hunt.  A good Interior Designer needs access to the finest showrooms, but also needs to know how to find good deals.

Here are 5 ways an Interior Designer can benefit from Furniture Consignment Shopping and Services:

1) Staying in touch with your favorite furniture consignment store's ever changing inventory and popping in alongside your customer demonstrates that you are looking out for their pocketbook.  Saving money for your customer increases your credibility, especially when closing a proposal with high priced items.

2) A furniture consignment store may be able to handle the items that your client plans to replace.  This makes the client feel better about spending new money as the old items will find a good home.

3) When you see something that works for your client in a consignment store, you can have it now!  This is huge as clients want immediate results and are often frustrated by 10 week lead times for custom pieces.  Filtering in some items that have immediate impact can help a client to relax and start to see the benefits of your talents and work.

4) Consignment stores have unique pieces that fit unique corners and spaces.  Sometimes you have to hunt for furniture that fits, and consignment stores are a great place to start.

5) The multitude of unique pieces that populate an upscale furniture consignment showroom can inspire creativity.  Sometimes there are projects that are hard to get excited about, and going into a furniture consignment store can jolt your imagination.

Real Estate prices in Boston are very attractive right now and the time is right to move from that 6,ooo square foot home in the metrowest into a condo in Boston.  Your biggest problem? What to do with all your furniture!

How do you sell fine furniture confidentially and smoothly?  Squishing 14 rooms of pre-owned furniture into an 1,800 square foot condo is physically impossible, and deciding where to put the furniture you don't take with you can prove to be equally daunting. Like any big undertaking, it's best to break this process down into steps.

• Start with pieces that have seen better days and are at the end of their useful life.  Make a list of these pieces and come to terms quickly with the fact that short of a family heirloom, nobody in  your family is going to want your old, broken down furniture. 
• Check with your church or local non profits to see if there is an upcoming auction that could find a use for them. 
• Have a yard sale if you'd like, but as for pieces that don't sell, it's best to take them to the swap section at your local transfer station.
• Consider the size, scale and color of your smaller home and (again) quickly come to terms that oversized pieces won't make this trip.  Even if they are recently purchased high-end home furnishings, it doesn't mean they belong in your new home (especially if they won't fit). 
• Don't save furniture for your kids. The thought is nice, but kids never want the furniture they grew up with. 
• My parents have made a few moves since retiring and have moved and stored the bedroom set I had as a kid as well as my brother's.  We recently sold both sets in our store once my folks realized that these bedroom sets would remain in storage forever.

I can't tell you the amount of times that we have moved 70% of the furniture contents from a home, charged around $100 to do so, and wrote some handsome checks to the consignors as a result of the sales.  Not only did these consignors benefit by turning their furniture into cash, but they also avoided hefty moving and storage costs.

Economize your downsize with smart planning and dispassionate decision making.  It's hard to leave home and the things that represent the best time of your life, but putting your best foot forward means not looking back.  Build a plan and get there.