Cottage Paint is both a chalk paint and a clay paint. It is made with both clay and chalk components, providing a  flat, matte, chalky, velvety-aged, time-worn finish that so many love.

And there are practical reasons to love this furniture paint too.

• It's easy to apply & has great adhesive properties. So great, in fact, that as long as the surface you wish to paint is clean, sealed, and sound, there is no need to strip, sand, or prime. That's right, no stripping, no sanding, no priming with this paint! You can directly apply Cottage Paint directly over any varnished or lacquered surface.
• Cottage Paint is creatively flexible. It can be used with stencils, mixed for specific color combinations, applied in multiple layers of colors for unique distressed effects, used to create marble & antiqued effects - the possibilities are nearly endless!
• Quick drying. A coat of Cottage Paint dries in one hour.
• Once dry, Cottage Paint can easily be distressed with just a damp cloth. This means no need to use sandpaper! And no sandpaper means no harm to the furniture’s fine detailing and sharp edges. Plus, simply distressing with just a damp cloth means that you and your home can escape the air born dust and mess of sanding.
• This paint leaves a flat porous surface, requiring a protective top coat - and opening up a world of possibilities for decorative finishes, including waxes, varnishes, and glazes.

Simply put, Cottage Paint takes all the best qualities of milk paint, chalk paint, and clay paint - combining them into an inexpensive and easy to use, no fuss medium for renewing and restoring your furniture, cupboards, frames, and other creative DIY decor projects.

Whether your decorator look is shabby chic, country, cottage, rustic, farmhouse, bohemian - or you're simply a fan of vintage and antique looks, and you want more of that worn, weathered, homespun, casual feel of lived-in charm, Cottage Paint is the key. And an easy to use key at that!

The FARM is proud to be one of the very few places in the region to carry a complete range of Cottage Paints - from furniture paints and supporting decorative finishes, to other DIY furniture paint essentials. And we now carry Cottage Paints in our online shop - you can purchase online & pick it up in the store or make curb-side arrangements!

Posted below is our complete Cottage Paint color chart - if we do not have a color in stock, contact us to order it!

 At this workshop, the Farm is providing the vintage planters while Baker nursery will provide the succulents, soil, rocks, sand - and the savvy info to keep these plants alive! 

This National Houseplant Appreciation Day event is part of our January celebration of National Hobby Month. 

In keeping with the spirit of the houseplant hobby - whether you have a green thumb or are just beginning your indoor plant adventure - here are some true facts about plants:

Fact: Houseplants are good for your health. (Which is why we need to appreciate them more!)
Fact: Talking to plants really does help them grow - especially if the speaker is a woman!
Fact: Music really is good for plants. (So music lovers can combine hobbies!)
Yes, plants can be considered pets! (And landlords don't object to plant pets!)
So go on, start your life-long love affair with plants! Attend the succulent plant workshop at Baker this Friday!

If you can't make it - or even if you do attend and fall in love with succulents in vintage planters! - the Farm will continue the celebration on Saturday, January 11th, with some healthy succulents from the Baker nursery planted in vintage pots and planters! Or just stop at the Farm to gift your houseplants with stylish new-to-them vintage pot. Lots of possibilities, including vintage and antique tins, gravy boats, tea cups, bowls, and, of course, planters! Some of the names collectors might recognize are Hall, Johnson, & Francoma... Come take a look!

Fargo Antiques & Repurposed Market is super excited to announce our first DIY events: Junk Journal Workshops with Lil Muske!

Part of our January is National Hobby Month events lineup, these workshops are like a Junk Journaling 101 - an introduction to the basics of making your very own junk journal. And, yes, you will leave the workshop with your very own handmade junk journal book! 

For those who don’t know much about junk journals, they are similar to scrapbooks - with the major difference being that junk journals are handmade books primarily made with found & recycled (or repurposed) materials. As such, the process makes the books a combination of paper (or mixed media) arts and journaling, whether that journaling is for the written word, drawing or doodling, photos, or some combination thereof. 

In the words of Chelle, the creator of Art Journalist, a junk journal is “a book which is often made through found and recycled materials to be used as a way to collect and record memories, thoughts, ideas, and inspiration.”

If you’ve ever enjoyed flipping through vintage scrapbooks, you’ll love junk journals! 

Shown above are some old scrapbooks as seen in Scrapbooks: An American History by Jessica Helfand. 

Below are some pages from one of Zelda Fitzgerald’s scrapbooks, described by Jessica Helfand as “a series of marvelous makeshift collages that combine fund matter with drawing & writings,” and a “compendium of letters, photographs, clippings, reviews, invitations, gossip, and idle chatter.”

​Yummy!

Who knows, one day, someone may be as enchanted by turning the pages of your junk journal as many of us are looking at Zelda Fitzgerald’s scrapbook!

Because you create junk journals, the books are as individual as you are. Junk Journals can be shades of vintage ivory & white, full of crazy wild pop art color, soft & romantic - they can be about journaling your travel, planning your wedding, documenting your life - or your pets’!

Other junk journal ideas include, family reunion or other event gifts, gratitude journals, and motivational goal journals (equal parts workbook, journal, & planner). The possibilities in themes and purpose are as endless as your creativity & materials!

Instead of buying an artsy journal, fancy leather notebook, scrapbook, or blank book, you can make your own junk journal at the Farm!

In our Junk Journal Workshops, Lil Muske will walk you through the basics of making your own journals - you will leave with a bound book to continue your journaling fun!

There are a few books available to buy on how to make a junk journal, as well as video guides and tips, but in our hands-on workshop, you can ask questions as you are making one!

​Of course, at Farm we have lots of old paper, ephemera, ribbons, bits & bobs to continue embellishing your journal - and start new ones.  

These are Junk Journaling 101 Workshops, but those who enjoy making them may want to come along for the time to get their DIY on - & it’s a great way to introduce your friends to the junk journaling magic!

There are 2 dates for the Junk Journal Workshops, and seating is limited, so please reserve your spot today at our Eventbrite page!

Recently at the Fargo Antiques & Repurposed Market Blog, we discussed the antiques part of the shop's name. Today, we're going to explore the second part, the repurposed part!

Repurposed items are those which are now used in a manner unintended by the original maker. It could be as simple as where you position an item. For example, place an antique iron at the door and now the iron serves as a doorstop. It could be as easy as a new way to use the item. An example of this sort of repurposing would be placing a vintage wooden ironing board behind the sofa and, voila! you now have a "new" console table. 

Repurposing can also involve altering the item somehow. It could be as fun as painting and stenciling that old wooden ironing board to create a rustic sign for the family's laundry room. Or, a bit more complicated, turning that boring old cocktail table into clever, eye-catching seating.

​When things are creatively repurposed or reused, the process is often called "upcycling." Upcycling is a bit like recycling -- only instead of melting down things like glass and plastic to reproduce more of the same (more or less), upcycling transforms undesired objects into desired ones. 

It could be as traditional as dying and embellishing clothing and textiles to hide spots. It could be as practical as repainting and reupholstering to freshen up the furniture. It could be as simple as using mismatched china cups, glassware, and ceramic bowls as planters.

​It could be as crafty as converting balls of thread and old glass cigar holders into little vases, turning an old sewing drawer into a decorative wall-mounted version, or stitching those fabric scraps into whimsical decor items.

​Repurposing and upcycling can also be a bit more challenging...

Rescued, reclaimed, and found pieces can be combined to make new creations. Glass and crystal pieces are refashioned into solar lights. Cast iron sewing machine legs proudly carry new shimmering tabletops. Those unplayable vintage vinyl records play a new tune when turned into clocks & coasters.

​And then there are times when repurposing is taken to new levels. 

Such as when old film cameras become lamps -- complete with lampshades made with vintage film slides. When this is done, the items are often considered to be altered artworks. Like folk art, altered art pieces are works which have value far beyond their components. 

Whether you call it repurposed, upcycled, or altered art, the reuse of "junk" is not only better for our environment in terms of lessening the loads taken to landfills, but also reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials and therefore means reductions in energy usage and pollution. Just as it is with buying vintage, buying repurposed items made from the normally discarded bits and bobs of this world is good for the planet.

If you're the crafty sort who is inspired by the ideas you see at Fargo Antiques & Repurposed Market, in home decor magazines, on Pinterest, etc., F.A.R.M. has all sorts of supplies for you!

DIY fans will enjoy picking through salvaged architectural pieces, looking for just the right old door to turn into a headboard, the picture perfect window to frame family portraits, and the properly weathered boards and patina colored metal sheets to complete that project. 

There are smaller finds too...

​Vintage aprons and hankies just waiting to be sewn into sunny kitchen curtains. Vintage chenille bedspreads to turn into adorable stuffies and comfortable pillows. Vintage drawers and enamelware pieces for centerpieces and small garden planters. Old glass bottles ready to be vases... So many pieces to play with!

And, of course, F.A.R.M. carries Cottage Paint so you can refresh and rescue and refreshen your existing furniture, cabinets, frames, signs, and more! 

Come on in F.A.R.M. -- find unique decor for you home and be inspired!