. . . displayed more furniture

Here is a cute little table that I painted white, then distressed around the edges. Sorry for the blurry picture.





Another small table, painted the softest pale green and aged on the rim.





Yet another small table. . . probably the artsy-est thing I painted. It has a chocolate-brown base with a khaki glaze, then daubed with actual artist paints to give it a mottled look.




And the last table, a really nice piece that is black lacquer. This would actually work in many homes, mine included. In fact, it has been spending time in my computer room.


So I thought I was done with furniture painting for a while. . . wrong. I received another delivery of stuff yesterday: an armoire, a repro drysink with a copper lining, a pine cabinet, two rocking chairs, a record cabinet . . . and a few more things. Some will be fun to paint . . . the record cabinet is definitely a POS and I can only improve it, no way to screw it up. But I have been going balls to the wall on this stuff for a few weeks now, and I want a break to do something different. . . like maybe some art? And I think there is a photo journey coming up in the near future, like maybe tomorrow?


Here's a dilemma, and I need someone to think like the owner of this furniture place: He wants me to decide how I will be paid for the furniture pieces that he buys (at deep discounts from the end of estate sales) and that I repair and paint, like the pieces I've shown you today. It would not be reasonable to charge him on an hourly basis, because I had a huge learning curve. I would like to figure out some sort of percentage of the sale price, which would provide me with an incentive to keep the cost down . . . it's that percentage that is my problem. What would be a reasonable amount?


For instance, if he paid $20 for something, and he sells it for $200, would it be reasonable for him to get back his $20 and then we split the difference 50/50? The problem is that I won't know for sure what he paid for any piece, and although I trust him, I don't want to be a dope, either. Maybe just 50/50 on the sale price? My thinking is that had I not repaired and painted the piece, he would not have been able to sell it for much more than he paid for it. Of course, I have to assume that the piece will sell, and I will have to wait to be paid until it does sell. That's another incentive for me to do good work, but then there's the time-value of money, too. Anyone out there in cyberspace know anything about this kind of calculation? Suggestions are not only welcomed, I'm begging for them.