Ooh, Betty

We visit painted furniture expert Vintage Betty in St Clears, Carmarthenshire

Laura and I have a long-standing theory that about 90% of the people who deal in vintage stuff are called Laura or Lauren. 

That might sound like rubbish, but I’ve just had a look through the vintage and crafty people we follow on Twitter and I’ve found 10 Laura/Laurens. If that’s not concrete evidence I don’t know what is.

My second favourite vintage Laura/Lauren is Lauren, from Vintage Betty – we met her recently on a trip to Wales when we visited her really well presented shop in St Clears, Carmarthenshire.

We’ve only recently discovered Lauren’s work, through her storefront on notonthehighstreet, but we were both instantly impressed with not only the quality of her painting and her colour choices, but also the staging of her photos, which really makes the pieces themselves sing.

Vintage Betty, St Clears, Carmarthenshire

With a work/pleasure trip to Cardigan looming, we decided a visit to St Clears was in order.

The shop’s a pretty decent size, with big windows and a beautiful wooden floor. In fact, it’s such a good size that, when she first agreed to take it on, Lauren was worried she wouldn’t be able to fill the space, but she’s managed to create a really good looking shop. 

The high level of quality control is evident in everything Vintage Betty does (I was warned not to take any photos of some bits of the shop, because they were too messy – though it all looked great to me!) and listening to Laura and Lauren chat it was clear they were cut from the same cloth – sharing their mutual dislike of working with a certain popular paint brand and their admiration for the work of Tom Hunter at Distressed But Not Forsaken.

Handmade goodness

Lauren’s energy and enthusiasm was infective and she was happy to share her skills and knowledge with Laura, as the two exchanged notes on the best ways to store, sand, paint, wax, varnish and sell vintage furniture.

If you don’t already like her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, you should change that right now. And if you’re anywhere near Wales, or planning a trip that way, you really must call in to see how furniture painting should be done.

Lauren and Laura

Vintage Betty, Pentre Road, St Clears, SA3 34LR

vintage-betty.com, info@vintage-betty.com, 07811185511

Open: Weds-Fri: 10.30am - 5pm, Sat: 10.30am - 1pm

Closed: Sun-Tues