Utah woman, who worked as a nurse for 25 years, quits to flip furniture after daughter’s nursery project. Now she makes $8K a month while working fewer hours

A Utah woman who spent 25 years working as a nurse has built a profitable furniture-flipping business by buying old furniture, refurbishing it and selling it for a higher price. What began with a $20 pair of nightstands has since grown into a business that has brought her thousands of dollars in monthly profits.

According to People, 48-year-old Cami Lane now earns an average of about $6,500 a month from furniture flipping, with her most profitable month bringing in approximately $8,400 in August 2025. She has since reduced the time she spends refinishing furniture to focus on content creation and her family.

How A $20 Purchase Changed Her Career

Lane's journey began about two and a half years ago when her daughter asked her to refinish a dresser for her nursery. While researching how to do the job, Lane came across furniture flippers who were earning money by restoring and reselling old pieces. She wondered whether she could turn the idea into a business of her own.


She started small, working on one piece of furniture a week while continuing her nursing job. After about six months of consistent sales, she decided to leave her 25-year career and pursue furniture flipping full-time.

One of her early projects involved buying a pair of nightstands for $20, refinishing them and selling them for $275.

According to People, Lane initially aimed to earn $6,000 in monthly profit while working around 20 hours a week and refinishing four or five pieces of furniture. Her earnings eventually exceeded that target, with monthly profits averaging approximately $6,500.

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A post shared by Cami Lane | DIY + Furniture Flips (@lanes.avenue)

How Lane Makes Money From Old Furniture

Lane uses her family's three-car garage as a workspace and sells most of her refurbished furniture through Facebook Marketplace. She has also shared details of her business and profits on social media.

In one Facebook post, she described how her 15-year-old daughter earned $200 from her first furniture-flipping project.

"She wanted to earn some extra money over the summer, so I thought I’d teach her how to flip furniture. We found this pair of nightstands for $100, and she did almost all the refinishing herself!

"We ended up selling them for $400! After subtracting the furniture cost, supplies, and $50 for the help we provided, she walked away with $200!"

The example illustrates how buying furniture at a low price and improving its appearance can create an opportunity to earn a profit. However, the final return depends on the purchase price, supplies, labour and the amount buyers are willing to pay.

For Lane, the process involves much more than applying a fresh coat of paint. She looks for well-made furniture that needs cosmetic improvements rather than extensive repairs. Once she brings a piece home, she cleans, sands, primes and paints it, fixes any necessary damage, updates the hardware and prepares it for sale, People reported.

Finding suitable furniture and arranging transportation can be among the most time-consuming parts of the business. She also has to respond to prospective buyers and coordinate pickups or deliveries. To save time, Lane works on several pieces simultaneously, completing the same stage of work across multiple items before moving to the next step.

She generally favours black and light beige finishes, which she says sell quickly. She also avoids extensive wood refinishing on most projects and limits herself to one or two paint colours at a time, reducing the time spent cleaning her paint sprayer.

Lane has said she has not experienced a month in which her furniture-flipping business broke even or recorded a loss.

How Furniture Flipping Helped Her Family

The business also provided financial support when Lane's husband took a pay cut. Although his income has since recovered, her earnings have continued to help the couple build savings and work towards their financial goals.

The flexibility of the business has also allowed Lane to spend more time with her children and grandchildren, giving her an alternative to the schedule of a full-time nursing job.

From Furniture Flipping To Content Creation

In February 2026, Lane began focusing more seriously on content creation. She developed a $37 furniture-flipping guide and expanded her social media work, including brand partnerships.

These additional income streams have allowed her to cut the time she spends refinishing furniture to around eight to 10 hours a week. She has said, however, that creating content now takes more time than the physical work of restoring furniture.

Her husband, who previously helped prepare furniture for sale, now mainly assists with pickups and deliveries when his schedule permits.

In another Facebook post, Lane shared the financial results from a month in which she spent about 10 hours a week working in her garage.

"I’ve officially cut my furniture flipping hours in half! I’m spending about 10 hours a week in the garage now, and here’s what I made last month.

"Total sales: $4,680

"Furniture costs: $505

"Supplies: $540

"Profit: $3,635

"I love that furniture flipping allows me to make extra income while having more time to focus on other things.

"If you want to learn how I do it, my Furniture Flipping System is linked in my bio!

"I’m also thinking about sharing all my flips from January through June, along with my monthly profits. Would you want to see that?"

Although Lane has reduced her hours in the garage, she does not plan to give up furniture refinishing entirely. Instead, she hopes to expand the teaching and content-creation side of her business while continuing to restore and sell furniture.

Her experience shows how a small resale project can develop into a business, although replicating her results would depend on sourcing affordable furniture, managing costs, finding buyers and building a steady customer base.