Revamped Home Furnishings: M.I.A.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

M.I.A.

So, for anyone who's noticed-it's been a while since I've posted anything. First, I've been SUPER busy getting everything ready for the upcoming Three Speckled Hens show. And I still have tons to do! On top of that My computer power supply went out on me a couple weeks ago & I still haven't replaced it.....soon though! Just wanted to do a quick post so that everyone knew what was up. Thanks to Alisha for letting me use the IPad to post this (and Kevin too!)I should be back on track soon!

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Welcome to Revamped!

I set this blog up to hopefully be an expansion of an idea that I've had since I was 19! At that time I had a brand new baby girl, the keys to my very first apartment, a single mother's income & a taste for design that was way out of my own league. I remember going to the most expensive furniture showroom in town thinking that if I could just save up enough for one really nice piece, I could fake everything else with knockoffs or discount department store finds. After about 3 laps around the store I realized that not only would I have to give up groceries for a year so that I could afford the armoire I fell in love with, but I had no business even buying the three moss covered Styrofoam balls in the bowl on the matching coffee table (which by the way were $75)!

I left the store frustrated & totally convinced that I could make these pieces -only better- on my own, and more importantly, on my budget. And that's where it all started, armed with a few hand me down pieces from family members & some killer thrift store finds, I decided that the furniture I couldn't afford would serve as "inspiration pieces". With some help & encouragement from my mom(especially with anything involving sewing) I actually made that tiny little apartment pretty cute.

All the work definitely made me appreciate everything I had & I'm pretty sure I still haven't seen a 19 yr. old with a more stylish apartment!

Since then it's become way more than a hobby. At any given time I have at least 6 "projects" going on in my garage, I can't help it. It's in my blood. My Mom came from a big Italian farming family with six kids - imagine the hand me down action there. I don't think they threw anything away. I guess she passed the idea on that everything could be re-purposed if you were creative enough. My Dad's mom was a yard sale queen. Her house is filled with beautiful antique furniture that I'm sure she got for less than 1/4 of it's value because she had to scrape 18 layers of paint out of the hand carved details so that she could restore their original finishes. I swear, people around town knew who she was because she'd hit up at least 15 different yard sales on any random Saturday! So, I blame my family for my obsession. But, I stand behind the idea that good design can come cheap - really cheap.