From a very young age I remember my parents taking me to furniture auctions to furnish the custom home they built in rural Ontario. So I grew up with an eclectic selection of real wood furniture and a serious respect for the use of coasters!
When I graduated from university in the early 90s there was not much happening in my chosen field of work so I took a job at a furniture store vowing to make that time work for me in terms of buying as much furniture as I could with my deep discount and privately being just a little thrilled that it would be new. So when the salesperson from a high end furniture company popped by to say he had some amazing 'going out of business' deals, I went order happy. Let's just say I ended up with a whole lot of red oak shaker style furniture. And..it all matched. It turns out I was practically the only person who liked it. Even my father confessed he never liked it which was surprising because I'd never heard him give much of an opinion on furniture.
Fast forward 20 years and I still had that perfectly good, high quality furniture because quite honestly, I liked the style and function, but the 'matchy matchy' red oak colour was so tired. Then I was introduced to milk paint. A few new colours and a change of hardware and all-of-a-sudden friends were telling me how much they loved my furniture. It wasn't just me who learned to love my furniture again. So, that's how my passion for reimagining furniture started. Do you like the form and function of your wood furniture but the finish is dated, drab or damaged? Let's reimagine it.
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Tatiana