Customer Inspiration - Karen and John's home

Welcome to this week's customer inspiration and Karen and John's lovely home! Karen, John and their three adorable children recently moved to Michigan but before leaving DuPage County purchased a number of pieces from Jubilee Furniture to take with them. So, let's take a look at what they've done with what they bought!


entertainment centers are quickly becoming the newest "white elephant" and yet are often very nice pieces of furniture which provide a lot of storage - if you can see past using them only for storing your television - and that's exactly what Karen and John have done. By adding crates and boards the piece has been adapted to meet their needs (and keeps things looking tidy behind the closed doors). Karen writes: "We bought this media cabinet particularly for an interest piece in our living room and to house our stereo amp and some photo albums (we've not yet hung anything on the walls, hence the pile of stuff on top)."


both the futon and the floor lamp are from Jubilee - though Karen did purchase a new lamp shade (again, if you can see past the often battered shades on our lamps - you'll find some really nice lighting). I love the pillows Karen's added to the futon and how they warm up the neutral color of the futon fabric

both the table and four wooden chairs are from Jubilee Furniture (two fabric chairs are from IKEA) and John did refinish the table top but, "we left the legs rough, for that instant weathered look. The table and chairs were not an original set, but they look great together!" Yes, Karen - they do look great together and John did a nice job refinishing the table top - it looks fantastic!

Karen mentioned she didn't even get downstairs to snap photos of the rest of the furniture they purchased from Jubilee Furniture. What with moving to a new state and having three young children to get settled, I'm impressed she took photos and emailed me at all!

Okay everyone - if Karen can take some photos and email me - there's no excuse for the rest of you! Email me photos of how your Jubilee Furniture purchases have enhanced, changed, prettified your home and I'll share every Tuesday.

Next Tuesday, we'll take a peek into Mandy's fun/retro apartment!

Karen ends her email by writing, "You had just what we needed at just the right time." How cool is that! Thanks for sharing, Karen!

And so, dear reader, that's this week's "customer inspiration." I'll close with these excellent words from Dr. Seuss: "Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

Blessings!

Customer Inspiration - Megan's place!

Hello and welcome to this week's customer inspiration where we showcase something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture in their home. My goal is to provide a "customer inspiration" every Tuesday (and if you don't send me your photos, I'll drag you through my house - and yes, that's a threat!). So email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with either before and after photos (if you've refinished an item purchased from the store) or simply photos of how wonderful the Jubilee Furniture furniture looks in your space! Couldn't be easier and you know it's tons of fun to peek into others' homes!

This week Megan graciously sent me several photos of a number of different things she recently purchased from Jubilee Furniture. Megan is a very creative individual and you can see some of her work/art at http://www.meganleedesigns.com/.


Megan purchased both the white make-up table and the small bench from Jubilee Furniture. The bench was a gold chrome piece in questionable condition (the price was one dollar - which tells you exactly how "nice" it was to start!) and I love how a coat of paint and new fabric turned it into a charming place to sit! Though the make-up table was super cute to begin with - I love all the things Megan has added to the top! Can you see how she used branches to hang necklaces from? How clever is that!?


I'll be the first to admit when Megan handed me this burro's head to buy, I thought the piece was weird - but I totally LOVE it on this shelf with some artwork and a small vase with flowers! Megan - I hope you've given your little donkey a name!

Megan told me she's planning on reupholstering the two matching chairs which currently have purple fabric on 'em (and don't you love the clean lines of the oak arms?) - but I think they look good just the way they are. I also love, love, love the funky retro coffee table - another Jubilee Furniture purchase. If you look in the patch of sunlight you can see Megan's dog!

This final piece from Jubilee Furniture is truly one of my favorite pieces of all time. I showcased it on the blog (July 30th post titled: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy, days of summer...) and mentioned the amazing beadboard. Doesn't it look great in Megan's dining room? I love the liquor cart (Megan said she picked that up from Craig's List) and the mis-matched dining table and chairs.

So that's a peek into Megan's beautiful space and how the things she's purchased from Jubilee Furniture have contributed to making the place warm and inviting! Megan also wrote "Its been SO great to be able to support Jubilee and find some wonderful pieces for our home." because she knows the proceeds of everything we sell (minus our expenses) help support the programs and services offered through Outreach Community Ministries (to learn more about Outreach go to our website at http://www.outreachcommunityministries.com/).

Megan, THANK YOU for sending me the photos and allowing us into your lovely home!

And to all - God's peace and blessings to you!

Customer Inspiration - my bedroom

Several weeks ago I mentioned I would like to begin to showcase Jubilee Furniture furniture in your home. Either simply how it looks in your space or what creative thing you've done with something you purchased at the store (before and after shots would be great - but not necessary). I asked that you email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with a brief description and a photo or two (or three or four).

In order to get the ball rolling - and since I've purchased many things from the store over the years - I thought I would show you my bedroom and identify all the Jubilee Furniture treasures in it.

But first I want to share a little about me and used furniture. Until I started working at Jubilee Furniture (fall of '06), I was not a resale shopper. I was a huge sale shopper - never paid full price for anything (or almost anything) - but not a resale shopper, not even garage sales. One of my husband's favorite stories to embarrass me with is from when we were first married (1984) and the two of us stopped at a neighbor's garage sale because I spied four dining room chairs that I wanted to purchase. I don't remember how much they were asking for the chairs, but I offered them more than the asking price because I thought they were marked too low. Now I know a lot of Jubilee Furniture shoppers are avid garage sale shoppers, but I have a really hard time walking up someone's driveway, pawing through their stuff and then bartering for a lower price on a pair of brass candlesticks they've priced 50 cent. I'm sure we could unpack that and determine all sorts of weird thing about me - but let's not.

How surprising that I've gotten off course! Well, my aversion to resale shopping all changed when I started working at Jubilee Furniture (though I still don't like garage sales)! Man alive, do we have some amazing things for sale! So, over the last four years I've purchased quite a bit from the store. I do believe you could find a piece of Jubilee Furniture furniture (or artwork) in every room in my house! But where you'll find the most is in my bedroom - so I've taken some photos to show you how my Jubilee Furniture finds look in that room.

I should also tell you that I am one of the least crafty/handy people you will ever meet - so when I buy something it pretty much will show up in my home exactly as it looked leaving the store.

Okay - enough blabbing, welcome to my bedroom!

Michael and I have never had a headboard but when I saw this retro framed print at Jubilee Furniture I though it would look great over our bed and it does! I also purchased the trunk at the foot of our bed from Jubilee.

We recently turned the other corner of our fairly large bedroom into a reading/TV watching corner (the desk that used to be in that corner was donated to Jubilee Furniture, of course!) and both the chairs, the table in between them and the lamp on the table were purchased from the store. The cabinet the small TV is sitting on is also from the store and the bookcase is too! Some of the baskets on the shelves are from Jubilee Furniture as well (hello? - you never know what you might find at the furniture store - how many times do I have to tell you that?!).

Would our bedroom ever be showcased in a design magazine? No, but it's fun to see what Michael and I have done with some of the pieces we've purchased over the years from Jubilee Furniture.

I know most design blogs would provide sources for everything in a photo - and I can do that for most of what you see - but will wait and see if anyone really wants to know where something, other than what I purchased from Jubilee Furniture, is from.

So, what about your Jubilee Furniture treasure? How does it look in your home? I'd love to see photos and hear how your space has been enhanced/redefined by something you bought at the store.

Super bored? Count how many times the words "Jubilee Furniture" appear in this post - just for the heck of it! I counted 14 but I might have missed one or two!

Gorgeous day in DuPage County - hope it is where you are too!

Blessings!