Tuesday's customer inspiration - my kitchen!

Hello and welcome to my Tuesday post where I show you something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture in their home and how fantastic it looks! This week we'll be visiting my very own kitchen which contains several things from the store!

Let's begin!

The Jubilee Furniture items are the oak pedestal table, two of the four chairs and the gorgeous artwork on the wall. Let's take a closer look:


The pedestal table is a fairly recent purchase and replaces a similar table, but it was smaller and we really wanted a little more room. Granted, it couldn't be too big because the space is pretty small.

I love, love, love this original oil painting and I bought it from the store about a year ago. It's bright and breezy and always makes me smile! Also, I love it (or did I already mention that?).

Here's one of the two oak chairs from Jubilee Furniture. We had four of the curved back ones but they're slowly falling apart and I'm slowly replacing them. I like the mismatched look.

Here are a couple of photos from different angles. I took these picture early this morning before the sun was even up! It's nice to have the extra storage over the siding glass doors (which lead out onto a small, but nice, deck - remember I have a split level house).

The rest of the kitchen is pretty nondescript - no granite counter tops, no stainless steel appliances, no beautiful cabinets - but, boy, can my husband make amazing meals in this space (and my daughter makes means pies and my son delicious omelets!). I'm the official cleaner-upper!

Have you purchased something from Jubilee Furniture which you'd be willing to take a photo (or two or three) of and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org so I can include in a future Tuesday customer inspiration post? I'd be much obilged if you did!

So, how was your Christmas? Here are a few highlights from mine:

• watching The Grinch starring Jim Carrey with my kids (Jim Carrey is amazing in that movie!)
• having a nice - but quiet - Christmas Eve celebration with my mother-in-law; sister-in-law, Debbie; and Debbie's boyfriend, Dave
• driving home from Debbie's and hitting ice at an intersection and sliding through the intersection and seeing the traffic light camera take a photo of us going through the red light (and now waiting for the $100 ticket in the mail - it's happened before!). Thankfully, we didn't hit anyone!
• having 21 from my side of the family to our house Christmas day and having a blast!
  
  Recognize my family room? Obviously, these two photos only show a few members of my large and amazing family (that's my mom tucked under the blanket!)
• returning my house to semi-normal after the wonderful time on Christmas day (and now I can hardly wait to take my tree down and return the whole place to normal! I swear I love Christmas but I'm ready to move on - do you hate me?)
  
  

So, that's it for now! Remember we have weird store hours this week: we'll be open Thursday, December 30th from 1 to 8; Friday, the 31st from 11 to 3; and closed Saturday, January 1st! I'll have my regular weekly post for you Thursday morning so you can see some of the new-to-us stuff that Dan and Chris picked up last week and this week (there will be LOTS to show you). So, if you happen to be off Thursday or Friday it would be a good time to head out to the store!

God's blessings for a wonderful 2011 to you, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Theresa's $2 Jubilee Furniture mirror

Hello! And thanks for checking out this week's Tuesday customer inspiration post! Each Tuesday I showcase something someone's purchased from Jubilee Furniture and how wonderful it looks in their home (either exactly as they purchased it or after whatever transformation the piece went through). There have been many times in the past where I have had to resort to taking photos of stuff in my own home (since I've purchased many an item from Jubilee over the years) because no one loves me enough to take a few measly photos and email me (at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org), but that's not the case today! Yay!

Theresa purchased a $2 sunburst mirror this summer from the store and turned it from so-so to sunsensation (SUNsensation - get it? It's a pun, not a spelling error! *smile*).


here's the way it looked when Theresa first bought it (you can see it's not that big)


Theresa is ready to start painting!

mid painting

the finished, fabulous mirror - Theresa wrote, "sorry there aren't any zoomed out photos - the mirror hangs in my bathroom and I thought I'd spare the readers a picture of my toilet"! I love how the new color punches up both the fun and wow factor of the mirror! I also love the color of your bathroom walls, Theresa! Well done! Hats off!

Thus ends this week's customer inspiration!

Remember, the store will be CLOSED this Friday (12/24) and Saturday (12/25) and then OPEN THURSDAY, 12/30 FROM 1 TO 8 AND FRIDAY, 12/31 FROM 11 TO 3 and then CLOSED SATURDAY, 01/01/11 (whew and I don't mean to shout at you - just really trying to get the information out there about being closed and then open on a Thursday...).

Just because the store is closed doesn't mean Dan and Chris aren't making donation pickups - because they are! So, when we open on Thursday, December 30th there will be EVEN MORE STUFF THAN USUAL for you to browse through. I'll also snap photos and post an entry about the new-to-us furniture on Wednesday, December 29th (so be watchin'!).

I also hope to have a new customer inspiration post next Tuesday too! So, for all of you who've purchased stuff from the store, in between sipping eggnog and opening gifts take a photo or two and email me (at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org).

"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!'"

Happy Christmas, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Alice's chair transformation from fine to fabulous!

Welcome and thanks for stopping by my Tuesday customer inspiration installment where each week I showcase something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture in their home.

I'm especially excited because Alice will take us from start to finish showing the transformation of a $25 chair she purchased a couple of weeks ago from the store. This chair with cane back and sides was in great shape overall except for the sagging seat webbing which you can see in this photo:

Alice wrote, "The previous owner must have had pets because my cats went nuts for the chair when I dragged it into the house (ergo the cats on the chair pics)."

The original webbing was crumbling and a challenge to pry off and "was the worst part of the job." Alice also had to pry "up a gazillion tacks; sanded the frame lightly; sprayed it with primer and two coats of white paint; put new jute webbing on the seat; washed the pillow cover and pillow insert; and plunked the pillow back on the newly redone chair. It looks terrific!"

this photo is the "spray zone set up in a corner of my tiny apartment - what a mess!"

here's the painted chair with new seat webbing

the finished chair - Alice plans to reupholster the cushion "but for now, the original red velvet pillow looks great against the white chair."

"The chair sits happily in the corner of my bedroom, contrasting beautifully with my deep eggplant walls and curtains," Alice writes and I completely agree!

Alice ends her email with a "Thank you Susan and thank you Jubilee!!"

Thank YOU, Alice for inviting us along on your chair's beautiful makeover!

If you've purchased something from Jubilee Furniture and would be willing to take a photo or two (or three) and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with details of how the piece has been transformed or simply how wonderful it looks in your home - I would appreciate it!

Next week we'll see how Theresa turned a $2 so-so mirror into a showstopper!

Remember, Jubilee Furniture will be OPEN this Friday (from 1 to 8) and Saturday (from 9 to 4) but then CLOSED Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th (ho, ho, ho!).

I heard a quote yesterday and it's stuck with me - and though I don't know who originally said it, thought I would share: "All will be well and all shall be well, all manner of things will be well."

May all be well with you, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - my living room!

I received a wonderful email from Alice with - I'm sure - equally wonderful photos of some of the wonderful things she's purchased from Jubilee Furniture! Alas, the photos did not come through and Alice won't be able to resend them until later this week. So, my back-up plan was to show you my living room which contains many, many wonderful purchased from the store!

Let the wonder continue!


We purchased a pre-lite tree several years ago and loved it - for a while. Last year when more and more of the pre-lite lights went out (and they were a royal pain to replace and one bad bulb made the whole string go out) we happily pitched it after Christmas and decided to buy a real tree this year (insert very excited 22 year old daughter who loves real trees). However, when I saw this wonderful fake tree at the store a couple of weeks ago, I liked it so much I took a picture of it and asked my husband what he thought. Factor in the $20 price tag and it made sense to buy used instead of real (though Abby pointed out that by not buying a real Christmas tree I've denied a tree - which was planted for the sole purpose of becoming someone's Christmas tree - of fulfilling its potential! You gotta love a kid who thinks like that!).

I love, love this wonderful rocker which I bought from Jubilee Furniture a couple of years ago. I call it my "happy chair" since you truly can't rock in it without smiling!

There are many things in this photo which are from the store. Let's zoom in a little:

The four botanical prints are from Jubilee as is the wonderful table lamp (which I love!). The round table I purchased from the Discoveries Resale Shop which is also under the Outreach Community Ministries umbrella and located in Warrenville (at Rte. 59 and Batavia Rd. in the Family Food Store strip mall). Discoveries has a furniture annex a couple of doors down from their resale store and it really is wonderful!

The living room/dining room are a "L" and here's a shot of the dining area. the only thing from the store in these photos is the stool in the corner. It's only semi-wonderful (just being honest!).

The photo on the left was taken from near the dining room table. I had a blue and white candle holder that we bought when we were on a wonderful family vacation in Maine a good ten or twelve years ago. Jubilee Furniture received a wonderful donation of a ton of blue/white pieces and I fought the urge to buy anything for weeks. Finally, I gave in (especially since most of the pieces were priced around $2) and the wonderful collection of blue/white candlesticks on our coffee table is the end result of that purchase.

This smiley snowman stands guard by the candlesticks and my mom made it for me (and I think she made one for each of my sisters and my brother) many Christmases ago and is one of my favorite Christmas ornaments. Isn't it wonderful?

I must confess that I've - again - reverted to the old way of inserting photos and am trying not to feel like a failure. I received a wonderful offer from Amanda who is willing to help me convert to Windows Live Writer and I'll happily take her up on her offer - if it'll make it easier to use lots of photos with my blog posting (Amanda - did you receive my response to your email?).

And that ends this week's wonderful customer inspiration! If you've purchased something (translate - ANYTHING) from the store and would be willing to take a photo (or two or three) and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with details, I would greatly appreciate it and it would be really, really wonderful!

I hope you have a truly wonderful day, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Jean's lovely dining room table and chairs!

Jean emailed me last week with a photo of a table and four chairs which were purchased from Jubilee Furniture. In her email, Jean wrote, " We are very pleased especially since we bought the table separately from the 4 chairs and we think that they look good together. The table had a crack in the top, but John repaired it. Just takes some time and effort but well worth it."

The set is gorgeous and I think Jean and John did an amazing job! Don't you agree? And how sweet is their dog watching Jean take the photo?!

We had another great weekend at the store and ended November with total sales of over $32,000! This is our highest monthly sales total ever and is especially exciting since the month only included four sales weekends (some months have FIVE sales weekends).

We now head into - what historically - is our slowest month of the year, December. I believe - between our wonderful donors and fantastic customers - that we'll turn "slowest" into "show-stopperest" (by adding a few letters and making up the word "stopperest") month of the year!

Speaking of December, I want to let you know how Christmas will impact our store hours. Jubilee Furniture will be OPEN our normal Friday from 1 to 8 and Saturday from 9 to 4 this weekend, the weekend of the 10th and 11th and the 17th and 18th. We will be CLOSED Friday, December 24th and Saturday, December 25th (ho, ho, ho) and then OPEN Thursday, December 30th from 1 to 8 and Friday, December 31st from 11 to 3 and then CLOSED Saturday, January 1st. We'll do something extra fun on the 30th and 31st since we're not normally open those days and/or times - and we'll want to try to entice you to come in!

Jean ended her email by saying, "Thanks for all you do at Jubilee Furniture!!". I'm sending the thanks - and love - back your way, Jean!

And to you as well, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Kate's warm and welcoming office at Jubilee Village!

No, you're not crazy, today is Wednesday and I'm - again - a day late on my Tuesday customer inspiration post. I drove to Taylor University (in lovely Upland, IN) on Monday to attend my son, Jack's orchestra concert that evening (concert was great -he plays cello). I drove home yesterday arriving back around 4 p.m. and immediately went to write this post from home when - surprise! - the same thing happened where I couldn't save the photos that Kate had emailed me on my home computer (maybe some day I'll figure how what to upload so I don't have this problem forever - but don't place any bets on me being successful!).

So, if you checked all day yesterday for my post - I'm sorry. Believing the old saying, "better late than never," I'm here to deliver today though!

Kate Hutson, MA, LPC is our Clinical Case Manager for Jubilee Village. Jubilee Village is a transitional and independent living program for single, formerly homeless, mothers between the ages of 17 ½ and 20. The program is designed to holistically address the many needs of its residents, many of whom enter the program with histories of domestic violence or other manifestations of family discord, and without financial resources or job skills.

Jubilee Village exists to provide safe, secure housing, experienced mentors, and financial counseling for its residents as they prepare for independent living, upon their graduation from this two year program. Jubilee Village is one of the many programs offered through Outreach Community Ministries (of which Jubilee Furniture is a division of - and where the proceeds, minus our expenses - funnel back and help support the work of).

Kate started in her role this summer and inherited an office which was practical, but short on warmth and charm. Here are the "before" photos that Kate sent me:



After a fresh coat of paint (in a great warm, yet neutral color), Kate installed several items she'd selected from Jubilee Furniture as well as some other great pieces which all work together to create a welcoming, safe place for moms - and their children - to met with Kate in.

Didn't Kate do a wonderful job with her office? I love it!

I have something else to tell you about today.

About three weeks ago, Henny - one of our volunteers who works in our older adult program - stopped in the store to discuss Olga - the senior she visits through our Friendly Visitor program (another great program where a volunteer is matched up with a senior - often one who has no family in the area and would love a friendly visit from time to time). To keep occupied and busy - Olga crochets afghans. Lots of 'em. Yet she has no one to give them to and no outlet to sell them. Henny wondered if she and Olga could sell the afghans at Jubilee Furniture and my response was "Sure!". So, starting this Friday (remember we WILL BE OPEN Friday from 1 to 8 and Saturday from 9 to 4) Henny and Olga (at least for a while Olga will be there) will be selling Olga's afghans for a minimum price of $25 (Olga just wants to cover the cost of her yarn - but if you want to give more for an afghan - please do so). Henny emailed me the following photos of some of the 25 afghans that will be available for purchase.

Aren't the colors and patterns amazing?!

Again, Jubilee Furniture will be open THIS Friday from 1 to 8 and Saturday from 9 to 4 and I'll have my usual Friday post, including photos of the new-to-us items for purchase, Friday morning (have you noticed that I've been completing my Friday post earlier? It's usually up by 9 or 9:30 a.m.! Aren't you impressed?).

I hope you, dear reader, have an awesome and wonderful Thanksgiving!