Tuesday's Customer Inspiration - Jennifer's sunny chairs!

Jennifer grew up with a mom who is incredibly talented around design and re-purposing pieces with "good bones" and obviously - based on the following photos - has developed that muscle herself.  Here's Jennifer's email:

Hi Susan,  My mom, Amy, helps out at Jubilee occasionally (and alerts me of any great deals she sees when helping out/shopping...not sure what she does more of!).  Anyway, she bought a table/chairs set and she only needed the table...so I lucked out and scored the chairs!  Yay!  So I thought I'd send you some before and after pics. 

They were a little beat up and the fabric was definitely not for me, but I loved the sleek style and thought the unique "squiggle" backs and medallions gave them such personality.  I had originally planned to lightly sand and stain these, but they had some kind of super gloss finish to them and rather than spend hours sanding I opted to paint.

I used a mustard yellow paint (to coordinate with some artwork and other accents in the adjacent living room) and several coats and a topcoat later...here they are.  I added some new foam for padding and picked out a neutral (but interesting) fabric for the seats.  I'm loving my happy "new" dining room chairs.


Sincerely,
Jennifer
P.S. I also bought a children's table/chairs set for my kids and I plan to use the leftover yellow paint on those chairs.  My husband is a little concerned I'm going to paint all the wood furniture in the house...haha, I just might!

Wouldn't it be fun to gather around that great looking table in that sunny spot on those amazing chairs?!  I absolutely love what Jennifer did!

A big THANK YOU to Jennifer!

Have you purchased something from Jubilee Furniture that you've transformed - as Jennifer did - and you'd be willing to take some photos and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with the thought of inspiring others to see used furniture in a new way?  Or, have you purchased something from Jubilee Furniture and done nothing but dusted it off and gave it a new home in your house and you'd be willing to take some photos and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with the thought of inspiring others to see used furniture in a new way?  If so - that's great!  Whatchawaitingfor?

Enjoy this good day, dear reader!

Tuesday's Customer Inspiration - Wendi's lovely sofa/hall table!

I love so many things about today's customer inspiration.  First, that Wendi was introduce to Jubilee Furniture by her sister (love when happy customers tell others about us!)  Secondly, that her transformed hall table was inspired by another Jubilee Furniture customer inspiration (Rachel's).  Sigh.  Smile.

Here's Wendi's email:

Hi Susan!  My husband and I had the good fortune of being introduced to Jubilee by my sister, Kari, and have had such great experiences every time we walk through the door thanks to you, your staff and the amazing finds there.  We moved from Tokyo to Chicago recently and are decorating our very first American home from scratch and on a budget, which is where Jubilee has shone.


We've picked up chairs, amazing artwork, frames, an antique lamp, Christmas ornaments and books, as well as this gorgeous sofa table.  It features great quality and craftsmanship, and was a steal at just $65.  It was nice as is, but we wanted to add a modern touch that would pop against all the wood and bright walls in our living room.


I love the finished product, which cost about $10 in paint supplies.  I threw a stack of beautiful hardbound books and a fresh flower arrangement on top and it's pretty perfect.

Thanks for your wonderful store (which makes me feel good about supporting such a good cause) and staff. See you next time!


Sincerely,


Wendi

In additional email exchanges, Wendi shared that the wall color is Benjamin Moore's Mountain Laurel (picked on a whim without so much as a test sample.  But it was a winner; I love how it changes with the light, sometimes green, sometimes blue...) and she got the black and white idea from an earlier customer inspiration post that I fell in love with. 


The crisp white paint on the great lines of the table against that gorgeous wall color is a winner!  I also love that Wendi used the original hardware but painted it black.  Fantastic!

If you've purchased something from Jubilee Furniture and would be willing to take a photo (or three) and email them to me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with the details - I'd be grateful and you just might inspire someone else!

I hope you have a great week, dear reader, and I'll see you back here on Friday!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Cherri's beautiful home!

Cherri is a regular customer with a discerning eye and so much creative ability that it doesn't seem quite fair (that she has so much and I have so little - that is!).  She gravitates toward classic line pieces and antiques and has purchased tons from Jubilee Furniture over the past few years. 

Every time I see her I gently nudge her about taking photos and emailing me and she always smiles and say - "I know.  I'll do it some day!"  (maybe our new Jubilee Furniture tag line should be "quality used furniture with a liberal dose of guilt!").  

Well, Cherri was in on Saturday with her daughter, Jaclyn, and it turns out Jaclyn is the photographer in the family and all it took was a quiet - but whinny - plea from me for Jaclyn to go home and take lots of photos and immediately email me (seriously, she did it super fast!).

A lot of what's in the following photos looks familiar to me - but I'm not totally sure what came from Jubilee and what didn't - though you might remember the curved armed chairs that we received from the Glen Oak Country Club - originally had green upholstery and were pretty dinged up - well Cherri re-finished and re-upholstered the ones she bought and they look amazing!

I also love how Cherri cut down a full-size mattress (it was a foam one from IKEA) to fit an antique spindle bed!

Wow - I'm completely in love with Cherri's home!  It's beautiful!  Many thanks to both Cherri and Jaclyn!

And thank you for stopping by, dear reader! 

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Christen's creative kitchen corner and re-purposed TV stand!

It's a bit late in the day so I'll get right to today's customer inspiration!  Here's Christen's email:

Hi Susan,  I promised (more than once) to send some photos of some of our recent purchases.  I've attached a few here.

The table we purchased was such a lucky find!  We were in the middle of remodeling our kitchen and had added bench seats in a corner near the windows.  We came into the store in hopes of finding a small round or square table that would fit the corner benches.  Imagine our joy at finding a table that fits like it was made for the space.  We painted it a lovely, pale aqua blue to coordinate with our white and vintage-y kitchen feel and we love the results!

The second piece of furniture we purchased from Jubilee recently is a former buffet, which we've turned into our "entertainment center" or tv stand.  We cleaned it up, punched a hole through the backside and removed one drawer so we were able to house our cable box, dvd player, etc., inside without cords overflowing everywhere.  We love the way if fills up the space and fits our tv perfectly.  (And it's sooo much more attractive than our old tv stand).

Thanks for all your incredible work at Jubilee and for always greeting us with a smile!  I'm sure we'll see you soon, as I'm always on the look out for more interesting and unique finds!

Christen, Frank & Crosby

Wow!  I LOVE the painted corner piece (which was really awkward in the store and yet works perfectly in Christen's kitchen) and how she and Frank re-purposed a buffet into an entertainment center!  Well done.

Have you purchased something from Jubilee Furniture that you'd be willing to photograph and email me with the hopes of inspiring others to see used furniture in a new and creative way?  If so, please do so at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org. 

Until Friday then, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Lisa's lovely home!

After a few weeks without a single email from anyone with photos I was beginning to think Tuesday Customer Inspiration was dead.  Truthfully, we've arrived at this place several times in the last year and a half I've been trying to get customer inspiration off the ground and though there have been times when I've had three - and once even FOUR - emails w/photos ready to go - those have been the exception not the norm.

Yet, each time I've been ready to throw in the towel, some wonderful customer comes through - as Lisa did this week!

Before showing you Lisa's great photos, please allow me to remind you of the point of customer inspiration.  By showing you photos of what Jubilee Furniture customers have done with their purchases - either how an item has been transformed - or - just how amazing it looks in a customer's home exactly as it looked leaving the store - my hope is you might be inspired to rethink whatever you currently think about used furniture (unless you already think used furniture is fabulous and you'd never buy anything new even if you life depended on it - well, maybe if your live REALLY depended on it but you'd still have to think long and hard before consenting).

My further hope is you'd be inspired to specifically shop at Jubilee Furniture (we're open Fridays from 1 to 8 and Saturdays from 9 to 4) where the proceeds of everything we sell are helping to support the programs and services offered through Outreach Community Ministries (restoring hope and providing opportunities for those most in need in DuPage County, Illinois).  However, if Jubilee Furniture is too far from where you live or work - that you'd stop in at a local resale store where, chances are, their proceeds are supporting an equally wonderful not-for-profit.

If you've purchased something from Jubilee and have been meaning to take a few photos and email me, since Lisa has saved Tuesday customer inspiration for another week - you're in luck and can still do so (sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org) - but please don't tarry!

Here's Lisa's email:

Hi Susan!  Happy New Year!!!  Thanks for all the wonderful work you and your team do at Jubilee!  We LOVE Jubilee Furniture and have found some great pieces of furniture we love and use all the time!  So I have been meaning to email you and finally I am, not sure how to format it but hopefully the attachments work..or what to say, so you can add anything else but we love all the things we've found!!

The first is the long mission style cabinet we put our tv on (purchased for $60)

Second, are the Crate and Barrel couches with an ottoman we bought and then I found some turquoise flower pillows at Home Goods that matched perfectly!!!  I think the couch set was around $150 

 Third is the office chair and the table with books and drawers.  The desk we got from a neighbor but I've seen identical ones at Jubilee and it makes for a great little office (I think the chair was $20 and the table $30)

And lastly, our kitchen chairs!!! They're a light turquoise (which is the color they were when we bought them) and add a fun touch of color to our table (purchased for $75 for the four of them)!

Jubilee is amazing, thanks again!

Grant, Lisa and Jaedalyn

Wow - I love how Lisa re-purposed a dresser to put her TV on and how great it goes with the rocker!  The Home Good pillows really turn a somewhat nondescript sofa and chair into something fabulous!  Their home office makes me want to sit down and work knowing I'd work well in such an attractive and organized space.  And the light turquoise chairs add a touch of whimsy to their dining space.  Love.  It.  All.

I also love the number of exclamation points Lisa included in her email!  Makes me smile.

Thank you so much, Lisa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to see you, dear reader, back here on Friday for my weekly update post!