Tuesday's customer inspiration - Joy's creative crafty armoire!

So great to see you, dear reader, back for our customer inspiration post where I show you something a customer has purchased and how amazing it looks in their home - either exactly as it looked when it left Jubilee Furniture - or how it's been transformed into something even better!

If you've missed any past customer inspiration posts - just click on the customer inspiration tab and you'll find thumbnail photos and links to most of 'em (I left off the stupid ones from my own home since they: A.) aren't very creative and; B.) were just filler until all my fabulous customers started emailing me).

If you're a fabulous customer and have purchased something from the store and would be willing to take a photo (or two or three) of the item and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org - that would be super duper and I'd be forever grateful!

Now - onto today's very creative repurposing of a fantastic Hooker brand (high-end, gorgeous wood, great workmanship) entertainment center into craft-central!

Here's Joy's email:

Hi Susan, Here are the long awaited pictures of the craft armoire! It started out as an old entertainment unit, but I saw potential for something else!

The furniture is in excellent condition - the wood is beautiful and the piece is quality made. After a quick wash and polish, the wood was sparking!

My dad majorly helped me - he took out the old back and added pegboard. Then he built pull out drawers for extra craft supplies and a pull out piece of wood as a desk. I bought some pegboard organizers and baskets and moved in all my supplies!

It's been so nice to have - I can stop mid-project and not have a major mess to clean. And I don't have to keep my supplies in plastic tubs in the closet!

There was only one more think I needed to get - the perfect chair. The desk is too high for a dining room chair and most bar stools were too tall. I found this awesome tall chair at Jubilee last week and it's a perfect fit! It's the perfect height for the craft armoire. It's made of nice wood and heavy cast iron - it even swivels and has a foot rest! I had big plans to make the chair over, but the wood is almost a perfect match to the craft armoire and the white goes nicely with our room color. It's a perfect fit!

Thanks!

Joy

Wow - Joy it's wonderful! You can often find very expensive entertainment centers for fairly cheap (compared to the original purchase price) and do some amazing things - like Joy and her dad did - to repurpose them! We have one in the store which Jubilee Furniture Warehouse Manager, Dan Snyder, repurposed with adjustable shelves and turned into a mega storage piece for...whatever you need stored!

To learn more about how Joy turned a semi-boring entertainment center into a great place to craft - head over to her blog here! You'll also find other creative and fun projects!

Thanks, Joy!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - David's designer home!

Thanks for stopping by for Tuesday customer inspiration where I showcase something a customer has purchased from Jubilee Furniture and how it looks in their home - either exactly as it looked leaving the store or how it's been transformed into something better! Just email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org with a photo (or two or more!) and I'd be obliged to you!

What a treat I have for you today! Here's David's email:

Hey! I'm a pro designer who lives Chicago...but I do love a nice voyage out to Jubilee. It allows me to both indulge in affordable furniture finds as well as make a pit stop at the Olive Garden...a place that does not exist in Chicago.

Here is a snap of my living room, furnished with a large amount of Jubilee finds. The love seat is a great piece from the 40s that was covered in a worn out fabric. It honestly looked like a disaster. I had it redone in a beautiful silk mohair blend fabric and it is ready for another 50 years of service. The little hand peeking out from the cushion adds a little bit of comic relief.


The coffee table was a pretty teak piece that had been used and abused for a lot of years; it was covered in cigarette burns and was sitting in the back of Jubilee marked $15. I had it refinished in a dark tone with the grain picked out in a cerused technique...quite striking.

The unorthodox "lamp" by the love seat is a chandelier that I found at Jubilee. It was suffering from badly discolored white paint on it. I spray painted it a matte finish black, removed the chain, put a plug end on the wire, and found some unusual bulbs for it. It never fails to get a reaction from people!

On one side of my family room is a great cabinet that is meant to be in a dining room. I could not resist the bubbly glass panes...nor could I resist the price when I found it at Jubilee! It is the perfect spot to hold my collection of hand made pottery.

This chair is my favorite Jubilee find. When I found it the seat was covered in hideous harvest gold colored vinyl..I wire brushed the teak frame and had it reupholstered in deep red colored fuzzy cow hide. It is also the cats favorite hideout and gives a nice informal note to my family room.

Here is my bedroom, with a great floor lamp from Jubilee and a terrific little side table that was spray painted gold when I bought it...I layered about 10 coats of dark brown glaze on it over the gold and came out with a piece that sort of glows. The curtains in the window are super inexpensive cotton panels, but the look is striking.

If you have an open mind, you can buy pieces at Jubilee, customize them in really terrific ways, and end up with something completely unique for less than a generic new piece at Crate and Barrel.

I hope this provides a little bit of inspiration!

After I sent David a gushing email (well, let's be honest - his place is amazing) he sent me the following:

Thanks for the nice compliment...I think not having a big pile of money makes me be a little bit more creative about things. I guess if I had less limited funds my place would have turned out differently.

I just wish that you guys were closer. Actually, on second thought...maybe having you outside of the city is good for my wallet!

Here are a couple of other pictures of my place...but there is no real Jubilee to be found in them.

I look forward to making the trip out there again soon...I am still on the quest for a few more things.

Unbelievable. Gorgeous. Fantastic. Yet the kind of home where you could plop down and put your feet up!

David - thank you so much for providing a photo tour of your fabulous - and very inspiring - home!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - stay tuned for tomorrow!

Though no one emailed me photos this week (sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org), I realized I could take photos of my "new" office which contains many pieces of Jubilee Furniture furniture and share those with you. However, I didn't think of this fabulous idea until late in the day and I don't carry my camera around with me - so I'll bring it in tomorrow and update the blog in the morning.

Sound like a plan? Sounds like a plan!

So, until tomorrow take care, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Holly's back with her beautiful dining room!

Welcome to Tuesday customer inspiration where I show you something one of my wonderful customers has purchased and how fantastic it looks in their home.

Today we're returning to Holly's home, this time to see how the two yellow chairs she purchased from Jubilee look in her dining room. Spoiler alert - they look gorgeous!

Here's Holly's email:

Hi Susan! Here are some pictures of our lovely yellow chairs. I like the story of how we acquired them. I saw your blog and instantly loved the chairs. We were headed up to Wisconsin on Saturday through so I thought I had lost the opportunity. I showed Keith the pictures of the chairs as we were driving up to WI (I won't say who was driving:)) and we called my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to go check them out and pick them up for us. There were even more beautiful in person and we were excited to come home to them. I made pillows for them and we even re-upholstered our dining room chairs to match the pillows. They make our dining room complete and we love them!

I love how rich this room looks with the dark wood and red and yellow color scheme! Lovely. Knowing Holly has two young children, I'm impressed she hasn't turned every corner of her home into something more "kid friendly" (not that I'm against kid friendly rooms - I love kids - but you know what I mean?).

That's it, dear reader! Until Friday that is! Hope to see you back here then!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Emily and Luke's warm and welcoming home!

So glad you stopped by to be inspired by something a customer has purchased at Jubilee Furniture and how wonderful it looks in their home either exactly as it looked when they purchased it or how the item has morphed into something even better!

Today we're heading to Emily and Luke's lovely home. Luke is one of my best volunteer's son (thus making Emily, Gordon's daughter-in-law, in case you're experiencing a mental slump right now) and he and Emily - and their fabulous three kids - have a fun, retro style and their home is fresh and creative! Let's take a look.

Emily writes this bookcase has become the home to our antique books. I love that I get to showcase those books but that they are protected behind the sliding doors.

I also adore my kitchen table which fits PERFECTLY in my kitchen next to our island. Many people comment on it and how cute it is {I can see why - it's looks wonderful!}.

I think my favorite piece from Jubilee is our end table. It's gorgeous and fits perfectly in our space {I love the lamp with the warm wood of the table - which is gorgeous, I agree!}.

Emily - many thanks for allowing us into your beautiful home!

Have you bought something from Jubilee? Would you be willing to take a photo or two (or more) of the item(s) and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org? By doing so you're both inspiring others and helping them see how furniture purchased in a dreary warehouse can enhance any home! Plus it's fun to get a glimpse into others' homes!

As always, I hope to see you back here on Friday for my weekly update post - and you'll want to be here because we have a very full week of fantastic donation pickups and I'll have lots to share with you!

Take care dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Rebecca's cool chairs and Margaret's patio set!

Hello and thanks for stopping by Tuesday customer inspiration where each Tuesday (when I'm not on vacation - and we had a wonderful time last week!) I showcase something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture and either how the item has been transformed into something EVEN better, or simply how fabulous it looks in their home exactly as it looked leaving the store.

This week's inspiration is three different pieces which were amazing to begin with and both Rebecca and Margaret only needed to provide the perfect surroundings for showing them off! Let's take a look...

Here's Rebecca's email:

Hi Susan, Here's a shot of two chairs I purchased a while back at Jubilee. Both went to our vacation home in northern Wisconsin, where they fit beautifully without any effort!

You probably remember the blue/green plaid chair {absolutely! love. it.}. I couldn't change a thing - I love every inch of it's 70's awesomeness just as it is! It fits perfectly in the corner of my bedroom, which is full of bright colors and funky bead curtains {a match made in heaven!}.

My daughter made a simple pillow cover for the white chair, which is the focal point for a cozy reading nook in her bedroom {how sweet is that?}.

Thanks to everyone at Jubilee for the inspiration {you're very welcome, Rebecca}. I'll be back as often as possible {wonderful!}!

Margaret writes:

Hi Susan, Sorry that I've been sitting on these pictures. I actually have about a months worth of Tuesdays for you, but I don't want to clutter your inbox {never ever worry about such a thing, Margaret!}, so I'm sending the patio set for now.

Obviously, the patio set didn't need any work, we just stuck our umbrella in it and put it on the deck. It's the perfect size for the rather large deck with still enough space for scooter races (not me, the girls) around it. Even with the windy storms we've been having, it has yet to even budge. It's definitely better than our old plastic table, which sits off to the side now. We hope to cover it with a tarp for the winter and it should last for many, many years to come. We're really happy that we bought it from you :) {I'm very happy too!}.

Thanks for making our furniture shopping a lot less painful on the wallet and more interesting than just settling for matching sets at a regular furniture store {no, thank YOU, Margaret!}.

Don't you love the bright colors and beaded curtains in Rebecca's bedroom corner? How perfect is that plaid chair? Wouldn't it be lovely to settle in that sweet chair in her daughter's room and grab a book, a spot of tea and read? Who's up for scooter races around Margaret's gorgeous patio set? Yes, perfectly perfect, yes and me!

What is it about peeking into other people's homes that is so fun? Not creepy peeking but design peeking (just for the record).

I hope to see you back here on Friday for my weekly update! Until then - stay cool, dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Joy and Craig's beautiful bookcase!

Tuesday customer inspiration came to me last fall as yet another of my amazing customers showed me photos of what they had done with something they'd purchased from Jubilee Furniture. Realizing others would enjoy - and might even be inspired by - what our customers were doing with their Jubilee Furniture items it was a natural progression to simply add a second post each week to the blog which was already up and running.

In a nutshell, I invite (at times substitute the word "invite" with "beg," "plead," "whine," and sometimes even "threaten") anyone who's ever purchased anything from Jubilee Furniture to take a photo (or two or three) and email me (at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org) with said photo/s. The photo/s might show how the piece has been transformed in your very capable and creative hands -or - simply how fantastic the furniture looks in your home exactly as it looked leaving our store.

Today's customer inspiration falls into how fantastic it looks in their home but basically not very different than what it looked like prior to leaving the store - except for a few minor changes and a good cleaning. Let's take a look:

Here's Joy's email: About 3 weeks ago my husband and I saw this beautiful Ethan Allen bookshelf for sale at Jubilee. He thought about it all week, held his breath and went back on Friday to see if it was still for sale. Luckily it was! He purchased it and brought it home.

We gave it a good cleaning and polishing with furniture oil. He went over the scuff marks with a brown furniture pen to cover them up.

Then we bought some baskets on clearance and two brass knobs at Hobby Lobby to complete the look.

For little over $100 we got a stylish and sophisticated bookcase!

Thanks Jubilee!

What I especially love about Joy's email is - for minimal cost and time they truly did create a fabulous storage piece! To read more head over to Joy's blog (and for other creative fun ideas too!).

To see other beautiful - and inspiring - things Jubilee Furniture customers have done to the furniture they've purchased, click on my brand new Customer Inspirations tab.

Until Friday - when I post photos of some of the new-to-us items which have been donate this week - I hope you, dear reader, enjoy each day!