Tuesday's customer inspiration - Jessica's fantastic chair make-over and Mandy's great reading corner!

Greetings and welcome to Tuesday customer inspiration where we hope to inspire you to see beyond our less than fabulous warehouse/showroom to the amazing discoveries to be found within (some of those discoveries require some lovin' before they're revealed as the gems they are and some don't!).

This first inspiration comes from designer Jessica Jones (learn more about the very talented Jess here).  She took a very tired looking chair and made it fabulous.  Click here to learn more about Jessica's Jubilee Furniture chair transformation.

before - ho hum

after - amazing!

And then Mandy stopped in a couple of weeks ago and purchased two armless chairs for her classroom's reading corner.  I love how the two gray/blue chairs go so well with Mandy's other chair and the great striped pillows certain fun 'em up!  She wrote that her kids love the space!

A big thank you to both Jess and Mandy! 

Have you purchased something from Jubilee Furniture that you'd be willing to take a photo (or two or more) of and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org to be used for a future Tuesday customer inspiration?  I'd be ever so grateful if you did!

On Friday I'll be sharing about a special discount, this weekend only, for all veterans in honor of Veterans' Day!

Until then, take care dear reader!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Margaret's lovely entry and living room!

Thanks for stopping in 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 even better - with the hopes it'll inspire you to give peace used furniture a chance (sometimes I crack myself up!).

So, without further ado, it's my pleasure to introduce one of my favorite customers, Margaret!  This is Margaret's third time submitting photos for customer inspiration (check out her first customer inspiration here and numero duo here)!  Here's her email:

Subject: some more pictures...

...through my embarrassingly dirty camera lens.  Or is it supernational phenomena?  Nope, just dirt.

The first picture is that two piece painted table we found at Jubilee.  Remember, when I came in the store three times and kept stealing your tape measure?  It serves as an entryway table with some knickknacks on top.  Notice the glass panel on our front door, which explains why we bought the second piece (giant curio) in the next photo.  We're pretty sure that this is someone's homemade brainchild, but since it went so well with our front door, we figured it belonged at our house.  We removed the casters that it had on the bottom, but unfortunately, this made it tip forward.  We then stuffed some balsa wood under the front to steady it, and anchored it to a wall stud with a child safety furniture strap.  Hopefully, it's not going anywhere anytime soon.  Crystalware and old books rest on the shelves inside the glass doors, while hand-me-down board games hide in the cabinet below.

The pine bench is also from Jubilee.  I like the rustic hinges and unfinished look.  It holds our mittens and baseball hats and the occasional stuffed bear or human child sits on top.  One day it might go in one of the kid's rooms and hide toys and books.  Who knows?

Just as soon as I took these two pictures, I changed things.  So, the last photo is more of the same, just a rearrangement of the furniture to make the room feel bigger.  It isolated the one armchair in the corner, but makes for more walking/playing room.  I can't decide which way is better and will probably move it back and forth every once in a while.

That's all of our Jubilee stuff, hope to see you soon!

I find Margaret's home to be so warm and inviting!  It's also very cool that she and her husband have Jubilee Furniture furniture in so many rooms of their house (Jubilee Furniture furniture in your home = tons of feel good vibes knowing your purchase helped those most in need in DuPage County through the programs and services offered by Outreach Community Ministries).

Have you bought something from the store and are willing to take a photo (or two) and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org?  If so, that would be supery-duper!

I'll be back on Friday with my weekly post which will include photos of some of the fantastic stuff the guys are picking up this week!  You won't want to miss it!

Take care and a great big THANK YOU to Margaret!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Kathy's daughter's fun dorm room!

It's Tuesday which means it's time for customer inspiration where I show you something which has been purchased from Jubilee Furniture and how fabulous it looks outside of our dumpy warehouse in order to inspire you to see pass the concert floors and bad lighting to our amazing inventory!  If you have purchased something from the store you'd be willing to take a photo of and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org - that would be ducky!

Here's this week's email:

Susan!  Greetings!  I finally got a photo of my daughter's adorable dorm room.  You probably remember the piece that came from Jubilee...no, not the bunk beds...the darling dusty salmon velvet tufted love seat!  It fits perfectly in the room - size and style. :)

There are two other pieces from Jubilee in the room that cannot be seen...a side table at the end of the love seat and a "candy/mint/almond table" across from the love seat.  It all makes for a cozy and inviting space. :)

I'm hoping to get a few shots of the off campus house that my eldest lives in also.  The girls have several Jubilee pieces there!  We all love Jubilee and the wonderful things we have found there...and the lovely people that volunteer at Jubilee make it fun to come in even when we don't find "just the right thing"...not to mention...it's for a great cause! (run-on sentence, lol.  Don't show Connie!) :D

Thanks for all you do!

Thank YOU, Kathy!

Wow - I love how a somewhat "formal" piece was transformed into something very colorful and fun simply by adding a ton of great pillows and the fabulous orange shag rug on the floor!  Super inviting and I'm guessing this is the "hang out" room on the floor!  'Course having a candy/mint/almond table might also help (as long as there are always candy, mints for almonds on said table!).

See you, dear reader, back here on Friday for my weekly update post!

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

Welcome to Tuesday customer inspiration where each week - God willing and the creek don't rise - I show you photos of furniture purchased at Jubilee Furniture and how wonderful it looks in a customer's home - either exactly as it looked leaving the store or how it's been made ever more fantastic-er - with the hopes it'll challenge you to think differently about pre-owned (hey - it works for cars!) furniture.  How I get said photos is like so: you take your digital camera - or iPhone - and take a picture or two of whatever you've bought at Jubilee Furniture and then email them to me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org!  It's that easy and if you do this, you will totally make my day!

Onto today's inspiration! Here's the email:

Hi Susan, My name is Sherah -- and I'm a huge, silly fan of Jubilee Furniture :)  You might remember me: I come in with my little one-year-old, Charlie, every once in awhile.  He runs around the store, munching on your cookies and trying to fit inside all of the china cabinets, and I look around at all the awesome furniture!  It's a win-win ;)  Anyways, here are a few pictures of Jubilee furniture that we've bought over the past two years - the brown chair and white couch are both in our living room and the dresser is in our bedroom.

We love Jubilee, and we're so thankful for the work you do there!  I've told my friends and family about Jubilee too - my cousin just bought a house, and she went to your store last weekend and found incredible deals on tons of furniture for her home!  It was exciting!

Also: I'm a freelance photographer, and I put up a post about Jubilee (with a few more details about the furniture we've purchased there).

So, thanks again!  I'm sure you'll be seeing Charlie and me again very soon :)

I continue to be blown away by how fabulous furniture looks once it's been removed from our dumpy warehouse, cleaned up and installed in a lovely home!  Wow - truly looks amazing, Sherah!  Thank you - I can't wait to see you and Charlie again!

I hope you, dear reader, have a good week and I'll see you back here on Friday for my weekly update post!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Rachel's transformed show stopping dresser!

Welcome to this week's installment of customer inspiration were we showcase something purchased from our dreary warehouse which is teeming with fabulous furniture finds and amazing people (both my volunteers and my customers!) and how wonderful it looks in someone's home (either exactly as it looked leaving the store or how it's been transformed into something even better).

Today I bring you a lovely dresser that Rachel and Ben bought a while back and though it wasn't bad - it also wasn't their style until a simple coat of paint changed everything!

Here's Rachel's email:

Hi Susan,  My husband Ben and I came into Jubilee a little while back and picked up a beautiful 9-drawer dresser.  The dresser is so big and our rooms are so small that it only fit in our living room.  Which is nice because we really did not have any furniture in there.  The dresser was in great shape, and the paint job was not terrible, just not our taste.  So after a little sanding and a few coats of white paint we have a beautiful new piece with TONS of storage!  The pictures that now hang above the dresser are of the Museum of Science and Industry building before it became the museum it is today and went through a renovation of its own.  We love this dresser and get tons of compliments.  We surely will be back at Jubilee searching for our next project soon!

  

 This last photo includes Rachel and Ben's Whoodle (Wheaton Terrier and Standard Poodle mix), Hank (isn't he adorable?!).

Many thanks to Rachel for taking lots o'photos and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org!  I love the transformed dresser and your home (what I can see of it) is lovely!

Make sure you head back here Friday morning when I'll  have photos of some of the unbelievable things Dan and Chris are picking up this week including several Pottery Barn rugs!  Sigh. Love.

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

Thanks for stopping by for Tuesday customer inspiration where I showcase something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture and how wonderful it looks (either exactly how it looked leaving the store or how it's been transformed).  If you've bought something and would be willing to take a photo (or more) and email me at sgalbraith@outreachcommin.org - it would be marvelous (and I'd be forever grateful)!

Today we're heading to LaDonna's place to see how she added two simply items (sleeper sofa and a bed - head board/foot board) from Jubilee Furniture to the rest of her furnishings and created a very warm and inviting space!

Here's her email:

Hey Susan!  I purchased my furniture from Jubilee about one month ago and I love it.  I had my housewarming just Sept. 3rd and I got great compliments on my furniture even though they had no clue how much it actually cost me.  I purchased the head and foot board you see in my bedroom picture and the lovely light tan striped sleeper sofa in my living room from Jubilee.  Thanks so much Susan and all the Jubilee Furniture workers and volunteers.  God Bless You All.

I love the white head/foot board (they both also have tan linen upholstery in the middle) with the black furniture and those red leather ottomans at the end of the bed!  The accent rug in front of the sofa is a nice punch of color too!

Well done, LaDonna and God bless you too!

Tuesday's customer inspiration - Peggy's fabulous sewing room!

Welcome to Tuesday customer inspiration where I showcase something someone has purchased from Jubilee Furniture and how amazing it looks in their home - either exactly as it looked leaving the store, or, how it's been transformed into something even better!

Today's inspiration is from my sister, Peggy, who's a wonderful sewer and quilter.  Her email cracked me up since she wrote it as if I didn't know anything much about her - but it's prefect for sharing with you, dear reader!  Here it is:

Hello Susan!  I wanted to share my photos of my re-done sewing room.  As you know, I saw this bathroom cabinet at Jubilee and mentioned to my daughter that it would make a nice cutting space for my sewing room.  I enjoy making quilts and that involves a lot of rotary cutting - which I have been doing mainly on the FLOOR - on my knees, bending over the cutting mat - not very good for my back.  There was a very large stone slab on top of the cabinet.  While it did not fit exactly and was less than lovely, the weight and added height to the cabinet was a plus.  Jessica said she would buy me it for my birthday - for the bargain price of $35.  I was in Menard's and saw a very similar cabinet for $199.  Anyway - I absolutely love the higher height for cutting my fabric.  My 24 x 36 inch cutting mat is just a tad larger than the top but is working out well.  I love having items handy in the drawers close by - I went through my whole room organizing and throwing out stuff - it was a long process, but I'm including views of my whole sewing space - a space I love spending time in!  I will be looking at Jubilee for a small chair to add to my room - and who knows what other treasures I will find?  Thanks to Jessica for my great birthday present - and to my husband for getting it up the stairs!  See you soon - Love, Peggy

A couple of weeks later:

Jim now has a place to sit when he stops by my sewing room!  This chair was purchased at Jubilee - in pristine condition - all I did was add a "quilt-y" touch - and, for now, I think my room is complete!  Thank you, Jubilee Furniture!

Wow - I love Peggy's sewing room!  It's bright and cheerful and inviting and I can see why she enjoys spending time in it!  How she got all of Mom's sewing talent - I don't understand and it doesn't seem entirely fair!

Oh well, I got Mom's ...wide hips for ease in child birth?  Sorry - super bad mental image - it's just my daughter, Abby, turns 23 tomorrow and I've been thinking a lot about the day she was born!

Come on - sing with me!  "Memories, light the corners of my mind. Misty watercolor memories..."