Monday, December 28, 2009

Welcome to The Upcycled Home

After nearly eight years of dreaming, wishing, talking, and planning we are finally making The Upcycled Home a reality.

It started with a shared love of interior design and all things decorating. Karen and I both spend hours poring over design magazines, clicking around the internet, reading design blogs, eagerly viewing any new design show on HGTV, TLC or FLN. We're constantly in search of shops to browse and on the hunt for any source of inspiration. For each of us, there is nothing more rewarding and satisfying than a room coming together, designed just as we saw it in our mind's eye. (Well, the planning and design process is pretty fun, too. And of course hunting for that hidden treasure is pretty exciting. Oh, and painting--we just love painting! Ah, you get the idea...)

But while we desperately love all things interior design, we don't always love the high-design prices ("$15,000 for a sofa? You must be kidding me..."). Over the years, we've gotten pretty good at creating our own looks (or recreating inspired-design looks) on a slightly more reasonable budget. We both hail from deep in the Midwest, and if nothing else, Midwesterners are relentlessly, helplessly and hopelessly practical. $2,500 for a lamp? Never gonna happen. $300 for a pillow? Fuhgedaboutdit. So, we had to get creative...for a little
(ok, a LOT) less moolah. And now, we are sharing our designs beyond our circle of friends through The Upcycled Home.

Join us for the journey as we reinvent tired, outdated (and sometimes downright nasty) furniture and home accessories into something a little fresher. See what's new in our design shop, or just what's got us inspired at the moment. One thing we can guarantee: no $2,500 lamps.