Meet Heather from Gather Here

We are continuing our series of highlighting some of our favorite vendors from the shop, with Heather from Gather Here! Besides being an amazing vendor, Heather has also graced us with her presence as the manager of Pretty in Paint for the last five years. She has an enormous heart for people and ministry, and she blesses everyone who comes through our door. "Daniel and I have been married for twenty three years, and had joyously raised four kids. When we thought life couldn't get any better, we became grandparents. Gathering as a family is our favorite part of any day", explains Heather, "We love building furniture, and bringing life to old pieces. We also are passionate about taking old, forgotten 

wood and making one of a kind pieces for you and and your family!"

Heather adds that their beliefs have always centered around finding meaning and hope in all circumstances, whether they are adventures or heartaches. They also love and value the idea of "gathering" with family and loved ones, and hope their furniture pieces can enable others to do the same. "I have had the honor of managing Pretty in Paint, and being part of the small business that is serving our community and loving people has given me great insight on how a business should run. The Jones family has always placed Christ at the center, and made people a priority", continues Heather, "We share their vision, and we share the love of Jesus as we get to do what we love." One of their favorite things to build are tables, where families can gather to work, fellowship, or share a meal. Every piece that is produced by Gather Here is crafted with love and purpose, and that's what makes them special. They also utilize reclaimed wood, which means every piece is also unique and unlike anything else that is mass-produced. Their tables and large pieces are made to last, and can be passed down from generation to generation, making them a true heirloom. 

If you're interested, you can find Heather and Daniel's unique furniture pieces at Pretty in Paint, and you can follow them on Instagram HERE. Lastly, Heather adds, "In five years, we hope to still be doing what Christ has called us to, no matter the risk!" 

Five Ways to Affordably Update Your Home

It doesn't take a ton of money to make an impact! As an interior design shop, we often hear from customers who long to make a drastic change in their living or dining areas, but have a limited budget. We try to be a place in our community that offers affordable and functional design elements, and although we carry large pieces of furniture, we also carry smaller, budget-friendly items that can really update your home. We wanted to share five versatile and inexpensive ways to make your home feel more cozy and welcoming:



Doormat or rug:

A large area rug will definitely be an investment piece, but a smaller rug or sisal doormat can really bring a space to life! We love fun, statement doormats, because they are often one of the first things a visitor sees when they arrive at your home or office. If you're looking for an indoor rug, we recommend a textured style in a neutral tone, so you can move it around your house depending on how you change your decor! This "Let's Stay Home" one has been a very popular choice in our shop, because it matches anything from farmhouse style to a more modern feel.

Wreaths: 
We are big fans of greenery in just about any form, but especially in a wreath! The classic magnolia leaf wreath looks great in a farmhouse or minimalist style home, and can be layered as shown with another wall piece like a window-frame or door. We have been looped them around candles or wooden crates for a tablescape that will welcome any guests! They can also be used for multiple holidays (try weaving mini LED lights inside for Christmas!), making them a versatile purchase.

Signs:
If a large sign is out of your price range right now, consider purchasing a smaller-scaled sign with a wooden frame. It is a very budget-friendly way to add character to bookshelves, above your sink, or in little nooks like next to your coffee maker. Whether you choose something with humor, or a classic quote or scripture, make sure it's something meaningful, and it'll be the best value for your money. If you're not sure which one to choose, a simple one that says "Farmhouse" or "Home" will be able to be used for years to come.

Pillows: One of our favorite ways to add charm, warmth, and pattern/texture to your decor. A pillow is a small investment, which means
you can afford more volume and quantity, and you can layer them on couches and beds. It also means that if you change your style up in a year (or a few months, for those of us who change our minds often :)), a pillow can be re-covered or moved to another room. We always have multiple styles in our shop, and rotate our stock frequently, so you'll be sure to find something that will work in your home.

Tea Towels: Searching for a gift for a friend that is affordable? Not only are these a way to add fun and personality to your own kitchen, they are also a gift that just about anyone would love. We have many different designs in stock, and yes, they are washable, which means they are practical, too.

If you're looking for something specific, you can always ask one of our shop employees to help! They love helping you search for what you're looking for! Visit us at 305 Bartlett Street in Medford anytime!

Introducing 4 Wall Revival!

Our story has always centered around redemption. Bringing life where things were dead, breathing new life into spaces, giving fresh perspective to places where people have lost hope. So, it makes sense that our latest project would involve breathing new life into homes and buildings...meet 4 Wall Revival. We are launching in 2018, and we will be renovating old houses, as well as making new designs from old furniture. 

Why renovation and restoration? We have a true passion for real estate and design. We used to build and sell homes during the early 2000's, and we loved it! My husband, Luke, has kept his general contractor's license active since 2002, and we have been waiting for the right time to enter the market while maintaining our love for furniture, as well. 

What will you be focused on? We can't wait to begin renovating homes that need quite a lot of love, and then offering them at an affordable price. Besides this primary focus, we will also be building and renovating furniture pieces. We will be utilizing our background in retail (running Pretty in Paint) to renovate, design, and stage the homes we will sell as 4 Wall Revival. At this stage, we are searching for homes in the Southern Oregon area, and will keep you posted with our progress! 

What do you want people to love about your brand? When people think about our 'revival' projects, I hope that can capture our vision; to see forgotten, dilapidated homes become a beloved and beautiful space. Also, we hope our audience can see our eye for artful design, high-quality craftsmanship, and current style trends. We hope to become a leader in the home market in Southern Oregon. 

What's next? You can find us on our new blog, which we will be revealing soon, and which will feature DIY tutorials, tons of before and after photos for inspiration, and design ideas. Thanks for following our journey, and you can follow along on our Instagram HERE!

Blog Update! -Southern Oregon Home Store and Design Blog

You may have noticed we had been a bit absent from the blogosphere for awhile (thank you for reading and sharing our last DIY post this month!), but we had a pretty great reason: our little shop grew and grew, and before I knew it, years had passed us by in a whirlwind of blessing, challenges, and joy. Now, we are blogging again consistently, and I wanted to share some of my heart as we get back into it! So why now? We love reading blogs! We draw inspiration from blogs about faith, family, interior design, and more, and we always want to gain more insight about life from other's experiences. We hope this blog can be an encouragement to you and your family and friends!

In the past years since we opened our shop, so much has changed. We started out small, with just a little bit of inventory, and it grew at a rapid pace. We doubled in size, and now have a bookkeeper and nine amazing employees, and a delivery driver. We even have people in our warehouse, and it's turned into a full-time company. Of course, there have been growing pains involved, but ultimately, we feel so grateful and supported by our Southern Oregon community. We also love our employees, and we wouldn't be where we are today without the Smith family. They always help us in every way possible! My mom pitches in with shipping and receiving, and she is unbelievably efficient. Jami helps bring order to our chaos, and Jill is hilarious and brings her infectious laughter along with her sweet spirit. We also have Tami, who loves people so deeply and well, and Isabel who helps us learn how to use new social media. We will also be introducing them individually here on the blog over the next few months, so you can get to know the people we consider 'family' now.

And while some things have changed, others have not. We always put God first, and love people. We adore jumping into new adventures, but always seek His will and watch Him provide the way. Our mission also hasn't changed: we want our store to be an affordable, beautiful, inviting place for women to come shop and relax. We want our customers to feel "heard", and to know they can always ask us for tips, or help choosing a piece for their home. We also love offering small businesses a place to sell their hand-made items, and we believe in bolstering our local economy and helping each other!

What will you find here on this blog? Stay tuned for special events, faith-related encouragement, news, updates, design inspiration, and most importantly, DIY projects! We are so glad you're here!

Love, Mindy

DIY White Painted Floors - Southern Oregon Interior Design

I couldn't be more excited to be sharing the tale of our new white floors! But to do that, I have to start back at the beginning...four years ago, to be exact. That's when we installed a whopping fifteen hundred feet of pine flooring straight from the lumber yard! We knew we were heading into a 'down and dirty' remodel that we are now three years into. We have remodeled every room, and we have ripped out walls as we moved from room to room. We custom build furniture for our store out of pine, so we knew that we would have a use for those pine boards when our remodel was complete. Although we are years into our intensive remodel, we aren't ready to replace our flooring just yet, so I began dreaming of painted floors, instead.

When I say 'beginning', the truth is, I have been eyeing white floors for quite some time. I have stalked and scrolled enough Instagram pages for a lifetime, and I've even woken my husband in the middle of the night to whisper, "Look at these white floors!" He actually was more excited about the idea, because his style is clean, minimalistic, and modern. I lean towards a modern farmhouse style, but with a simple approach. I was bolstered by friends and family to finally make this happen, so today, I'm sharing HOW we brought the dream to life!

BEFORE:

Here are the floors before we started the project. As you can see, they were hard to keep clean, and the clear coat was wearing off.

MATERIALS:

I began my researching the best paint and products I could use. Home Depot had the best prices and options for what I needed. Here are the items I bought ($167.00 for these items, but prices will vary based on how much paint you need, and which items your local store has)

• Kilz Primer 
• Floor Paint
• Scraper
• TSP cleaner 
• Blue painter's tape
• Brush
• 1 gallon water based Minwax Top Coat 

THE PROCESS: 

1) I vacuumed the floors thoroughly, and scrubbed them with TSP cleaner. If you are using TSP, be sure to ventilate your work area, and wear gloves. It's a very harsh cleaner, which is why it works well, so keep out of reach of children/pets. I used a metal scraper to get any lasting residue, and then scrubbed again with TSP.
2) I painted the primer on. I did two coats, with a two hour dry time between primer coats.
3) Painted the floor with three coats of floor paint, with a two hour dry time between paint coats.
4) I then applied 2 coats of Minwax Clear Coat, with an hour dry time between coats. I did note a slight yellow tint with the addition of the clear coat, but the floor would not hold up well without it. This is the best clear coat I have found, as it has the least amount of yellow tint.
On the right, you can see the various stages.


AFTER (After images courtesy Lahna Marie Photography):

FAQ's:

How long did this project take? I had to work on the floors throughout seven days. I had to section off my house so my family could still use it, as we have two children and three pets. If I had an empty house, this could have been done in about two days, but we needed to use different parts of the house as I worked!

How do we keep it clean? This has been the number-one question as I have shared our results! Any mom knows keeping their floors clean is hard enough, so it makes sense that lots of people are concerned about dirt. Yes, it is a bit more high-maintenance, but not nearly what you'd imagine. we have a  Roomba, and I highly recommend that for keeping surface dirt and crumbs to a minimum. We do try to take our shoes off before coming inside, but any footprints or dirt wipe off extremely easily due to the top coat finish.

Any other advice? The only thing I'd change if I did this again is getting some sort of knee pad for my poor knees. You'll be on the floor for this project, so I'd recommend one of the knee pads you use for gardening, or a similar pad to save your joints!

If you have been dreaming of white floors and currently have wood floors, I say, GO FOR IT! Our entire family loves it, and it has brightened up our space (which makes it feel larger and so welcoming).