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!" 

Creative and Stylish Storage Tips

It’s 2018! The new year is here! And with it all of the things that we’ve accumulated from last year. Chances are, in the season of resolution, that you’ve resolved to win back the lost space in your home. That’s a hard battle to win, when you’re deciding between getting rid of past gifts to make room for new ones. That, and many of the little knick-knacks that we have throughout our homes have great sentimental meaning to us. Letting go of those things is like letting go of a memory, and that’s a struggle that we just don’t need among the stress of our busy lives. 

We actually have a lot more space in our homes than we may think. Even if you have a small apartment, there’s a lot of unused room in nooks and crannies that allow you to store anything new you may have accrued last year. Think about it: there’s a lot of unused vertical space everywhere in your home, especially on your doors. There are many cheap solutions for creating storage space on your doors, and it’ll free up your home so it feels more open. You could use a hanging rack on your bedroom door to store shoes, or smaller items, or to hang coats on, or you could use a rack on a pantry door to store spices and herbs. Keep in mind that you want to match or accent the decor of your home, and to keep things in order on the rack. Since there’s not much there to hide unorganized items, it’s easier to seem more cluttered if you don’t keep it neat.

The same idea about vertical spaces can be true of narrow spaces. Shelves can be any length at all, but we seem to have in mind that there’s a minimum of a few feet for a shelf to be of any use. The truth, of course, is that any shelf space can be used, and the narrow nooks in your home can be utilized as a valuable storage area. Installing said shelves are usually a simple task, and you can find any style of shelf to suit your home’s own theme. In smaller spaces in, say, a restroom, search for sized-down furniture. While it may be smaller, it doesn’t mean that it has less utility. Some small shelving units can be perfect for storing toiletries and towels, or can be used in a living room to store books and remotes. It’s a practical solution that doesn’t sacrifice style.

Some items, though, are meant to be stored inside of drawers, so having tons of shelves or open storage won’t really work out. And, as we all know, our drawer space gets eaten up very quickly! Everyone seems to have a ‘junk drawer’, where we throw everything that we’re not sure where to put. Getting some furniture that has a mix of cabinets and drawers solves this issue well, where you have more space to accommodate everything you need to store. There’s a lot to choose from, so matching your own personal decor style is easy - and there’s a lot of them that don’t have a massive price tag. 

There’s a new trend everyday it seems, but one that’s lasted the test of time is minimalism. It’s more of a mindset than a style, but its practicality speaks for itself. It’s helped popularize multi-purpose furniture. A really common example are hollow footstools, serving two functions: storage and comfort. There’s so much to choose from, and each serve at least two functions. There are desks that double as a fold-out bed, beds with drawers and storage built into its base, even chairs with shelves built in. The point behind each of these pieces is that they’re focused on functionality, without sacrificing style. You can save cash by buying one item that’s really two or three in one, and save a lot of space while doing it.

Keeping with the minimalist perspective, one of the most practical, cheapest solutions is just to purge the things that you don’t need or use. For some of us, it can be one of the hardest things to do, but letting things go will only benefit you. The less clutter you have, the more open and relaxing your home will feel. It’ll allow you to give your house a consistent theme, with decor that matches from room to room, making your house feel more like a home. These things don’t always have to end up in the trash though: there are many places where you can donate your unused items to those in need, like Goodwill, or some items can be recycled for future use. Putting some thought into your purging can be a win-win for everyone!

New year’s resolutions can be tough to keep to. Hopefully this will spurn you onward to holding to it, if you want to de-clutter and create more space in your home, and it’ll only be a blessing to you and your family. Here’s to a spacious 2018! 

Meet Isabel from Krue & Co.

We sell products from many local vendors here at Pretty in Paint, and we love the idea of supporting and investing in our local economy! We wanted to introduce some of our vendors here on the blog, starting with the lovely Isabel, the heart and soul of Krue & Co. If you have been in our shop recently, you've surely seen some of her beautiful signage! Let's get to know her:

"Almost three years ago, my husband and I were newly married. Finances were tight as we were both going to school, and we were barely getting by", explains owner Isabel Thomas, "I wanted to contribute, but didn't know what that would look like. I found out there was an opening for a sign vendor at Pretty in Paint, but I hadn't had a ton of experience. The start up costs were about $300, which at the time was a big deal for us. I prayed and prayed, and took the leap, buying the machine. I had my first debut as a sign vendor in 2015, and over the last year, I have begun making signs full-time!"

"As a stay-at-home mom to a one year old little boy, making these signs has allowed me to supplement my income, while being able to stay at home with my son. I want to show him how we can serve the Lord in different ways, through what we do. Serving the Lord will look different for everyone, and I am in constant prayer over the signs that I sell. I hope they always bless someone, through laughter, the words they pray over their children, or the verse that has gotten them through a hard time", she continues, "My vision is always for these items to be hung up, in homes, as a piece of decor that says something about them and gives their space meaning".

The faith-based, inspiring work by Krue & Co. are some of our highlighted pieces here in the shop. Isabel herself has a favorite sign, and explains, "My favorite sign is about four feet longer and says, Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. When my son was born, all we had to do was turn that song on, and it calmed him down to sleep. It is a special memory that I hold dear." As a small business, Isabel hopes to expand and sell her signs in more places, and wants to give back to the community who has supported her so kindly. She also hopes to expand to an online presence. "Being a small business means late nights and dreaming", she adds, "It means doing a bit of a happy dance when your items sell, and always being blown away by the people who show up and bless you by purchasing from you. It means meeting others and empowering each other; creating community over competition. For me, it also means working from my garage and raising my baby in sawdust and paint!"

Right now, Pretty in Paint is the place to purchase Isabel's gorgeous work, and you can check out her work on Instagram HERE!

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!

Our Celebration Sales - Medford, Oregon Home Store

"A community is a place where everyone feels welcome, and where it feels like home every single day.  It is here that we find our closest connections, if only we will reach out our hands to one another" -Unknown 

We feel very blessed to be part of a close-knit community of people here in our corner of Southern Oregon. They have rallied around our shop, bolstered us when our energy was low or we were discouraged, and they have been the reason we have seen such incredible growth. I think people have really caught our personal vision for the store, and why we are here, and that is so encouraging. Each year, we love to reward our amazing customers and friends with a great Black Friday/Small Business Saturday sale, and this year was no different! Since we really believe in the power of community and small businesses, we make a big deal of Small Business Saturday, but both days held great prices and
fun perks for everyone who came to the store!

At 10am on Black Friday, we had a scratch-and-dent sale in our parking lot. This was the perfect chance for customers to get items at amazing discounts, and we had special guests JAM Coffee serving up plenty of hot drinks for the chilly temps (You can check out their handcrafted coffee and specialty drinks anytime at 507 North Main Street in Phoenix, Oregon). We had lots of friends stop by for our sale, AND they brought their friends, too! We hosted over 500 people for our parking lot sale, and KOBI even featured us in a small video, which you can watch HERE on our Instagram page.

But, the real fun was still to come for our huge Saturday sale, where we featured free gifts with purchase (adorable mugs seen at right), a mobile bar with adult Christmas drinks by HJB (another locally owned business, complimentary BBQ lunch, and live music! In addition, we also had plenty of hot cocoa and coffee from JAM, as well as gourmet baked goods from the Bakehouse. Best of all, we offered a whopping 20% discount on everything in store!

To catch all the fun, you can watch the amazing video (video by Shawn Adams) below:


Pretty in Paint 11-2017 from Shawn Adams on Vimeo.

We feel so grateful for the support, unending loyalty, and joy that our community and customers bring us. Thank you so much!

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