Debby Carling's furniture transformation is bold, modern and palatable enough to suit many decor styles.
Before
After
Before
After
Debby Carling has a new passion.
Now that she and her husband are empty-nesters, Debby decided to rediscover and relaunch her design interests by starting a creative furniture-recycling project.
Locating sturdy but dated furniture items, Debby transforms them into modern, eclectic pieces. She considers herself a furniture artist, and I have to agree with the title. The pieces she has transformed are one-of-a-kind treasures she refers to as “upcycled” rather than just recycled.
Everyone wants to have unique pieces in their home, just like they see in magazines. But it’s hard to do because most furniture stores sell a limited number of designs to feed the needs of the masses. And not everyone has time to refinish, paint or reupholster pieces they own, or to hunt for unique pieces at boutique furniture shops.
Debby has filled this niche by re-creating lovely, reborn pieces from dated furniture that might otherwise be tossed.
“Design was always an interest of mine” Debby says. “I thought I would end my 25-year dental administration position and follow my passion for design. I thought about my own home, which has a lot of ‘reloved’ furniture. Whether it’s my grandma’s china cabinet, my aunt’s tables or my yard-sale bedroom furniture that I refinished when I was 18 years old, I still won’t part with it.
“I looked at magazines that showed pictures of beautiful old furniture mixed in with new, and found that it fit in with my style of decorating.”
Mix all of this with the scads of sturdy furniture pieces available at thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets and an idea was born.
“That’s when I knew that ‘I finally know what I want to be when I grow up,’ ” Debby chuckles. “I want to be a furniture artist!”
Like many of us aging baby-boomers (including myself), Debby’s tastes are turning toward less-cluttered, cleaner lines. A kindred spirit, she also enjoys mixing old and new pieces in her decor.
I agree with her philosophy that we should take some of the beautiful older pieces and repurpose, refinish and relove them. There’s something about having an older piece or two in the home that have some history to them. Whether you know the history of the piece or not, I think that these items add a sense of “home” to your home. A feeling of continuity and a feeling of simpler times adds warmth and comfort to a room.
But Debby’s not refinishing banged-up pieces to restore them to their original state. She’s taking them to a whole new level, and her pieces are getting noticed.
“We can add our own colours, hardware and, in some cases, modify the piece to suit our own needs, not unlike a custom piece,” she says. “Why can’t that hutch become a shoe cabinet?”
As you can see in our “before and after” pictures, it’s well worth the effort when it’s done right. Some of her work is for sale at a store called Chi Chi on Osborne Street, but Debby also takes custom orders.
“My goal is to do custom repurposing and/or updating pieces to help clients preserve a little history with handed-down pieces.”
Not only is she helping the environment by recycling unwanted furniture — a practice dear to my heart — she’s also trying to use only environmentally friendly products in her work when possible. She currently works out of her garage, but hopes to move into her own workshop in the near future.
Debby’s work on our feature cabinet blew my mind when I saw it. The transformation is bold, modern but still contemporary and palatable enough to suit many decor styles. We’ve all seen “before” pieces like this at thrift stores and garage sales, but rarely do we see a potential close to what Debby was able to achieve. I applaud her talent and creativity — kudos Debby!
It’s exciting to connect with people of similar interests and hobbies. Keep those emails coming. I know that there are more of you creative types out there.
Connieoliver@shaw.ca
