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From thrift to chic

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How does an interior designer build a room from items that can only be found in a thrift store? From items found in the store or does he or she come into the store with an idea?

The answer to that question will depend upon whom you speak with at the Third Annual UpScale ReSale & Design Challenge, where hundreds of visitors saw some of these ideas up close last Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, at Cape Fear Community College’s Schwartz Center.

The fundraiser for Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity challenges designers to furnish an 8-by-8-foot room only from items found at the two Cape Fear Habitat ReStores, the local thrift stores operated by the Christian housing ministry. The designers could refurbish, paint and restore the items, but they must be bought at the stores.

Some designers say when they start browsing for items in October, they come in with an idea. But for Logan Homes designer Cindy Blunt, this year’s overall winner, the idea came from a reflection. Or, more precisely, two mirrors she found at ReStore.

“I asked myself, ‘What can I do with these?’” she said. “I wanted it to be somewhat girly.”

From those mirrors, Blunt constructed a ladies’ parlor in the surf colors that she described as “so hot right now” in home interior design trends. The jewel of the display was an elephant statue, appropriately painted aqua, gold and white to match the room’s decor.

“The elephant had to be front and center,” said Blunt, whose creation not only won first place from the judges, but also won the people’s choice award.

The designers at McKenzie Baker Interiors took a diametric approach to the challenge. Second-place winners Patti Baker and Kathleen Adams went in with an idea in mind, one that would speak to men.

The team designed two man caves: one for the basement, complete with poker table and vinyl records on the wall, while the other offers a more elegant presentation designed in the style of a cigar bar.

Baker’s basement man cave was the award winner, as the distinctive look of the records on the wall drew in visitors. The room also had a restored record player built into a credenza, complete with eight-track player. For the humorous minded, the man cave had a “Party in a Potty,” converting a toilet into a combination cooler and grill. Baker said the array of pieces were all built into the theme she brought into her shopping at ReStore, though it did take some adjustments, like adding a deep red paint job to the record player.

“We wanted to make it dark and gray and rustic,” Baker said. “We wanted to carry that theme and searched for pieces that fit.”

For third-place winners Julie Glew and Turner Underhill of Custom Home Furniture Galleries, their 1960s mod retro den started with a few pieces they found and built on.

“It started with a rug and a couch and a lamp and it went from there,” Glew said. “This is a great competition, it’s a chance to do something out of the ordinary and go with the flow.”

“And hope for the best,” Underhill chimed in.

All of the items are for sale, with the proceeds going to build a house for a needy family in the Cape Fear community. The designers said they don’t do it for money, but rather, for the experience, the exposure, the chance to meet new designers and, naturally, for the shopping.

“It’s fun shopping at the ReStore, the inventory changes every minute,” Blunt said. “I was going once a day from December through February. It felt like I was going to a new store every time.”

Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity executive director Steve Spain said that this year’s challenge has raised at least $30,000 and “we’re still counting.” More funds will come in as unsold pieces from the challenge are purchased at the local ReStores in the coming weeks. The cost of funding a house is usually about $45,000.

“We’re well on our way,” he said.

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