Knack Stories :: The Sullivans
Every now and then, we will meet someone through the shop who just gets us; someone who seems to understand what Knack is about; someone who knows how to live with what they love. Dee Sullivan is just such a person. Our latest Knack story comes from her family of seven (!!!) and their beautiful, nearly hundred-year-old home in North Carolina that they have been renovating one room at a time:
We eat, homeschool, work on art and other projects, do budgets, pray together, play games, entertain guests and have long family discussions in this room. We thought it would be a great room to overhaul first.
Dee and her husband, Don, decided to turn their formerly dark, moody dining room to the lighter side, with the aid of some inspiration.
I had been blogging to keep all of my Canadian family and friends updated on our lives and to show off the paintings, collages and ceramics I was selling on Etsy. In doing so, I ended up meeting some wonderful people. Two of my very favorite artists/bloggers were and are Annie Koelle and Barb Blair. They are two very talented ladies!! So when I first saw the furniture pieces they worked on together I was smitten, especially with one certain piece, a gorgeous hutch named Kalymenia whose buttery cream paint perfectly applied by Barb along with the soft ocean and mountain scene reminded me of Vancouver, BC. (The place I moved from 8 years ago to come to the South.) …. My love knew I wanted this piece ever so much, so after a visit or two to Knack, he surprised me with buying Kalymenia as a gift. I was ecstatic!!
Dee and Don also brought a locally made cedar table home from Knack, which Don has stained a driftwood/aged cedar grey, adding even more warmth to their fresh white dining room.
The pieces from Barb’s studio now both carry the feeling of Vancouver and make me feel cheery and at home here in the South. Even better to me is knowing that the creative spirits of local artists and artisans I admire massively are poured into these pieces. We now have the cheeriest dining room ever and even though we are not quite finished (Who is really ever finished with their home?), these pieces give our most lived in room a nod to our love of the Northwest, a tribute to the local artists and artisans we admire and love, and they make a unique and creative space to gather, work and eat in.
Dee and Don and their big, happy family embody the very heart of home that we champion here at Knack. We are so elated that two Knack pieces have found a forever home with the Sullivans.
