Women have knack for reviving old furniture | News | choteauacantha.com

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Katie Mattingly-Lohman turned her hobby of furniture finishing into a side job, which is the dressing table before and after Mattingly-Lohman.

Katie Mattingly-Lohman likes to repair furniture. She will give a course at Lete Stringfellow at Choteau's The Edge on February 4.

Chelsea Schilling turned his hobby of furniture trimming into a side job. Shilling stood beside a piece of her finished work.

There are many forms of art. For the two Teton County ladies, furnishing furniture is their canvas.

Katie Mattingly-Lohman of Choteau and Chelsea Schilling of Fairfield are both busy with full-time work and family life, but they both take time out to provide a new life for old furniture or worn-out furniture for them to enjoy or sell.

The two ladies are an increasing number of residents in the area, and they have received the upsurge in furniture renovation. The works they created have been promoted on their respective Facebook pages and sold in Choteau’s The Edge Salon and Fairfield Drug Store.

Saving seemingly irretrievable things has become the main trend of home decoration. This trend has become so popular that people reuse almost everything in beautifully styled furniture. The two ladies said that the possibilities are limitless.

The previous thinking of "old and old, new and old" has developed new meanings. According to a website exploring refurbished furniture, old-fashioned furniture can be a powerful ally against "identity." It is popular to find rare or unique works that can be experimented and personalized.

In some cases, repairing a piece of furniture is out of nostalgia-a desire to keep the precious furniture of the family. For others, it is more about quality-solid parts. It may also be related to the environment, rather than filling the dump with unused furniture.

For the two Teton County women, it was mainly because they liked this hobby.

Mattingly-Lohman said: "I have always loved painting and often change the wall color of the room."

Mattingly-Lohman grew up on a sunny slope bench and attended Elementary School in Golden Ridge and Junior High and High School in Fairfield. After graduation, in the fall of 1999, she enrolled in the Maddison Beauty School in Helena. She opened the "The Jagged Edge" salon in Choteau in 2007 and is now called "The Edge" salon. She and her husband Josh Lohman have six children: his two boys Hunter and Conner and her children Gage, Soren, Scarlett and Moses.

She smiled and said: "I did a lot of things in my house, from linoleum floors to kitchen cabinets to bricks behind the fireplace." "My husband is a good exercise."

She said: "When Gage was invited to participate in a track event in Australia and needed help paying for his travel expenses, I started to raise more furniture for him." "I have been paying attention to'other people's trash' and look at me. Can it be given new life."

Mattingly-Lohman said: "People have provided me with a few pieces of furniture to clean up storage or upgrades, and hope to clear the space." "Many times, I have one piece of furniture in the living room where I work and another piece of furniture in the salon.... …I paint on weekends, evenings and among salon clients."

When asked, she said: "I'm not sure if I have any furniture I like." "I am usually very excited about the work I was doing at the time. Whenever I use bright and interesting colors that I have never used before, I am the one who likes the most."

Mattingly-Lohman is looking for a solid building to renovate. The condition of the piece will determine how much preparation is required from peeling paint to polishing scratches.

From the very beginning, she experimented with the technology, which paint products were used, how many layers of colors were needed to get the desired tone, and the type of texture that worked best.

She said: "I use and sell Dixie Belle paint products." "I get inspiration from other artists in the group and the colors in jewelry or pictures."

Mattingly-Lohman said that after completing a large project that was not progressing well, she started using Dixie Belle. "I asked a pair of furniture artists for help and was guided to some Dixie Belle primers and topcoats to solve my project. After researching and using some of these products, I began to get involved." She said. "This is a very user-friendly product with excellent tutorials and skills, so I decided to try them all and start selling."

She also asked her Facebook followers for advice on the next upgrade product. She asked in the post: "Which style is yours?" or "Who is my Boho friend?! How many of you use this paint at home?"

She said: "I also get more commission jobs-dining table, kitchen utensils, dressing table, etc." "I usually let people get to know me through Facebook Messenger or just stop in the salon."

The cost of the commission depends on how someone looks, how many steps it takes to complete the finish, and how long it takes to complete. "If a restaurant has more than four chairs and there are many spindles on the chairs, it will be more." The average price of a large table and six chairs is $450, and many details on a dressing table are more like $150. ," she said. "I'm still looking for the best way to charge. "

Mattingly-Lohman also takes the next step by offering courses. She said: "My first class is scheduled to be held on February 4." From the beginning it will be a basic drawing course-thorough cleaning, preparation, painting, some mixing and sealing.

"I'm very excited," she said. She will participate with Lea Stringfellow from Choteau, who used Dixie Belle paint to do some decoration courses. The course will be held in the back room of The Edge. She smiled and said, "Ang Lee and I have a lot of ideas in class. We may explode."

Chelsea is one of those people who appreciate Katie's ideas.

Schilling (Banis) spent her early years in Lolo and then moved the family to Fairfield when she became closer to her family at the age of 9. After graduating from Fairfield High School, she attended Montana State University in Bozeman, majoring in community hygiene while playing basketball. She has a master's degree in health management from Montana State University in Billings. She and her husband Adam have two children, Kameryn (3) and River (1), and have lived in Fairfield for three years, where she is Front Administrator of Range Assisted Living.

"I have always liked painting," Schilling said. She added: “I worked for Jones Painting during the university summer vacation and painted the interior of the Yellowstone Club house and was able to learn how to make cool epoxy garage floors,” she added. "That's really cool, I learned the drawing skills I keep using."

Since then, she likes to switch colors in the couple's house where she lived. She said: "It wasn't until three years ago that I found out how much I like to decorate furniture. At that time, I renovated a TV cabinet I found on the Internet and spent 20 dollars." "I had a lot of fun, it turned out to be me Something I never want to let go."

Since then, Schilling said, it was really interesting to be able to discuss different technologies and ideas with Mattingly-Lohman. "Katy is a creative and fun artist, and her work always inspires me," Schilling said.

Schilling said that due to busy work, the best time is at nap time or at night. "I will advance by leaps and bounds, where I will spend a few days tinkering with a few projects, and then spending a little time when my life gets busy. I find this to be a relaxed and casual hobby, and I find that I really like this Things. When my friend Megan (Megan) encouraged me to sell a few things in Fairfield's drugstore, it happened by accident that I also made money," she said.

"I have done all kinds of things, but usually I pay attention to dressers, bedside tables and lockers in online or garage sales," Schilling said. "It's really interesting to find works with neat details. Someone can use them as unique works in their own home. My friends are always fascinated by me, so I never have to work too hard."

She has several antiques that she has repaired. These antiques have been completed in her family, and she plans to never give up. She said: "Other people, I am very happy to give people a new look and pass it on to others."

When Schilling looks at the work she wants to repair, she can usually draw in her mind the conditions needed to achieve the new look. When needed, she can save endless ideas online for inspiration. She said: "There are too many online communities, and other people have published their ideas." "In Helena, there is a paint distributor of Fusion, my favorite paint production line. When I met him, He introduced me to many ideas that I can’t wait to try."

She uses Dixie Bell products sold by Mattingly-Lohman at The Edge or Helena's Fusion paint. She said that Fusion paint provides a silky effect.

Schilling has sold her collated works through Facebook and Fairfield Drug Store. She also completed commission work. She said: "I like to redo other people's visionary works." The price of the piece depends on the material and time required. "If there is a lot of preparation and multi-layer coating, the cost will be higher." Normally, I will repair it between $75-200 depending on the size of the part. "

The two women can be contacted through their respective Facebook pages. For information on the courses offered by Mattingly-Lohman, please call The Edge Salon at 466-2770. Call or send a text message to 781-2285 to estimate the commission, which can reach shillings.

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