ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Katie.
I'm the face and creative behind Grain & Paint, along with pretty much every other role, but there's nothing I'd rather be doing.
This all started out as a way for me to furnish my home on a budget, with pieces passed down from family members and thrifted at resale shops. It quickly turned into a passion, side hustle, and something that is all "mine".
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Learning how to hunt for quality, vintage furniture, to see it's potential, and to transform it in a way that complements any modern interior style is what gets me out of bed each morning. Truly. I've never before been this excited about my "workday" in my life.
Refinishing furniture is rewarding! Researching and observing new products, new processes, new techniques - garnering inspiration from everything and everyone - and then actually applying it to a piece that I can be proud of - and sharing that with all of you - is such an amazing endeavor.
So, if you've ever wanted to learn, or are just interested in seeing the process behind what goes into each piece, I hope you'll follow along as I step outside my comfort zone to learn all there is to know about this craft, this trade, this skill, this art. However you might refer to what this all is - well, I'm here for it. And I hope you will be too!
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Questions? Ideas? Getting your feet wet with your first piece? Always feel free to contact me here too.
All the best,
Katie
COME FLIP WITH ME
Want to take on your own furniture flip?
Join me over on YouTube as I share step-by-step videos and furniture transformations!
HOW I GOT HERE...
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BACKGROUND
Refinishing furniture is something I got into only a few years ago, but I have always found joy working with my hands to create. To create something, anything really. I've enjoyed baking for as long as I can remember. My great-grandmother taught me to knit when I was 12 and I still take up my needles from time to time. I even enjoy the intricacies of quilting. And rainy days are best for bringing out the watercolors.
I also have a passion for learning new things. And I definitely feel like I am learning something new every day on this journey, with every single piece I refinish. I've also enjoyed sharing my learning process (the good, bad, and even ugly sometimes) over on my Instagram feed.
My curiosity in trying to identify the different types and grains of wood, my affinity for vintage furniture, and my inclination for using my hands to create something new out of something old isn't exactly novel, though. It stems from childhood (a long, long time ago). I grew up with the smells of sawdust and Howard’s Restor-A-Finish as a constant.
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My dad is a career woodworker and talented carpenter. He instantly walks into a structure and looks up to determine how it was built. My mom is, and always has been, the ultimate ‘treasure finder’. Sourcing vintage furniture from antique malls and second-hand shops along the tri-state area, she can, quite literally, spot a “must-have” piece from across the store. I watched her frequently paint or restore pieces in my childhood home and the thrill I feel now in finding a hidden gem at a local estate sale is something I most certainly inherited from her. One of my earliest memories is playing outside at the home my dad built for us, while my mom stripped layers and layers of paint from an old captain’s trunk in our backyard.
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So you see, some might say that my penchant for refinishing vintage furniture is in my blood. I am often reminded of this, especially after a particularly rewarding project, thinking I may very well have been born to do just this.
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Over the years, I’ve had a host of careers: banker, recruiter, career counselor, teacher’s aide, even a gym teacher. Never in my wildest dreams, though, did I ever imagine I would be doing this right now. Refinishing furniture, however, has become so much more than a job to me. In 2020, when COVID hit and my work plans changed based on modifications to my children’s schooling, I was pressed to find a different way to contribute to our household. With my children learning virtually, refinishing pieces of furniture allowed for a great deal of flexibility.
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And I haven’t turned back or regretted the decision to pursue this pipedream of mine for one moment.
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I continue to challenge myself to learn and grow almost daily - whether it be pulling off a new-to-me painting technique, or grabbing a power drill to make new hardware holes, or learning to remove a worn, dated finish from an entire dresser to expose the gorgeous wood grain underneath, or repairing veneer after years of damage to be prepped for paint and more years of love and use. It's all of it - and everything in between.
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And THAT is why I love refinishing furniture and THAT is how I got here.
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It allows me to harness my creativity and channel the traits my mom and dad both passed on to me.
It stretches me to learn something new as I approach my mid-40s.
It allows for a flexible work environment for my family.
But - and this might be the most important part of it for me - it ALSO allows me to demonstrate firsthand to my children that, with some grit, and humility, and determination, they truly can be anything and do anything in this world. They can put themselves and their work out there and be vulnerable and brave at the same time. And, if they make up their mind to do something and are willing to work hard, they can do it — and be good at it too.
So, while the name Grain & Paint is a simple, straightforward one. I hope now, after reading through this “story” of mine, you can understand how all of this means so much more to me than simply restoring wood grain and applying furniture paint. So very much more.
CONTACT
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities and I'd love to partner or collaborate on a project. Let's connect here!
