The Story Behind Stacey’s Furniture Shop
At school i loved practical subjects, my GCSE’S were made up of PE, dance, art and all the ones you had to take *yawns*. I
didn’t do bad, I could have done better, but I was more focused on art, dance, gymnastics etc.
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That’s me on the right at gymnastics back in school (probs 2008) with one of my longest friends Lauren
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I went on to college and studied art, graphics and textiles after a school teacher had bought my final GCSE exam piece from me for £50
Forgive me for thinking I was Monet but at 15 £50 was a lot of money and the idea an art teacher wanted to hang my work up in their home was huge! It’s been 13 years, I wonder if he still has it?!
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After college I worked in retail, I had some good times, I made some friends for life and had some fun shifts but it just didn’t fulfil the creative side of me and I knew I wanted to achieve more.
Then at the age of 20 I got my first mortgage, so it was important I had a stable income to make sure I could pay my part of the mortgage and bills. By the age of 24 I was renovating my third property.
We went from a one bedroom flat, to a two bedroom garden flat, to a three bedroom house, renovating each one. My interior style has evolved and changed a lot since then. Everything was being done on a budget.
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This is a bathroom makeover from one of the properties and also a photo from our kitchen after the work was completed.
This is a bathroom makeover from one of the properties and also a photo from our kitchen after the work was completed.
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In May 2018 I began Stacey’s Furniture Shop. I always had the idea I wanted to work for myself and use my creative skills. I wanted to help others get excited about their home and interiors and provide them with a service to transform their furniture.
When property renovating I had upcycled furniture because I couldn’t find the sort of pieces I was looking for, and I didn’t want my home to be the same as everyone else.
That is what sparked the idea for SFS, things were slow to begin with, understandably, it was a new business. My first job was sanding three coffee tables for a local couple, the request for the job came in almost straight after launching my Facebook page, I was chuffed. I massively undercharged and my Dad helped me all week to get the finished. But they looked beautiful, my customer was happy and I had done it. I had secured a job and been paid by my first customer!
At this time I was struggling mentally and was in a toxic relationship, soon after followed the relationship to breakdown. I moved back in with my parents and we sold the house I was living in. I was no longer a home owner. It felt like a huge step back, but I was now a business owner and I needed to put everything I had into it if I wanted to be successful.
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Certain people did not believe I had what it took to be successful in business but this drove me on even harder to prove them wrong. I also signed up for a charity hike with ‘Mind Charity’. It was a 24 hour non stop 50 mile hike in the Scottish highlands. I signed up by myself but when I told one of my best friends she signed up too. We smashed it and I’m so grateful we share those memories together it was a once in a lifetime and made me realise I could do anything I wanted too!
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Certain people did not believe I had what it took to be successful in business but this drove me on even harder to prove them wrong. I also signed up for a charity hike with ‘Mind Charity’. It was a 24 hour non stop 50 mile hike in the Scottish highlands. I signed up by myself but when I told one of my best friends she signed up too. We smashed it and I’m so grateful we share those memories together it was a once in a lifetime and made me realise I could do anything I wanted too!
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That is me at the front 2 hours in to the hike, only 22 left to go!
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Now nearly four years on and SFS is thriving.
I have transformed furniture for so many clients, my work has come such along way and I’ve met so many wonderful new people that otherwise I wouldn’t have crossed paths with! I’ve collabbed with some super cool independent designers and my diary is consistently filling up with new projects, for which I am so grateful for! I’ve been in some amazing houses and I really do sometimes pinch myself because as if this gets to be my life?!?
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This is me last May celebrating our 3rd birthday!
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The cherry on the cake is that I am also now a home owner again with my lovely boyfriend Chris! We are in the process of renovating and although it currently looks as though a bomb has hit, I cannot wait to get to the fun, creative, styling stages and being able to infuse my own beautiful furniture in to our home!
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Chris and I the day we collected our keys to our new home!
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If you want to follow along with our renovation journey you can find us on Instagram @staceyscuratedhome If you are a fellow renovator send us a DM it’s always so cool being able to connect with like minded people!
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But be prepared, not everything we share is pretty, this is the current state of our bathroom!
