The process IS the product.
Formerly ModHomeEc, HomeRoom is the grown-up older sister which has evolved along with students. We started online back in the days when the internet was just getting started. Having upholstery and DIY skills in my toolbag, I jumped on the chance to share how to plan, design, sew, upcycle, recycle, create, construct, build, repurpose, transform, tinker, fix or repair objects and materials and flip furniture with our own two hands. Content was scarce back then. Big websites were starting up and looking for content creators. That’s how I started my online business.
In 2008, I opened a brick and mortar shop for all of my teaching and maker space events. In December of 2022, I closed my brick and mortar space in order to return to my roots and use my online foundation to build my group teaching and coaching businesses.
I help women get unfunked and empowered to move beyond fear by teaching them how to use powerful tools and materials to design, repair, problem solve, rebuild, transform, reuse and create useful and meaningful objects for themselves, friends, family and community. Furniture flipping is one of my favorite canvasses used to experience hands on, as well as mid life transformation.
MISSION:
HomeRoom facilitates a creative learning philosophy where participants have the freedom and opportunity to use hand tools, power tools, and all kinds of materials to design and create tangible items from their ideas. Handcraft, skills, projects, and materials, as well as support, space, conversation, and encouragement form a creative community in which students work through fears they may have and begin to build confidence in their empowered ability to see their unique ideas come to life. Experiential learning bakes many beneficial lessons into our brain.
We support and facilitate the Process Art theory that self discovery and expression happen all along the process, not only with the end result.
SUSTAINABILITY:
I’m a firm believer in utilizing existing materials when possible. Not only do we honor well made pieces, but we also honor our environment by recreating functional, usable, and clever furnishings for the future.
ABOUT ME:
Always a creative, I owned my own custom upholstery business for twenty-five years. It was a good fit for a Design and Textiles Education major with a passion for creating unique furniture and furnishings for my home.
As the internet was born, I took my experience online and began writing for a number of well-known blogs. I started a weekly DIY column for my local newspaper and subsequently wrote my first book, The Little Upholstery Book: A Beginners Guide to Artisan Upholstery.
Teaching upholstery became my focus and after outgrowing my home space, I opened my inviting, roomy, educational space in a creative area on the north side of Indianapolis. Fifteen years later, I’ve recently shuttered my brick and mortar shop in order to focus on building my online business to reach more women and have more impact.
I’ve been fortunate to have ongoing opportunities to share what I know. I’ve been a paid contributor to Apartmenttherapy.com, Houzz.com, Goodwill International, and I wrote a DIY column for five years for the Indianapolis Star. I was a monthly regular on WISH TV 8, and had my first book, The Little Upholstery Book, published in 2019. I’ve appeared in Real Simple Magazine, Bob Vila online, Country Living Magazine, among others. I’ve taught all ages of kids from 3 year olds to adults, including sewing classes for teens at The Indianapolis Art Center, as well as having the privilege of being the director of a sewing program at a local shelter for abused women and their children.
I’m a firm believer that creating and making useful things for others, your home, yourself is a practice that builds resilience, self confidence and personal satisfaction. We welcome and allow trial and error, problem solving, and self discovery through the satisfying process of creating and making.