Every Sunday, NEPA Creative turns the spotlight on some awesome creatives. This week, we have Kristin Keeney of the Shabby Peacock!
Kristin has always possessed a creative streak from the time she was young. One of her relatives once told her as a child that he felt someday she would grow up to be an artist or an interior designer. Kristin went to college at The Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and initially earned a degree in Fashion Merchandising. She went back to IUP shortly after earning her first bachelor’s degree and earned a second degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and taught cooking, childcare, nutrition, and other life skills to middle school kids and 7th grade English and Language Arts for a combination of about 6 years.
Once she and her husband, Jeff, had children, Kristin was blessed with the opportunity to stay home to raise her two girls. Not one to like to sit still and looking for something of her own, she decided to launch The Shabby Peacock after her good friend, Lori, gave her the opportunity to experiment with painting and refinishing her dining room chairs, a dresser, some end tables and some other furniture items. Through trial and error and learning the basics through chalk painting that first batch of furniture, she realized, with the support and encouragement of her friend, that she had the talent to mold this into a successful
business where she could not only work from home but also utilize her creative abilities to beautify peoples’ homes.
- Kristin specializes in chalk painting, but also dabbles in using other forms like milk paint and latex paint. Her favorite brands include, but are not limited to Annie Sloan, Dixie Belle, Rustoleum Chalked paint, and Wise Owl. Kristin brainstorms with her clients to come up with a design plan for the pieces of furniture they supply. She also purchases and acquires used furniture, recreates the pieces and then sells them by advertising them for sale on her social media pages and other applications. She loves adding unique details to her designs by blending paints, adding wallpaper liners to drawers, changing out the hardware to update the piece or polishing the existing hardware, adding embellishments like floral transfers or decoupage, among other things, to make each piece unique. She also names each piece that she creates to further solidify the personality that she injects into each design. She occasionally offers smaller home décor items like seasonally chalk painted mason jars and other handcrafted items.
- Kristin started The Shabby Peacock in Wyalusing, PA but her family recently moved to the Clarks Summit, PA area and she is looking to now grow her business in her new home. She exclusively works out of her home currently, but has a dream of one day opening a storefront once her children are older. She is happy to visit your home to look at any pieces you are looking to transform and offer design advice for your space.
- If you would like to check out more of her work or contact her for a free quote, you can direct message her on Instagram and Facebook or email her at shabbypeacock18@gmail.com
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