Knack Studios Transforms the Unwanted into the Beautiful

Thrift stores and local auction houses are filled with the detritus of life, cast off sundries that wear the scars of utility and time-marked by the vagaries of life and fate.

But often there is something profound lurking just beneath a crust of dirt or a coat of ill applied paint. Flaws and imperfections, when viewed with a thoughtful eye, become elements of character and beauty. It is this “knack” for artistic redemption that makes Barb Blair and Knack Studios unique, sought after — and successful.

Like many entrepreneurs before her, Blair began with a simple idea and on a small scale. She began her creative experimentation with paint, sand paper, finishes, and elbow grease in her own kitchen. Little did she imagine that in a few short years, her auction finds and secondhand store rescues would be displayed in Times Square and admired as both craft and art.

But, in the beginning, Blair was motivated by sheer necessity.

Some of Knack Studio’s various restoration projects. | Photo: Knack Studio

“We didn’t have the money to do anything else,” Blair told Opportunity Lives, as she recalled the early days she spent working on her kitchen cabinets.

It’s a truism that necessity is the mother of invention and the broad avenues of the free market are the best venues for channeling the creative energies produced by want. Blair’s cabinets were what she calls her “catalyst project.” As a devoted wife and mother, Blair says she struggled with balancing the desire to be present with her children while fulfilling her passion for creativity and success in the marketplace. That “catalyst” inspired Blair to look at the “transformative power of paint” and other media in unique ways.

Before chalk paint and wallpapers were widely used in furniture refurbishment projects, Blair was busy in her reclamation laboratory. She imbued pieces long dormant and mute with the shroud of time and neglect with life and vibrancy of spirit. She created quirky and fashionable pieces, animating them with personality and creating beauty where before there had only been decay.

Blair began to create a business that fused family and creative expression — fashioning redemptive allegories out of trashed, old furniture.

“I believe that Jesus is the ultimate creative,” she said. Her simple acts of redemption, dragging a broken and scuffed chest of drawers from a trash pile, and transforming it into something desirable and useful again is an expression of spiritual truths that she holds dear.

“Our work is actually a way of glorifying God and showing Him to other people,” she said.

Blair emphasizes the vital importance of having “the vision to see something more than what is right in front of you.”

When beginning a new piece, Blair says it’s important to “put work in on the front end” and take the time to design carefully. Every piece is unique and exudes a particular feeling. The communication of her love and passion for her craft is unmistakable and can be felt in the purposeful treatment of each component. She shares this philosophy with a giant of design, Steve Jobs, who knew that in order to connect successfully with people, the product must elicit a visceral and tactile response — people have to connect emotionally with the product. Blair often bestows a name on a completed work, transforming a piece from an “it” into something more.

Blair is also a blogger and author of a New York Times bestseller, “Furniture Makeovers.” Her second book, “Furniture Makes The Room,” was published last month. “The first person I acknowledge in my books is God,” she said. She posts regularly in her Knack Studios website Journal, where she writes about matters of faith and creativity, and love of craftsmanship.

Blair says Knack Studios isn’t about broken, old things. It’s not even about covering up the evidence of wear and the accidents of life. Blair’s knack is for “seeing the lovely in the unlovely…constantly seeing beauty where others do not see any.”

People respond to Blair’s pieces because they speak the language of second chances, pain and redemption. These are all things that are very real and common to everyone’s experience. This is also the beauty of the free market, where the only criteria is merit and second chances are common currency.

John Nantz is a contributor for Opportunity Lives and a columnist for TownHall. He lives in Virginia with his wife and daughter. You can follow John on Twitter @TheJohnNantz.