A new business in Estevan takes pride in making furniture look good again, while providing other services for the community.
Jewels and Jems Furniture Redesigns, located at 1207 Fourth Street, offers custom furniture refinishing for clients’ existing furniture, and it sells furniture that it has refurbished in the store. Owner Daralee Kittelson said they also have do it yourself craft and paint workshops in the studio, and home décor items that are custom-made.
“We use high-quality, environmentally conscious, Canadian-based paint lines called fusion mineral paint and country chic paint, both of which we will have coming in the store in the next couple of weeks,” Kittelson said in an interview with the Mercury.
Don’t let the name fool you, though. The only jewelry they sell will be bracelets that can be custom-made.
“The name Jewels and Jems actually comes from my two dogs. Their names are Jewels and Jemma,” said Kittelson.
The furniture she gets will be called treasures or jewels, and the business turns the furniture into jewels.
Kittelson has been refinishing furniture for several years now, and during the pandemic, she became really busy with it, so she started to take on more clients and refinish more pieces.
“I needed a bigger space, and we came to a retail space and it grew from there,” said Kittelson.
Jewels and Jems opened on Nov. 12, and is open Thursdays through Saturdays. Hours will be expanded to Wednesdays in December to accommodate Christmas shoppers.
They are also open for private events for their workshops, which have likely been their most popular service.
“We’ve been busy doing birthday parties and Christmas parties for those,” said Kittelson. “We’ve had a lot of traffic in the store and people realizing we’re here.”
She has a large space, so the workshops can accommodate six to eight people while having enough space for social distancing.
“They get to make something and socialize, in a safe space,” she said.
In addition to furniture and other décor, they’re trying to bring in natural Canadian products, such as a soy natural candle line from Swift Current, and a natural soap line from Manitoba.
“We try to keep it Canadian and local and bring in different products that you can’t find anywhere else,” she said.
Furniture restoration is a creative process, and Kittelson loves to see a piece transformed from something that might have been thrown out, but can look brand new with a fresh coat of paint. It’s saving the environment and keeping items out of the landfill.
Some items in their inventory are pieces that she has picked up and restored and are for sale, while others are works in progress.
“You can come in, and if there’s something that you like, we can customize it to the colours and finishes that you want.”
Kittelson has an associate who works with her who is there most of the time.
Jewels and Jems Furniture is also hosting a fundraiser for Westview School this month. Kits for a Cause will help families in need at the school who might not be able to provide Christmas gifts this year.
From December 1-15, Jewels and Jems will have five select do it yourself kits available with $15 per kit going towards No Frills gift cards to provide families in need with food and their very own DIY kit to make together as a family this Christmas season.
Kits were available for pre-order starting Dec. 1. You can order online or in store and they will be accepting No Frills gift cards and cash donations in store as well.
They will also be holding a silent auction in store on a beautiful refinished cabinet. Bids will be accepted beginning Dec. 2 with the auction ending Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. Starting bid is $100.
