Powell River duo reimagines wood furniture and kitchen cabinets

What’s old is new again. A duo of Powell River furniture artists who help their clients rediscover the beauty of quality wooden furniture and kitchen cabinets have opened a showroom in the recently renovated Townsite Public Market.

Tatiana Kostiak owns The Fiddleback Shack and Lesley Wilson owns Kaleidoscope Coast Creations. Together, the longtime friends and recent Powell River newcomers are sharing space to showcase their work, team up on projects, and help bring colour and creativity to their clients’ homes.

“Kaleidoscope Coast Creations is about changing ordinary quality pieces of furniture into vibrant lively pieces that bring a zing of life and happiness to any room,” says Lesley.

Tatiana’s inspiration for The Fiddleback Shack came from a love of vintage pieces.

“Fiddleback is my favourite vintage chair style,” she says. “I tend to gravitate to older character pieces. It’s very gratifying to update an heirloom piece for a client.”

Opened in December, the pair’s showroom is located on the market’s first floor.

“Our showroom really allows us a place to display our constantly changing selection of one-of-a-kind pieces,” says Tatiana. “It also serves as an excellent place for clients to come, see, and touch finishes to help inform their decision on how they would like their own furniture and cabinetry.”

Lesley and Tatiana became friends in 2001 when they both lived in Squamish. Tatiana moved to Powell River in May 2016 and Lesley in June 2017.

Each with their own creative style, Tatiana and Lesley have been refinishing furniture for a while now, but the concept of refinishing kitchen cabinets is recent. It was during last year’s Powell River Home and Garden Show that many people attending the show asked Tatiana whether she refinishes kitchen cabinets as well, she explains.

“They were either bored with the predictable ready-made products on the market or they were interested in retaining and updating what they already had,” she adds. “The truly great thing about reimagining someone’s kitchen is that it leaves the client with a unique and beautiful finish at a fraction of what replacement would cost. The average 10x10 kitchen starts at around $4,000 for instance. It also keeps perfectly good, solid cabinetry and furniture out of the landfill.”

Lesley and Tatiana reimagine their projects using non-toxic milk paint and each piece is finished with either a wax or hemp oil finish. Milk paint is an ancient paint that contains five basic ingredients including milk protein, limestone, clay, chalk, and a pigment. It contains no volatile organic compounds (VOC).

“Milk paint is my favourite product because it is so amazing at highlighting the natural grain of the wood,” says Lesley. “I love how every piece of furniture reacts differently to each stage of refinishing. To me, it is like each piece has its own personality, and a mystery unfolds every time it gets sanded, painted, or waxed.”

Tatiana says using all-natural refinishing products is key.

“We are striving to give furniture a new life to reduce people’s impulse to buy mass produced and almost always lesser quality furniture,” says Tatiana. “Using all-natural products is important to me, it just makes sense. And they are very durable.”

As the end of winter is often the time when homeowners start thinking about the updates they want to make, Tatiana and Lesley are encouraging people who may be interested in procuring their custom services to get in touch as the pair are able to take on a limited number of jobs in the coming months.

Both businesses offer gift certificates.

The Fiddleback Shack and Kaleidoscope Coast Creations' showroom, located inside Townsite Public Market (5831 Ash Avenue), is open from 11 am to 5 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, and from noon to 4 pm on Sundays.

For a no charge quote, send photos of furniture or cabinetry through the contact page on either website.

For more information, visit their websites: thefiddlebackshack.com and kaleidoscopecoastcreations.com.

Find and follow both businesses on Facebook and Instagram.