Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayna Browning.
Hi Shayna, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved furniture since my twenties. The beauty, detail and craftsmanship that goes into it fascinated me. After being a long time admirer, I finally got to learn a few skills from a friend who had a furniture refinishing company. After dabbling for years, I finally put my mind to refinishing and painting furniture full time. Learning more and more as I went. I’ve been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to expand out from furniture into refinishing other substrates ,such as, front door exteriors, remodeling homes, rebuilding a vanity and much more. I also enjoy making worn down small pieces into pieces that shine and are functional again.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not always smooth but very satisfying when a hurdle is overcome. Learning that climate plays a huge role in the quality of the final project has been the hardest. Just over this past summer I was refinishing an exterior wood door. After stripping the old finish off I put the first coat of new stain on. I left it over night to dry in my garage only to find that it had bubbles in it! The humidity was too high for the stain to settle into the wood correctly. Even with fans and a dehumidifier going! My husband and I wound up setting up a space inside our spare bedroom to insure it wouldn’t happen again. I ended stripping the entire door again and starting over from scratch. It was a success and lesson learned!!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work continues to grow. I never really know what I’m going to do next. A basic description is that I take something old, worn out, out dated or broken down and make it functional, pretty and useful again. Sometimes it’s furniture, a vintage paper towel holder (with art on it)or front door. I’m proud of the work ethic that my parents passed on to me. Over my years of being a small business owner, the thing that surprised me the most was hearing a client say they appreciated me showing up and doing what I said I was going to do. I’m so grateful that I can be a person that is reliable. Also a huge gift is the ability to listen to a person’s wants and visions. Paying attention to those details is so important to people. It makes them feel the care and pride I have in the work that I do for them.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
There have been many lessons but I’ll talk about the one most current in my mind right now. Taking time to have fun, be with friends/family, take care of myself as a whole being and try to be in the moment as much as possible. Working for oneself can be an all day job if I let it. It’s important to let myself have boundaries and not make myself go go go.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @blackbirddesigncincy
- Facebook: Blackbird Design Cincy
