It’s not uncommon for Kellie Monk to return from her lunchbreak with a vehicle full of furniture.
CHILHOWIE, Va. — A Washington County woman is on a mission to help save the environment a little bit at a time by restoring furniture that is destined for the landfill.
Kellie Monk flips discarded furniture, taking what people no longer want and transforming it into objects of beauty.
Her trash-to-treasure business is a creative outlet for the Meadowview woman who works a full-time job as an administrative assistant and comes home in the evenings to work her magic on odds-and-ends pieces of furniture she finds at yard sales and thrift stores.
“I’m no stranger to picking up things off the road,” she said with a laugh. “I hate seeing something that’s still useful going into the trash. I’m always thinking I could make something pretty out of it,” she said.
“I believe in salvaging what you can to help keep our world as clean as possible. It blows my mind what people will toss in a trash bin instead of recycling or repurposing it. I feel that each piece I save helps protect our environment in a small way.”
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It’s also a way to save unloved pieces of furniture, she said. “I’ve never been a fan of new things. I’d rather go to a thrift store than a new furniture store.”
Monk is the only employee at her workplace who can take a lunch break and come back with her car loaded with furniture she’s found at yard sales and thrift shops.
“Why not save a vintage piece instead of buying a new one?” she asked.
The crafter just seems to have a knack for