We were lucky to catch up with Jamala Wallace recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jamala, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
As I found myself reading more magazines, learning about interior design, home décor and the importance of creating a space that makes you happy to come home to, I realized I discovered my passion in life. One night while reading a few websites, I thought to myself, here I am reading theirs and being inspired, so why not create my own to inspire others. I remember second guessing myself wondering if anyone would read it, find me interesting or even pay attention. But one phrase stuck in my mind.. nothing beats a failure other than a failure to try. So, I decided to give it a try. I knew absolutely nothing about creating a blog/website, how to use a camera to take pictures, styling for photos, etc but I had to start somewhere. I went on YouTube and watched several videos on how to create a website. I spent countless late nights learning all I could and finally became comfortable using WordPress as my hosting site. From that point I had to began to think of topics, how often I would post, and the whole social media dynamics of it all. Slowly I began to get comfortable and knowledgeable and was posting regularly. After looking back at all I accomplished just by facing my fears, I feel about myself and am glad I took the chance. Not only am I inspiring others through my blog and channel, but I’ve been invited to work with brands, featured on podcasts and websites, but now I can officially say my home has been featured in a nationally published magazine for others to look at, and for that I’m truly proud of.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Jamala, but also lovingly known as Kim. My passion is decorating on a dime and I love mixing old and more old items to develop a personal style to decorate our home. I had a fetish for reading home décor magazines such as TraditionalHome, AD and Better Homes and Garden , but over the years got disenchanted because they focused on featuring top designer pieces which was not in my financial realm. Although inspired by their style I decided to ditch the concept of spending lots of money to have a stylish home and adapted to my new motto of design approach which is living the “Lifestyle of the Thrift and Famous”. I began scouring yard sales, flea markets, estate sales and thrift stores in search for old pieces that need a new home. My thrifty world of shopping for items not only fed my fetish but it was all about the thrill of the hunt. I’m a wife, mother and blogger and music is my therapy. Born in New Jersey and now transplanted in So. Carolina, I consider myself a northern girl with a southern swirl. My love of vintage started at the tender age of 15, when my twin sister, Amina and I, found our first vanity on the side of the curb. We brought it home, painted it and adored using it. Since then so many pieces have found their way into our hearts and homes that we had no other choice but to take the entrepreneur leap and open a boutique and estate sale service, which we named Pieces of Time. This new style of design approach led me to want to inspire others to see the beauty of incorporating vintage pieces into their home design so I created my blog. VivalavintageforYourHome is a creative outlet to show how decorating our home on a budget using vintage items, thrift finds and flea market scores can be fun, functional and fantastic. With wanting to have videos to share live coverage, I then created my YouTube channel – Thriftstyle with Jamala because thrifting is not a fad, it’s a lifestyle.
Now you may wonder why I chose my blog’s name? Well, when I thought of longevity décor, I immediately thought of the French phrase Viva La which means long live and I decided VivaLaVintageforYourHome was very appropriate when it came to my idea on the slow approach for decorating your home. Vintage furniture and home décor items are not only nostalgic, but they are also timeless pieces with great quality. Most furniture, glassware and pottery pieces in that era were produced and manufactured in USA .
Also, most home decorating magazines were not featuring homes of African Americans which didn’t offer much/if not any, design inspiration, so it became my desire to influence other interior décor enthusiasts on how to decorate their home by blending the styles of vintage, Afro-centric and antiques for a more up-to-date style design. I definitely believe in the the “R’s” of decorating – Reuse Re-cycle Re-create – and by following that concept it saves tons of furniture from our landfills.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When I first began decorating my home with antiques, I thought it had to stay old-fashion looking, however, as I started to pay close attention to designer styling, I began to re-think the process of how to re-style my pieces by using modern fabrics, drapery, pillows and simple touches to re-create the look to appear more modern. Wood pieces never go out of style, so by choosing real antique wood over cookie cutter showroom pieces I know I’d create my own unique style of design approach.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I’m very passionate about inspiring people to stop the waste of overspending on home décor pieces (from furniture, to glassware, to pottery etc) because everything can be found on the secondary market. Our landfills are filling up and most often this particular waste should not be added to it. I’m driven to encourage readers to stop the daily use of paper plates, plastic forks and cups and use real dishes, because there are tons of these in thrift stores, estate sales and yard sales. If we all see the beauty in utilizing them and make them the norm, imagine how much paper products being saved from the landfills. I even encourage people to have items reupholstered instead of buying new, which keeps the local entrepreneur in business and keeps large furniture pieces out of the landfills.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vivalavintageforyourhome.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urvintagegirl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vivalavintageforyourhome
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamala-wallace-3b53b739/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDwhBMakxZhDzKMttMQAy4Q
Image Credits
All photos are credited to Jamala Wallace