Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mar Mcintyre. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mar, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve truly been a creative and practiced creating all my life. I started to paint in 2016 artistically vintage and antique furniture pieces and sold the pieces in our furniture store, which has been in business since 1992. It started out with small pieces like end tables. Before I knew it they were selling fast so I kept painting and refurbishing as much as I could in my spare time.
I felt like I was on to something and wanted to use my time to do it full time. After Covid the economy in my area had changed and I was encouraged to start selling on Etsy. To my surprise my pieces sold and I was learning more and more. Moving to higher end furniture and shipping all over the United States.

Mar, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Mar McIntyre and I live in rural Missouri close to the Ozark Mountains. My husband and I live on twenty acres of wooded land and Sparrow Creek runs through our property. The land is our sanctuary and has been home for 22 years.
Living in the country puts us closer to nature and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We also have easy access to all of the outdoor activities that we love, including fishing, hunting, hiking and gardening in our greenhouse.
This is where my workshop is located and I work from.
A little about my background is a stairway of stepping stones as I gained knowledge through all of the different schooling and jobs I took on. After graduating high school I attended modeling school at Hoffman’s International Modeling and Talent School for my love of the fashion industry and attended floral design school at Stuppy’s Mid-America School of Floral Design because for the love of horticultural in my early 20s.
I went on to win four state (Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas) Floral Design Competition for my casket piece I designed called, “Welcome to my Garden.
Also working in cabinetry in the mid 90’s gave me the wisdom to know how woodworking and furniture construction would benefit me in the future.
Then in 2004, I married my best friend that has now owned a furniture store for 33 years.
Working alongside my husband, I felt very natural in the furniture industry as design was a past experience and love.
One thing I witnessed was vintage and antique furniture coming back from our deliveries to our furniture store and being asked by the customer to be disposed of or donated. I seen a chance to start creating again and to recycle something that would end up thrown a way or put in the back of somebody’s garage.
Repurposing is such a great trend that is popular right now and I have great respect for it.
My grandmother was a huge recycler. We would attend auctions and estate sales together frequently. I would watch her from as a young child take something like a picture frame and turn it into a beautiful wall hanging. She didn’t have much money and learned to make the best of what she had.
My mother started her own business as soon as I was able to enter kindergarten. She was a great influence on me in the fashion industry and home decorating. In 1975 she started a wallpapering business. I remember going to the design stores with her to gather wallpaper books for her clients to view. She would help design and hang wallpaper for just about everyone and every business in our local area. She worked hard and for long hours to build up her business.
So a mixture of all these influences was a huge inspiration for me to be an entrepreneur and use my creative mind to become what I do to this day.
Someone I want to mention here in this interview is a lady by the name of Annie Sloan. I use her chalk paint to create my furniture and home decor pieces I recycle and refurbish. Honestly I started with her paint since day one. It has become a proclivity to my routine of painting. I have tried other paints, and I always go back to the good true paint that always does what I want it to do for me and my creativity.
She is another great artist and mentor. I call her the Godfather of chalk painting furniture. She 100% supports her community and customers. Annie has shared many of my creations on all her social media platforms and that tells me I must be doing somethings right.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson I had to unlearn is when I was growing up my parents always told me to get a suitable job that would provide insurance and a retirement plan. A 9 to 5.
Even though they had worked entrepreneurial type jobs they believed that I needed to take a different path. They couldn’t imagine thinking outside-the-box and letting me nurture a career that was emotionally and fruitfully rewarding. To them it wasn’t worth the fight.
I tried all those jobs and found out that I didn’t fit in to that category. I’m more of a loaner and do not like walking a path that others tell me. I am a self guided person I have always felt and being neurodivergent taught me it’s best to really work alone. The personality traits I have is not to try to fit in with everyone else.
Creative and design roles are ideal for neurodivergent adults who thrive on innovation and visual expression. These fields celebrate unique perspectives and encourage outside-the-box thinking which drives my creativity to the max!
I have never loved doing something so much as working for myself and creating the furniture art that I do. It is the most natural thing I’ve ever done. So really why not make it my job and thrive from it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of my furniture business is making my clients happy to have a one of a kind piece of furniture in their home that I have brought back to life with uniqueness. Every aspect of my business brings absolute joy and happiness. Refurbishing vintage and antique furniture feeds my soul unconditionally.
All my pieces are different. I do not follow a certain style with my pieces.
One rule I usually follow is they are vintage or antique. I have a great talent creating for all design elements for my clients homes. I can flip a coin and go from Louis seize to farmhouse cottage core and onto boho eclectic. That’s the driving force for me to keep painting I just couldn’t ever do the same theme over and over.
When I hunt my furniture to add to my collection I usually use Facebook marketplace to gather. Which can be rewarding to buy and meet the people I buy the furniture from and hear the back story of the furniture while helping them remove unwanted furniture items.
Here in the Mid-West we are centrally located in the United States where many people have traveled, move to and moved on through. Missouri is located in the midwestern United States and it shares borders with eight different states. This is unique because no other U.S. state borders more than eight states.
Many furniture factories were home to Kansas City and St. Louis so I feel I have a high picking field to grab the best pieces to reward my clients with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marmcintyrecreations.etsy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marmcintyrecreations?igsh=cnMwNjR3NXpiOHF1&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: Mar McIntyre/ Mar McIntyre Creations
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@2004marmar?si=fClcyGpnJATrN4FG
• Other: I’m on Threads as @marmcintyrecreations. Install the app to follow my threads and replies. https://www.threads.net/@marmcintyrecreations?xmt=AQGz2bh1uwhn2wW07ajcqFWXFwfYCkKY4Uyj9ct0JWKSSXI

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