About Funky Junk Interiors

 

About Funky Junk Interiors

 

Hello new friend! I’m Donna and welcome to Funky Junk Interiors!

This blog showcases DIY project tutorials of creative home decorating with salvaged finds.

I also design and carry a line of Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils HERE which are sign market-styled stencils helping you create antique-looking signs with professional results.

Other blog topics include: home renovations, my love of bike ride adventures, sole travel tips and more! Visit my entire Archives page HERE

I sincerely hope this blog becomes a home for those who wish to learn how to make and do things themselves, in the most affordable way possible.

I’m so glad you are here! Follow along by subscribing to my posts HERE so we can create together!

How this blog started

 

Creating cool stuff out of salvage finds derived out of need.

I live on the west coast of BC, Canada, with 2 cats and mom to a young adult son.

When I started my life over again and moved into a complete fixer upper home with little funds and knowledge, I set out to furnish my home with… well, nothing.​

Curbside found pallets, perfect for creating with!

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about pallet wood

Curbside diving became my shopping mall.

Searching for reclaimed wood and pallets for materials quickly became a free valuable resource, thanks to the firetruck manufacture where I currently worked as a sign maker by trade.

Pallet tool organizer in a rustic workshop - take the tour!

Take the tour of my entire workshop I made for free HERE

So I started collecting and learning how to work with tools, and create with the pallets, reclaimed wood and revamp furniture I was finding.

Once I started seeing some real results, a fire lit. If I could decorate my home for free, perhaps this would interest others too…

So I found out about blogs, then spent a few (lot) late nights learning how to build and operate one.

A rustic pallet and vintage crate TV media stand for a big screen TV.

Learn how to make the pallet TV stand HERE

Visit all my DIY projects HERE

I then started sharing my outlandish, unique, ultra affordable (free) creations and even furniture. Pressing that publish button was downright scary sometimes!

But I’m so glad I did. ​Never did I fathom that my style of rustic home decorating or placing signs in unique areas would become an interest!

pallet porch for a garden shed

pallet porch for a garden shed

From greenhouse to garden shed / All shed posts / The beginning / the revamp

Then repurposing in general really took off. Who knew my current lifestyle of scavenging for reclaimed wood or curbside finds would even become a real thing the world was craving to try themselves?

The blog continued to grow, as did I. Learning new things became part of this ride.

Sugar is a grain sack and crate stencil made by Funky Junk's Old Sign Stencils

Sugar is a grain sack and crate stencil made by Funky Junk's Old Sign Stencils

How creating sign stencils filled a need

Visit Funky Junk's Old Sign Stencils online store HEREVisit Stencil Store HERE

Along with my upcycled creations was sharing my continued love of making DIY signs for my home in unique ways.

I’m a 20 year professional sign maker by trade, creating vinyl signs for storefronts, pinstriping on vehicles, lettering and striping for a major fire truck manufacturer, along with graphic design.

Old sign crate styled stairway / Funky Junk's about page

Read about the Crate Stairs HERE

When I started turning vinyl into paint stencils (as per the stairway above), and placing signs in unique areas in my home, readers reached out asking how to recreate that look.

That’s when I decided to create a line of Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils so anyone could make the signs I was making with complete ease!

No more font talk needed. Here’s the stencil fully designed which is the hardest part. All you need to do next is add paint! With pro results every time.

National Brewers wood coffee station sign shelf with stencils

Sign projects with stencils

 

Visit all my stencil projects HERE

So I now I create stenciled DIY projects organically by incorporating sign stencil designs in with my  own DIY projects to resemble reproduction antiques, as well as inspire others on what to make too!

Other blog topics you’ll find here:

 

Read bike tips and biking stories along the Vedder River Rotary Trail in BC, Canada!

Bike riding along the trails

 

Bike riding adventures

However, I also blog about other topics too!

My passion for bike riding adventures through our gorgeous river trails

Road to Hana Maui Hawaii - visit HERE for travel tips and stories on Funky Junk!

Travelling

 

My vast travels HERE for work and play will take you around my area, across Canada, to Hawaii and the United States!

And much more.

teaching a workshop with power tools / Funky Junk Interiors About Page

teaching a workshop with power tools / Funky Junk Interiors About Page

What else I offer

 

I also love to team up with other bloggers and businesses for blog hops, workshops, product endorsements, sponsored posts and speaking engagements. Is there something we can do to work and play together?

Contact me HEREWork With Me HERE / email donna@funkyjunkinteriors.net / 

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​I know what it’s like to go without. So I take extreme pleasure in teaching whatever I learn right here.

Encouraging others to pick up tools for the first time and follow their own dreams is what this blog has become about.

I’m so glad you’re here! Welcome! And… let’s junk!

.

Subscribe (for free!) to our newest junk projects HERE

My full story

Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils Store

My work

Travel Tips that teach

Inspiring Bike Rides with life lessons

Frequently Asked Questions

38 thoughts on “About Funky Junk Interiors

  1. I so love this sight ,I wish i knew you so we could do things together i need some one to get my creative juices flowin so much better to have a friend do with you !!

  2. Donna,

    Your blog and your story really inspire me! I too had to start my life all over. I too used the methods of dumpster shopping, curbside shopping and of course thrift store rendezvous. I am now very ill and cannot do all of the fun things, that as you, was were a necessity and then became a fun way of life. However, seeing your creativity has reminded me that even an ill person, who rarely is able to leave my house, can still be creative. God bless you!

    Thank you,

    Beth

  3. Before even starting to read your blog or browse your page, who is the creative talent behind the design? That is what got my attention at first, as there are a gazillion creative people out there making and selling.

    Thanks,
    Jo-Ann H.

    • Hi Jo-Ann,

      I came up with the concept, took pictures of the components and emailed them to my blog designer, Bethany from B-Spoke. She worked her magic and added her own flair, then it came to life with our guru Josh Leuze.

      Glad you like what you see!

  4. Beautiful amazing blog, I love many of the ideas you have on these DIY projects in which you use thrift finds. I do the same but I plan to use some of your ideas.

  5. Love your ideas,,,,I love to recycle old things,,,,why add to our landfills,
    why burn it up when it can be reused.Keep up the good work and giving us more ideas.

  6. lov the old look my dad is trying to build me a gardening room out of pallets and he is at a point where hes lost ideals need some photos or ideals to show him

  7. I just lost an hour but gained so many different ideas while browsing your site. It is definitely bookmarked.

  8. Hi Donna,
    I also had to start my life over. And now I have come to the realization that I am a decoratoraholic. I love redecorating my space…well any body space. This has caused a lot of stress in my life. Having one income is definite not the same as having two. But I am slow learner. Now I am on this journey of recovery through the trials, errors and success of DIY-ing. I am now revitalizing and reallocating things that I have and thrift shopping. I used a jig saw for the first time several months ago. And it felt great. I was always afraid of power tools. I now own a jig saw, a kreg jig and a drill. The next thing on my list to get is a sander. I absolutely, love your site.

  9. Hi Donna,
    I happened across your site this morning and WOW, I’m glad that I did! I love your projects and your ideas are over-the-top creative. My 5 yr old son also has a passion for turning “junk” into cool things. He’s always collecting old boxes, bottles, and other oddities and making some really neat “inventions” out of them 🙂 I am newest fan and I can’t wait to come back and see what new things you come up with! ~Christin

  10. Just ran into the site. I might be 70 years old, but I love this look, and your creativeness. I could and probably will spend a lot of time on your blog, I know. I love old things. To me their special. They need not be forgotten. Thank you.

  11. Donna you have inspired me! I wish I had known about you years ago when I was in a similar situation. I spent 5 years restoring a 100 year old house, but furnishing it once I exhausted my funds on major renovations was tough. I was surrounded by antique shops and scrap yards!

    I’ve moved on since then, both in my home and life…but my love for the eclectic still lives on. I began my pallet chair project today after work! I can already see how cute it’s going to be! Thank you for sharing the details, especially measurements and specs, very helpful. I hope mine is half as cute as yours! I just know I’m going to want two now. I found you originally on Pinterest, don’t know if you knew someone pinned you, but I’m so glad they did. Happy treasure building!

    Tanya. R.
    Ladera Ranch, CA

  12. Donna I have been on your site watching for a while now, I just started a new life at 57, after 34 yrs of marrage, moved from MN to the hills of CO. So excited with my new 1903 new home, problem , With me came 3-26 ft Hual halls of wonderful junk, Only good thing about Mn lots of great junk to get! My new life will be very JUNKFUL… Juli Rogers

  13. Hi, WOW, what great ideas. They do say “necessity is the mother of inventions”.

    I gotta find me some pallets. thanks for some awesome ideas.

  14. We are staying at Harrison Hot Springs Hotel, how do we get to your place…???
    We would like to come tomorrow Oct 10 at around 1:00pm

  15. Do you make your own stencils? I am looking for someone to make a stencil of our company name that is reasonably priced. Any ideas? Or a tutorial on how to make the stencil?

    • Hi Margaret, I get them fabricated for me. They are not taking custom stencil orders at this time. Many make their own in small runs on their Silouette machine you can get at most larger craft stores. Maybe that’s worth investigating?

  16. Ran across your blog ideas while looking for something else! Your unique uses and designs are a delight! So fun to see ‘old stuff’ used in so many ways. You have inspired me to get out in the garden. Thanks!

  17. Hi Donna, I’ve been checking out your site and I love all the things you are sharing. BC is my second home, unfortunately I can’t visit this year due to the pandemic. Have a great day of junking.

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