WEST PITTSTON — Inspiration and a knack for making something old new again is what lit the fire and motivation for Mary Margaret Bone to act on her instincts.
Over the last five years, Bone has taken her dreams, aspirations and talent to open iMagine It BEYOND HOME DÉCOR, located next to Agolino’s Restaurant, West Pittston.
“I was always the type of person that if somebody was getting rid of something and they said, ‘Do you want this?’ I always said, ‘Imagine what I could do with that,’” Bone said. “I’m a junk collector, pretty much.”
Bone is in the business of upcycling and repurposing everything from wood palettes to old furniture to large wooden spools that used to hold wire. It all started when she and her husband Joe would take one of their four sons to college in Maryland.
“There was a salvage yard on the side of the road where they had all this wood and I saw this one piece of wood. I thought that was the coolest piece of wood and that I could do something with it,” Bone said.
She took the piece of wood, painted it, put a design on it and added ribbon to hang it. “I still have it hanging in the store,” she said. “It just started from there; every time I saw something, I thought I could do something, that I can make something pretty out of it.”
Soon after collecting that first piece of scrap wood, Bone’s creativity began to take full stride. Her imagination went wild at the same time a television show titled “Fixer Upper” began airing. The show starred Chip and Joanna Gaines, a couple from Waco, Texas, who flipped homes with a twist.
Joanna Gaines is the mastermind and designer for projects while her husband Chip does the construction work. She is very mindful of taking old things, repurposing them and bringing them back to life. Bone instantly took a liking to Joanna’s philosophy and began to study her on every level.
“I loved how she (Joanna) did that, looking at something old and wanted to fix it up and make it pretty,” Bone said.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Bone took her interest in Joanna Gaines one step further when planning a trip with her husband to Texas to revisit the base she served. She decided to head to Waco to visit Magnolia Farms, Chip and Joanna’s business.
That trip took Bone’s interest to a higher level. “When I went to Texas and saw Joanna Gaines’ store, I just loved everything about it, loved the way she had it organized. I saw the places she redid and saw the places she shopped at. My husband said, ‘Maybe you should do that.’”
Bone had been redoing her own furniture to give it a fresh look for many years before people began to take notice. “Someone approached me to redo a little girl’s bedroom,” Bone said. “After that project, I began to collect old furniture to repurpose and upcycle.”
In a very short time, Bone began to run out of room at her home to store the furniture and looked for additional space.
She opened iMagine It briefly at a location in Exeter before moving to her current home on Luzerne Avenue.
Over the last five months, Bone has branched out by hosting other crafters items, selling jewelry, soap, knitted hats and scarfs. “I hand-pick local crafters,” Bone said. “It’s all handmade items, like the jewelry girl who recycles copper to make her jewelry.”
After opening her doors for business, Bone was complimented by customers on her decorating style. “People came in and told me that I have a knack for decorating and, because of that, I now offer my services to re-do homes.”
She began utilizing her creative abilities and started another service decorating for graduations, weddings, birthday parties and other events. “I love to party-plan and, if I do a party, I’ll bring a lot of my decorations, use them and even take customer’s items to repurpose for their party,” added Bone. “I come in, set up and tear down. Weddings are my favorite.”
Bone enjoys passing on the benefits of repurposing and upcycling so much that she offers decorating classes utilizing recycled items or simple craft projects.
Bone’s one wish? To have Joanna Gaines visit her shop. “That would be my dream.”
