Trash to Treasure Inspiration from Upscale Decorator

Feature article by Leslie Young on The Commercial Appeal: 

Thrifty Decorator Furnishes House with Found Objects

Kaye McWhorter is not afraid to look like a crazy woman — when it comes to a good bargain, that is.

"I saw a bench on the side of the road in my neighborhood in Dallas, and it couldn't fit in my car. I stuffed it in the back seat and couldn't even close the door. I'm sure people were thinking, 'What in the world is that crazy woman doing?'" said McWhorter, 67, of East Memphis.

hat bench, spray-painted a different color and good as new, now sits in her upstairs guest bedroom alongside twin beds with old garden gates as headboards, a spray-painted wicker chair and several other wayside discoveries to complete a look straight out of the Hamptons.

Photo linked from The Commercial Appeal site

"It's fun," McWhorter said. "It's that trash-to-treasure thing."

The retired schoolteacher has filled her five-bedroom, 3½-bath Pidgeon Estates home with found treasures — sometimes repainted, sometimes reupholstered, sometimes repurposed, and all indistinguishable from her more legitimate purchases.

"I feel like God has really helped me to look beyond things as they are and see what they can become, not just with things, but also with people," said McWhorter, the wife of an ordained minister.

When she drove by a bench disassembled on the side of the road, she saw front-porch potential.

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