Here are five things to know about the new business:
1. Something different for decorating
Fleurish Home offers everything from mirrors, mugs, dishes, paints, household utensils, clothing and clocks to jewerly, candles, soaps, lotions and lanterns.
The eclectic array of items fit with a nationwide trend of taking existing objects and repurposing or reusing them in a different space with a new look, Debra Campbell said.
“Our motto is modern, rustic home decor and unique gifts for every day living and entertaining,” she said. “We really feel like people spend a lot of time in their homes, they want to be unique. They don’t want it to be cookie-cutter.”
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2. Popular paint line made Fleurish Home a reality
While working with a decorative painting business for 15 years, Debra Campbell said she discovered the Annie Sloan paint line, which wasn’t a new product but was so versatile and flexible that she soon fell in love with it. Stocking the item in her store, it soon became a “game changer.”
“I could do a project for less money and in significantly less time and actually get a better quality finish,” she said. “There was no place in the Midwest that carried it, so we decided to become stockists.”
As the demand for the paint grew, and an increasing amount of customers began to ask about purchasing accessories to compliment their repurposed furniture, Campbell decided she couldn’t be selling it out of a studio anymore and needed a retail store with regular hours. With the help of her husband, Fleurish Home’s first location was launched in Springboro in 2013.
A Columbus location opened in 2014 and a Symmes Twp. location opened in 2015.
3.Workshops are on the way
Instead of only selling home decor, Debra Campbell will continue to display her creativity through classes. Basic workshops focusing on furniture and cabinet repurposing will be the first classes Fleurish Home offers in Hamilton, with advanced ones like stenciling, gold-leafing and other embellishments likely to follow.
4. Hamilton ‘vibe’ meshed with store’s owners
City officials showed the couple around downtown Hamilton and they immediately fell in love with many of the buildings, as well as something less concrete, Campbell said.
“We really liked the vibe that was down here,” she said. “It felt very urban and very big city, but yet a little town at the same time. It was just absolutely perfect timing. It was serendipity.”
The couple also decided they wanted to purchase a building.
“We don’t want to rent a place, we want to make our mark because it’s what we do anyway,” she said. “We’ve completely gutted and remodeled all the stores we’re in. We’ve done two homes. My husband comes from the construction industry. He was an electrician until we opened the first store.”
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5. Renovation was a family effort
The couple, having discovered what CORE (Consortium for Ongoing Reinvestment Efforts) was doing with downtown Hamilton, wanted to be a part of it, bringing their skill sets to the table to get the building renovated themselves “as good or better” as anyone else they could hire.
“The only way that we have what we have is because of sweat equity,” she said. “We’ve done every build out ourselves.”
City officials, who were working to decide if they could even save the building, made the deal after seeing what the Campbells accomplished in other Fleurish Home locations.
“That’s CORE’s biggest thing, is that they want to make sure they have quality businesses coming in that are going to open and stay open,” she said. “Having that proven concept was, I know, a big plus in their department.”
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