New store brings life to old furniture

Restorations+in+the+Burg+is+a+furniture+store+downtown+Ellensburg.+Restorations+sells+upcycled+and+used+home+d%C3%A9cor+while+also+offering+custom+design.+

Restorations in the Burg is a furniture store downtown Ellensburg. Restorations sells upcycled and used home décor while also offering custom design.

Skyler Jensen-Hampton, Staff Reporter

Restorations in the Burg, located on 312 N Pine Street, offers antique, vintage and modern furniture along with home decor.

On Jan. 5 Jeff Nordrum and Diane Rubio brought Restorations to life.

“My wife and I’s strengths are finding good pieces of furniture that still have viability, which have lost its appeal,” Nordrum said.

The co-owners have been doing this for the last three and half years and have owned a business with others in the past, but this is their first time being owning a business by themselves.

Nordrum and Rubio moved from the west side to Ellensburg two years ago to help launch another business. Nordrum and Rubio were co-owners of a store in town called Functional Junk Salvage. Last Summer, Nordrum and Rubio elected to part ways with the business after they had successfully restored furniture that had lost their appeal. This put them on a pathway to open their own store.

“We just wanted to have our own store and control the inventory a little bit tighter,” Nordrum said.

The owners find items that have lost their appeal over time. They look at the paint, the color, the condition or damage to the furniture.

“There is a lot that happens over time to just a piece of furniture. If a piece of furniture loses its appeal, it kind of loses its value. We restore the value by restoring the appeal,” Nordrum said.

The owners do all their restorations in the kitchen of their home, according to Nordrum.

“We like to give our product something special to make it more appealing, giving us an competitive edge,” Nordrum said.

Heidi Anderson of Brick Road Lavender and NW Rain Handcrafted is a vendor at Restorations in the Burg.

“I have a space to provide a variety to the store. Restorations offers home goods, scarves [and] furniture and I provide the soft line- bath and body products,” Anderson said.

Anderson formulates her own recipes and products with her background in biology and chemistry, and has been a vendor since opening day of the shop.

“I love how responsibly priced the shop is. Everyone can find something they can afford,” Anderson said. “This is great for young families and even college students that are just starting out with purchasing furniture and home decor.”

David Wheeler is a cosigner with Restorations and provides recycled, refined and renewed lamps.

“I just came in the first day they were open and I said ‘well I have a few things are you interested?’ and a dialogue started at that point, which then has now accumulated to nine lamps in here,” Wheeler said. “I have collected all of these dissimilar pieces from all over the place and then I’ve put those pieces back together again in what I consider a unique way.”

Wheeler was a student at CWU in 1970 for two years, then graduated from Oregon State University. He came back to Ellensburg in 1979 to work as a preservation planner with the Ellensburg Downtown Association. Wheeler said he has enjoyed working at Restorations since their opening.

“This really has been a nice opportunity. What I really enjoy about Restorations is there are lots of places that are recapturing and redoing things in China and other places that look like something from our past, and these are kind of like taking something from our past and redoing them in a way that will have another lifetime in someone’s home,” Wheeler said.

Restorations in the Burg is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 1-5 p.m.