Laura Davis

Laura Davis is a furniture designer, which sounds like nonstop glamour, but her job creating designs for mass production can get tedious. So she remakes old furniture for fun. And she uses vintage textiles to make new napkins, aprons and pillows.

“It’s my little, hands-on creative outlet,” she says.

Davis, who is from St. Louis, moved to Oak Cliff last year. She started her part-time business, Laura Davis Design Lab, making throw pillows out of vintage bedding she bought in thrift stores and at garage sales. She embroiders them with cute phrases like, “cheer up, buttercup,” and they sell for about $40. Lately she’s been taking orders for large pillows embroidered with monograms and people’s names.

“That’s my big thing for fall,” she says.

For Davis, inspiration comes from dumpsters and roadside castoffs. She sands, repaints, reupholsters, and creates funky new furniture from things no one else wants.

“For example, I found an old broken-down chair that someone was throwing away, and so that’s my project for the weekend,” she says. “It’s like the ultimate sustainability for me is finding something and turning it into something else.”

Davis says she doesn’t expect to give up her day job which she loves, by the way anytime soon. She’s focusing more on remaking furniture, and expects the business to move more toward that. But she doesn’t want it to get too big.

“If it grows too much, it will lose that handmade aspect,” she says. “So I’m happy with the way it is.”

WEBSITE: lbd340.etsy.com IN STORE: Make, 313 N. Bishop; The Gypsy Wagon, 5211 Bonita PRICE RANGE: $10-$50