Daily Inspiration: Meet Jamala Wallace

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamala Wallace.

Hi Jamala, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Jamala, but also lovingly known as Kim. My passion is decorating on a dime and I love mixing antiques and modern items to develop a personal style for our home. I created my blog, VivaLaVintageforYourHome to welcome readers to my thrifty world of shopping for items to feed my fetish. I love scouring estate/yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores and antique shops to find fantastic bargains because my mantra is “it’s the thrill of the hunt”. I’m a wife, mother and blogger and music is my therapy. Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey and now transplanted in the small town of Whitmire, So. Carolina, I consider myself a northern girl with a southern swirl. My love of vintage started at the tender age of 15, when me & my twin sister, Amina, found our first vanity curbside. We brought it home, painted it and adored using it. With a love of antique furniture and an entrepreneurial spirit, so many pieces have found their way into our hearts and homes that we decided to take the leap and opened a boutique and estate sale service named Pieces of Time. My blog is a creative outlet to show how decorating a home on a budget using vintage items, thrift finds and flea market scores can be fun, functional and fantastic. I relentlessly encourage people to live the “Lifestyle of the Thrift and Famous”.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Moving from a big city with plenty of family and friends to a small town and not knowing anyone was a scary and lonesome feeling, but once I began to meet the people of the town, it made my transplant more pleasant. Out of boredom and the desire to inspire others to thrift shop for home décor, I decided I wanted a blog. However, I knew nothing about creating a website/blog and there were no classes offered in this area. I spent many long nights using YouTube as my instructor and eventually learned my way around cyberspace. Once I created my website, and grew my blog, it was time to create a YouTube channel. Again it was no easy task for me, but growing my social media platform was quite a challenge because by the time I got in the game, there were thousands sharing the content. However, it was through my blog that I gained a bit more popularity. Learning my way around the southern area to discover more thrift stores was challenging, but the more I visited some, and began talking to shoppers, they’d tell me about other locations. As for Pieces of Time, we continue to offer estate sale services in NJ and SC.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a healthcare professional by day and content creator as my career passion. Inspiring others to utilize the three “R”s – recycle, reuse and repurpose as the alternative way to decorate their homes is truly my passion. With close to 20 billion lbs of furniture ending up in landfills each year, it’s only right to reconsider alternative shopping venues. Not only does it save the landfills, but you also can support small businesses along with entrepreneurs that do reupholstery and/or furniture restorers.

In addition to keeping with the concept of not filling landfills, I created and organize the i2i Annual Yardsale for the Town of Whitmire and by partnering with Chester, it became a 45-mile Yard Sale which develops tourism to the area. The community event brings hundreds of enthusiast shoppers from across the state and out of state to the area. To entice participation, the 2-day event is free of charge which allows vendors to earn 100% profit from their sales, which adds income for unwanted household items. The yearly event is held the first Friday and Saturday in October and is currently in its 10-year running.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I have a strong love of music, plants and decorating. Each is therapeutic and helps keep me mentally balanced. Learning that you can decorate your home without breaking the bank and incurring debt is possible with patience. I truly dislike when I hear people speak negatively about second-hand furniture because I know for a fact, there’s absolutely nothing bad about second-hand shopping. I’ll keep promoting the Lifestyle of the Thrift and Famous until fewer furniture and decor pieces are making their way to the dumps and landfills. There’s so much stuff out there waiting for a new loving home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vivalavintageforyourhome.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urvintagegirl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vivalavintageforyourhome
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDwhBMakxZhDzKMttMQAy4Q

Image Credits
Jamala Wallace