7 Mile Designs Wood Co.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Welcome to the world of 7 Mile Designs! My name is Jenn and I’ll be your host.

I figure it’s good to get our introductions out of the way first so let me tell you a little bit about myself and my story.  In west Philadelphia, born and raised, on a playground is where I spent most of days… What? You trying to say that’s NOT my story?? Okay, fine. You’re right.  But that should give you some insight into the era I grew up.  I actually hail from north central Oklahoma.  I attended school at Oklahoma State University and stuck around the area because I loved it so much and found a job here that I thoroughly enjoy.  I have two dogs that often make appearances in my pictures and stories.  They are Big Dog and Little Dog.  Yes, they have real names but only the vet uses them.  Big Dog is an 8-year-old male German Shepherd Dog.  Little Dog is a 7-and-a-half-year-old female mutt.  50 pounds separates them but they look like color copies of each other.  It’s the craziest thing.  Big Dog (BD) loves being in the garage and always has to be in my business.  His tail is brutal when he wags it, which is all the time.  Little Dog (LD) wants to be wherever I am but would rather not be where there are loud noises, which means not the garage when the power tools are on.  When given a few minutes to calm down, she’s pretty chill.  She also gets called tripod because she likes to run on three legs even though she has four perfectly good ones.

I have long considered myself to be a crafty person.  Even handy in the right situations.  I grew up watching my dad do anything and everything.  Any home repair or remodel project was largely done by him.  I even saw him study to get an electrician’s license so he could buy the parts and do the work himself instead of paying someone else.  All he had to do was read a book or two and he was an expert.  It’s not that he was cheap, he just knew he could do it himself.  It didn’t matter what project my mom, brother, or I dreamed up…he could do it and do it really well.  My mom has claimed she is not crafty but I beg to differ.  I’ve seen wonderful things she has done from sewing to, recently, basket weaving (no joke!).  She is also an exceptional decorator.  I would have strongly disagreed with this when I was younger and our décor styles couldn’t have been further apart but those styles have grown closer over the years.  I’m sure she could turn interior decorating into a side business if she wanted or had the time.  These two inspire my work ethic and the things I do with 7 Mile Designs.

I’ve had a long list of projects that I wanted done but with no skills and no tools, I turned to my dad and friends to try to con them into doing it for me.  It worked a reasonable amount of times.  I finally decided that I wanted to do it myself so I could learn some valuable skills, could get things done on my timeline and not someone else’s, and not feel so bad about constantly asking someone else for favors.  This whole thing got started about eight months ago because I wanted one of those rustic urban vintage magnolia farmhouse tables but I sure did not want to pay the price for one! $3000+??? No thank you!  I kept seeing plans from Shanty-2-Chic for a $100 table that I really liked.  I also knew where I could buy some reclaimed cargo flooring that would make an incredible top.  I decided to go for it!  The table came together so easily and I loved the process.  It was surprisingly relaxing as well.  At a tenth of the cost of buying one, it was win-win all the way around! (I also made that clock and transformed a basic Ikea Billy Bookcase into something more fitting of my style.)

During the build, an idea formed, however crazy I thought it was at the time.  I decided I would start a little side business where I would build and sell home furnishings and décor.  7 Mile Designs would be its name.  Long story short, it means “almost home.”  With the help of my best friend and his crazy good graphic design skills, I got a fantastic logo and was on my way!

I by no means claim to be an expert or have the best methods.  I just share what works for me.  I’m still learning with every build but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  As this venture goes on, I want to do more.  One of my big goals for this year was to start a blog.  And here we are.  Thank you for joining me.  My view for this blog is to share my builds, my home renovation projects, and a piece of my world.  I want to share not only my triumphs but my trials too.  We all screw up and, thanks to social media, it appears that no one else is making mistakes.  I actually feel better about my progress when the more experienced makers share their mess ups because it reaffirms that it isn’t just me.  Sharing that type of thing is humbling.  And I want you all to learn from my mistakes just as I do.  And please feel free to point out typos to me.  They drive me nuts but sometimes I miss them in my proofreading.  I hate coming back to a post after a length of time just to see that everyone has seen my silly typos.  Sometimes though, it’s not a typo.  It’s just my hick slipping out. Ha!

I now ask you to tell me about you and what you’d like to see from me!

Before you leave, be sure to click on my social media links and follow me!  It’ll be fun, I promise!