Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Childress & Judy Tackett.
Hi Elaine and Judy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It can be said that when two worlds collide, often a better one will be created. When Elaine Childress of Portilla Design and Judy Tackett, respectfully known as The Grateful Gardener decided to team up together, Portilla Home & Garden was created. Elaine’s love of interior decorating, repurposing and refinishing furniture, and knack for collecting the “good stuff” over the years snowballed out of a garage built business into a retail location in Rosenberg, Texas with Judy Tackett. Judy Tackett’s love of all things gardening and green as well as antique collecting repurposed vintage container gardening and love of retail, began at home as well as within other vendor locations in Rosenberg, Texas. Judy and Elaine met in downtown Rosenberg and a natural “meeting of the minds” took place within their individual spaces. Interior decorating goes hand-in-hand with live greenery and houseplants! One of the historical buildings in downtown Rosenberg became available and we decided to make a collective leap, form a business partnership and Portilla Design merged with The Grateful Gardener and became Portilla Home & Garden, LLC.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Business partnerships are never easy! It’s like a marriage and you choose to stick together no matter what, and embrace each other’s differences, good or bad. Our partnership enjoys a very symbiotic relationship. One creative thought thrives and feeds off of another. Forming our own business and creating our own unique look without a “vendor mall” concept in one of the larger historic buildings seemed to be a challenge at first, you wonder how you will “pay the rent” without multiple “booth spaces.” In the end, it has created one of the most marvelous, gorgeous, and eclectic retail environments we could ever imagine! The live greenery is always a challenge, not one item in our shop is “faux” and those plants require weekly care and appropriate lighting throughout the year. 100% of the furniture brought into our shop is restored, painted, or updated in-house daily.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Judy Tackett now specializes in creating indoor or outdoor container gardens using collected and found objects as well as incorporating a wide variety of uniquely sourced planters. If she can get a hole in it, she will pot in it! Some of the most unusual containers over the years include toolboxes, tractor funnels, driftwood, antique silver plate, English china, as well as amazing enclosed glass terrariums. Judy’s knack for visiting and engaging customers in all things related to plant love, plant care and ensuring each person goes home with live greenery appropriate for their space including appropriate watering and lighting requirements. Judy strives to ensure no customer comes back with a dead plant but comes back to add to their own unique collection.
Elaine Childress now specializes in curating unique items for the home including furniture, lighting, art, and decorative objects. Searching for classic pieces with style, character, and quality is the top priority. Elaine has exclusively used the Annie Sloan line of refinishing products including Chalk Paint® and wax to enhance, paint, or curate every found object. Her knowledge of a wide variety of styles and genres allows for vignettes such as traditional, transitional, mid-century modern, modern farmhouse, cottage, French country, grand millennial, and more. Her knack for helping customers create their own style, using what they have, and thinking outside the box keeps them coming back for more.
Judy and Elaine set themselves apart from others because they never stop curating or creating with what they find. Each week brings in newfound objects, new ideas, and new scenes to set within the shop.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
The most surprising thing most people do not comprehend is that the bulk of our inventory is hand-picked, created, refinished, painted, planted, hauled, tagged, and sold by TWO WOMEN!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.portillahg.com
- Instagram: @portillahg
- Facebook: @mdportilla
- Youtube: Portilla Design
Image Credits
Portilla Home & Garden
