What an About Page Should Be About
Although most About pages are full of the companies’ achievements and accolades, we believe that an About page really should focus on the visitor more than anything.
Why? Because every business should be about the customer.
A website’s About page needs to assure the site visitor that they are in the right place and that the site is able to serve them. So we’ll do that, and then we’ll get to the story about Paint Chips and Pillows.
This site exists to help people who have limitations of some kind when it comes to making their home the way they want it to be. Not everyone has a million-dollar budget, although I’m sure we’d all love to. Not everyone has tons of time to devote to their home, either. Whether you have budgetary constraints, health problems, children who need your attention, a career that takes up most of your time, a busy schedule, a small space, or whether you have escaped abuse and are tasting freedom (as I am), this site will help you make your home more like that which you desire, from decor to dinners.
You are in the right place, and you belong here.
Now, I’ll tell you about Paint Chips and Pillows.
How did this site come to be?
This is the story about Paint Chips and Pillows. As an abuse survivor with disabilities and a super tight budget, I understand all kinds of constraints, because I’ve always had a variety of them myself. Despite all of them, I figured out ways to make many things work.
The Early Days
In the late 1990s, people started asking me to help them with their living spaces, grocery budgets, and other things, because they liked what I had done with mine. I became known as the Grocery Budget Queen for feeding a family on twenty-five dollars a week. No, it wasn’t in the 1800s when I did that; it was the first decade of the 2000s.
Around 2010, I set up the first version of this site. For a variety of reasons, I ended up taking it down. I didn’t stop doing what I could in the places I lived in and helping others with theirs, however.
A New Beginning
In 2023, during a separation from my diagnosed covert narcissistic personality disordered and abusive husband, I finally made a dream come true, in a way. I had always wanted to run a boarding house or bed and breakfast. He had always said no. Once he moved out, I started doing shared-space short-term rental hosting. I reached Super Host status in less than 60 days and had a blast hosting.
Almost all of the guests said they loved the decor and functionality of the whole house. Many asked me for the paint colors and product sources so they could decorate their own spaces similarly to mine. Mostly due to my then-husband causing problems, I shut down both of the short-term rental listings that were in my house.
Freedom to Decide and Do
In 2024, we kicked him out for the last time. I decided that since my sons and I no longer had an abuser here telling us we could not do this or that, we finally could (and would) do more of what we wanted with our house. I say “more of what we wanted” and not “everything we wanted” because finances and my disabilities are still constraints.
But being free to make decisions is precious.
While I was redoing the room called Castle Cove, a client of mine asked me to help her redecorate her house. She said, “You have such an eye for color, and I do not.” She told me that I help people with so many things. The same day, another person repeated what she said, almost exactly.
John Stange, the leader of Platform Launchers, often says, “Your people will tell you what to do or create next, if you’ll just listen.” Many of my people over the years had asked me for help improving their homes and lives, and now two people told me the same thing on the same day…
I decided to see if the domain name of my old site was still available. If it was, I would take that as confirmation that it’s time. The domain name was available, so I snapped it up.
And here we are.
What You Can Expect
You can bet your boots I’m going to have fun writing and sharing all sorts of things with you. But more than that, this place is about you and what you want to do with your home and your life.
- Forage for free and nutritious food?
- Learn how to sew household basics like curtains and matching cloth napkins?
- Make potions—I mean herbal extracts and tinctures—for your family’s health and beauty?
- Redo a room without breaking the bank?
- Homeschool your kids while working from home? (I did it for a decade and graduated three at age 15, and you can, too, if you want to.)
- Get used to having the freedom to do all of these things and more?
We’ve got you. Who’s we? Meet the Paint Chips and Pillows People.
Show Your Support
All proceeds go to support survivors of domestic violence.