Today we’d like to introduce you to Audra Thurman
Audra, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a wife, mom, daughter, sister, textbook introvert, writer, interior designer, ex-perfectionist, public speaker, curator, garbage picker, + laugh addict. If I had a life mission, it would be this: There is still lovely to be found. And whether that’s through designing a custom home or by curating beautiful home items, if you look for the good, you will find it.
I have always had a love for rescuing + repurposing items. At 20 years old I furnished my first apartment by garbage picking everything. And let me tell you… the feeling I felt as each treasure was rescued, uncovered something that was planted deeply within my heart. Over the next 25 years, this feeling grew + I knew that it was more than a hobby for a broke student, but a calling. I was drawn to the beauty of helping people articulate their vision in an environment that demanded creativity and resourcefulness, with an opportunity to find the beauty within them too.
Yet Lovely started in 2011 when my family needed some extra income. For 7 years we had both residential + commercial clients, getting projects mainly through word of mouth. We had no website, no social media, no brick + mortar. Fast forward to 2018 where the longing to quit my job + pursue design full-time was stronger than ever. And then, in June of that year, my younger sister tragically passed away from suicide + my whole world crumbled. As I (barely) made it through that devastating season, my perspective shifted. What once looked hard, wasn’t hard anymore. Losing my sister was hard. Quitting my job? Not so hard. And so I did it. I jumped in with a full send attitude + the Yet Lovely you see today was born. We started with design services + then realized pretty quickly that the storage unit we had full of *found* items was meant to be shared with our community. And so, our brick + mortar became a reality in 2022.
Being yourself for the right reasons in this crazy world, with so many people shouting in your face with who you SHOULD BE, is one tough assignment. To be honest, I don’t follow a lot of design rules or trends. My goal isn’t to copy + paste someone else’s business. My goal has simply been to be true to who I am + to help other’s do the same. This has translated through my design style with items found in the wild at estate sales, FB Marketplace, thrift stores + on the side of the road. Their story will continue.
And so, out of my barrenness + grief, I (finally) surrendered to the idea that I can be a mess and beautiful at the same time. If you take a step back and let real life trump a perfect life, beauty can be found in the imperfectness of life. Perhaps this is the moment for which I was created. Not for the moments of success, but to share that there’s still lovely to be found, no matter the circumstances.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
What does a smooth road look like? I kid, I kid.
I have been on this road of design for almost 15 years. There have been so many bumps, potholes, detours, closed roads + times when the GPS was just flat out wrong. But as I stand + look back at all those “struggles”, I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. Do I wish for a smoother road ahead? Um, yeah. But I also know that it’s possible to find something lovely with any road condition.
If I were to single out a consistent struggle it would be this: to not get sucked into what everyone else is doing + stay true to who you are.
With so much content at our fingertips, it can be a double-edged sword. On one hand I’m so thankful for all the inspiration + the experts who have trudged forward, making the mistakes so we don’t have to. But when you flip it over, I can easily consume more of who someone else is to the point of feeling like an imposter. Before you know it, you’ve floated far out to see with no land in sight.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Yet Lovely?
Yet Lovely is a family-run company, with many of us wearing many hats. My husband, Chris, of 22 years manages our design projects, is a sand-blaster extraordinaire (hello 100 year old armoires coming to LIFE) + travels around our state picking up found pieces. My mom, Susan, quit her full-time job 3 years ago to manage our retail shoppe + offers every shopper with the best customer service. My 19 year old son, Justus, curates the best vintage clothing (he’s seriously cooler than I ever was) + then I pick up the rest. We love what we do + the people we do it for.
Serving the greater Tri Cities, WA area, working with both commercial and residential properties, Yet Lovely exists to discover the lovely where you live + in who you are. With a love for rescuing + repurposing found items, there is a craving for this kind of curated design alongside furniture + decor selection, space planning + helping clients find their style. Introducing layers of texture + scale, using new, vintage + found pieces, Yet Lovely’s touch goes beyond a beautifully designed + finished space. It has the ability to bring our clients a sense of peace + it can cancel out the stress of an unfinished room.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Sometimes I feel like we’ve paddled ourselves out in the middle of the ocean KNOWING we’d need a miracle to get back to land. I mean, who would willingly row themselves out into the middle of the ocean, just to be stranded?
Answer?
Us, I guess.
I’ve learned to not hold everything so tightly. If I do, + something goes wrong, it’s a recipe for disaster. There have been many *almosts* of plans that were seconds away from happening, but didn’t. It definitely provides an opportunity to shrink back + hide. Kind of like being stranded without a paddle. (Like the time my sister Hannah and I won a trip to Tahiti and found ourselves stranded with no luggage for 5 days. No swimsuit. No toothbrush. No undies. Just the clothes on our backs.)
But that’s not the end of our story. Our future plans are to keep doing what we’re doing. On paper, Yet Lovely will move into a larger building, add an entry full of farm raised flower bouquets, add a coffee shoppe + design the most stunning homes in our region. We’ll host workshops, masterclasses for beginner designers + offer a design studio to local designers. We’ll also publish a coffee table book named, you guessed it, Yet Lovely with stories of seeing the lovely through the ugly + beautiful pictures for design inspiration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.audrathurman.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yetlovely/
