A HOUSE OF CREATIONS

By Jan Biles

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

When you enter Deb Biester's home in northern Topeka, you walk back in time. Burgundy and gold draperies, glass chandeliers, mirrors with scrolled frames and other Victorian-era decor fill every nook and cranny.

Amid the late 19th-century-style furnishings are lamps, candelabra and candleholders that Biester has created from discarded items found at garage sales and flea markets.

"If it has potential, it comes home with me," she said.

Biester, 52, a Kansas Department of Health and Environment employee, said she fell in love with Victorian decor about eight to 10 years ago, but the price tags on the items she liked were beyond her budget.

"I thought I could make it myself," she said.

Soon, she began buying unwanted lamps, ceiling fans, beads and any metal knickknack she could find. Once home, she dissembles the items and places each part into a pile.

She believes every part - from fluted glass globe to tiny washer - eventually will find its place into one of her creations.

"There's a hundred things you can do," she said as she eyed a pile of parts.

Biester said she typically begins with an idea for a design for a lamp, vase or candelabra she would like to make. She never draws the design on paper, preferring to discover randomly what parts fit together to bring her vision to fruition. Her husband, Bruce, an electrician, is drafted to help tighten nuts, bolts, rods and other pieces in the work.

"It takes two of us to snug it up," she said. "I can't finish the product without him."

Once the parts are reassembled to form a new Victorian-style lamp or vase, the piece is spray-painted and decorated with ribbons, flowers, fringe, lace or beads.

Biester, who has enough parts today to fill four or five large boxes, said she sells her works at craft booths and online at Victorian Grapevine, www.victoriangrapevine.com.

When she retires in about 13 years, she would like to open a Victorian decor store. Until then she will continue her hobby of collecting "junk" and turning it into "treasure."

"I suppose if I were to stop," she said, "all of this stuff would end up in the trash."

Jan Biles can be reached

at (785) 295-1292

or jan.biles@cjonline.com.

Copyright 2008
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.