It’s All Spiritual
Working with others has always been an essential part of Deb Turnow’s life. For over ten years, she was a therapist who worked with sexual assault victims. When she felt that chapter of her life was coming to its end, she moved into the realm of spiritual direction, where she helped others to notice where spirit was present in their lives, even when they may not be noticing it. Through this important work, she discovered her passion for helping others to connect deeper to their faith, and founded a nonprofit called Kavanna House, which is a non-profit spiritual formation organization designed to offer individuals the means to move into deeper intimacy with God.
Kavanna House had a physical location in York where members would meet for sessions and retreats, but when Covid hit in 2019, they could no longer meet in person. Everything began to transition online, and the house was eventually sold. Deb found herself taking steps back to allow others in the Kavanna House community to take the reins, and thus ended up spending a lot more time home with less responsibilities. It was during this time that she began to refocus on her love for furniture painting. Furniture painting was something that she had done for many years, but with her newfound free time, was able to now spend more energy on.
Deb does all of her work in her garage in her 250 year old farmhouse. She works together often with her husband, who helps her with a lot of the repair work. Deb tries to find old pieces that need a lot of love and care. She appreciates items that have lived some life, and she doesn’t like to cover all of that up. Every piece has a story to tell, and it's her mission to bring that story to life.
One day, while in the store Refindings, Deb decided to rent out a small space to begin selling some of her items. Her items began selling, and became so successful that she expanded her space multiple times there. Late last year, a friend suggested that she check out The York Merchant. Deb visited the space, and fell in love. She appreciated that it fell in line with the concept of "rethinking old" - it was historic and industrial, and being transformed into something new and vibrant, which is exactly what she does with her own pieces.
Deb finds that working with these old pieces channels her own sense of spirituality, which she says isn’t just tied to church or the Kavanna House, it’s in her creativity as well. For her, creativity and working with furniture is tied into the same spirituality she has when teaching class or mentoring others. Despite stepping back from her work at Kavanna House, she was ultimately able to find such joy simply being in her garage, working on her pieces, having her hands completely dried out and nicked up, because in her words, it brought her back to center. She realized that it’s all spiritual, and none of it is more spiritual than anything else.
Learn more about Legacy Farmhouse by visiting their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/legacyfarmhouse