The ReStore in Purcellville—a home decorating and construction resale store that benefits Habitat for Humanity—held a showcase March 13, challenging 11 local designers to design rooms using items at the store.

The designers each created a display room using no more than $750 worth of items from the ReStore. They were also allowed to bring in five small accessories, and each was challenged with one oddball item they had to work into the design.

The ReStore, which opened in April 2009, sells donated items at 50 percent to 90 percent off retail price—everything from stoves to couches to doorknobs and window screens. A love seat might sell for $70, a bath tub $50.

The 11 rooms that were showcased there Saturday included two living rooms, a tack room, a wine parlor, a child’s bedroom and a bathroom.

Tack room designer Patricia Iacone, president of Home, Horse & Hound, won two awards, one for the least amount of money spent ($219 out of the $750) and one for the most creative use of space.

She used a pillow case as a valance and an old sawhorse as a saddle rack, and she put two shutters together to make a dressing screen. Her oddball item was an antique chisel, which she heated and bent into a hook shape, painted black, and hung on the wall as a bridle hook. She brought in her own saddle, bridle, riding boots, helmet and hunt jacket.

“It was an eye-opening experience to see what can be done,” Iacone said. “There’s a lot of good stuff in here.”

Iacone spent $80 on molding, accessories and paint.

“You can spend pennies on the dollar and buy molding and paint in here,” Iacone said. “I’m not a carpenter. I’m not a painter. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”

Other awards given out were for most practical use of space and best overall design.

More than 100 people showed up for the showcase, compared to the typical 20 or 30 who show up on a Saturday, ReStore director Tim Gammon said. “It was just a constant flow.”

Gammon described the showcase as a “win-win-win-win-win situation.”

In addition to giving local designers more attention, the showcase benefited the customers, who could see what ReStore and the designers had to offer. It also benefited the environment, by promoting recycling, instead of dumping unwanted or surplus items in a landfill. It benefited ReStore by bringing in more customers, and in turn, this benefited needy families who receive housing through Habitat for Humanity.

Contact ReStore to make a tax-deductible donation, and ReStore will pick up the items from your home or office. For more information on the 11 designers, ReStore or Habitat for Humanity, call 540-579-4508 or visit http://www.loudounrestore.org.