Holley Case gives new life to castaway furniture
When Granby native Holley (Macbeth) Case was born 29 years ago, she inherited more than her great-grandmother’s maiden name, her mother’s critical eye and her father’s talent for working with his hands. She also inherited an entrepreneurial spirit and a love of antiques.
While young Holley was busy learning at Kearns School, Wells Road School and Granby Memorial Middle and High schools, her father Craig supported his family as a carpenter, and her mom Pat worked as a professional photographer. After graduation from high school, Holley attended Northwest Community College, later landing a medical-assistant internship with UConn Health in Simsbury. When the internship ended, she worked in the children’s unit of Community Health Services.
But it was while she was a freshman in high school that Holley met senior Joshua Case, who, following graduation, enlisted in the Air Force, later returning to Windsor Locks as an Air Force mechanic and electrician and resuming his courtship of Holley, whom he later married.
The couple has two children, Raelyn Holley, 7, and Jamison Craig, 4. When Jamison was an infant, Covid 19 hit, and Holley joined the ranks of stay-at-home moms.
The Case family lives in Joshua’s family home on Bushy Hill Road, which his grandfather Arlo Case Sr. built. “Joshua moved in with his grandfather when he was 16, after his grandmother died,” Holley says. “His father and uncle grew up in this house, and after Joshua’s grandfather died, we bought it.”
As is typical of old houses, this one was ready for a face lift, and who better to remodel than the creative daughter of a carpenter with her mother’s sharp eye for detail?
“I had lost my income because of Covid, so when I was refinishing our mud room, I started an Instagram account, oak.and.copper, and got Hart Tools [the Walmart brand] to sponsor me,” Case says. That sponsorship included a free set of Hart power tools that Holley uses in videos to promote the brand.
The many projects that Holley has completed in her workshop demonstrate her love of flipping tired old pieces into fresh, sleek new ones. “I got a bedroom set for free, refinished it and sold it on Facebook Marketplace at a profit,” she says. “I love working with my hands. My father taught me everything I know about refinishing and painting.
With Covid and two kids, I had to make refinishing into a business.” Among her sources for pieces to rescue are roadside freebies and the Granby dump.
Handily for Holley, Sharon Ensign had opened Re-Inspired on Route 10 in Southwick in December 2019. To remain afloat during the Pandemic, Ensign opened her shop by appointment for those who were updating their homes or needing supplies.
“I went to Re-Inspired for paint because it’s not only gorgeous, but very versatile and durable,” Holley says. “After I talked to Sharon about my work, and showed it to her on Instagram, she hired me for one day a week in March 2021.” Holley now works at Re-Inspired about 25 hours a week. She also consigns some of her own pieces to sell in the shop, which she hopes to own one day.
“I would love to take over Re-Inspired when Sharon retires—we’ve talked about that—or have my own shop,” Holley says. For now, she continues to give new life to old, discarded pieces and looks forward to Columbus Day weekend, when she will have her first-ever booth at the Granville Harvest Fair. Stop by and take a look!