Consignment Shop Owner Has A Passion For Decorating, Refurbishing

Cayce Home Consignments is something you might miss while zipping by on Land O' Lakes Boulevard.

Right now it is contending with road construction along the front and competing signs up and down the road get in the way, but it is getting noticed and it is getting rave reviews.

Once you've seen it, and once you've stopped you will never miss it again.  

There is a hosted wine and cheese event this Friday, June 10, starting at 7 p.m. which offers a great excuse to get there and enjoy an evening in a relaxed atmosphere talking with friends, associates and customers of the recently established store.

“Our friends who operate the Italian restaurant Villa Verde are coming to help us with the event on Friday, bringing some their finest wines and cheeses,” said Catherine Borkowski, shop owner.  “It is one of several events we plan to continue.”

Other events include a fresh organic food vendor fair the second weekend every month. The vendor fair is another event the shop uses to help introduce its services to the community, Borkowski said.

Cayce Home Consignments reached back a generation or two to find its name, as Catherine and her mother Carolyne Cole are descended from famed 20th century prophet Edgar Cayce. He is best known for what are now called readings, which were recorded by a stenographer while he was in a sleep-like trance. Those readings became sources for all kinds of practical advice about real world issues. His works inspired the Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment foundation, which is now based in Virginia Beach, Va.

The shop offers a wide variety of items for the home. In one room and in its backyard area, it features a display area for outdoor furniture. Inside the store, shoppers will find decorative items, artwork, knick knacks, glass, china, linens and collectible antiques.

Borkowski is proud to be a fourth generation Floridian. She started developing her interests in furniture refurbishing when her mother assigned her a piece of furniture to refinish when she was 9. It grew to be a passion from that first project and she loves re-purposing antiques that find their way into the hearts and homes of others who share a similar joy.

 For her career she took a practical route for 20 years, following both her father and mother as career teachers while keeping active in her mother's antique endeavors over the years. She took a leap of faith and elected to take a leave of absence from teaching English at Freedom High School to get Cayce Home Consignments store off the ground.

Cayce Home Consignments opened in March and Borkowski says it has been one roller coaster adventure after another as the shop gains notoriety and finds its niche in the Land O' Lakes community.

 She called opening day in March her greatest achievement.

 “It has been a long-time goal to have my own store that relates to my real passion for redecorating, refurbishing, and re-purposing items we discover.  I have a way of seeing things in a different perspective and finding ways to refresh their uses.”  Borkowski said.

 What she loves best is decorating and helping people take a fresh new approach to their living environments.

“The store, combined with my willingness to venture out and personally shop to meet those newly formed expectations for clients and customers is perfect for my interests,”  she said.

 Since March, 60 consignors brought her unique things, conversation starters and items that inspire her to decorate in unique ways. Her shop is a testament to that as each room as a themed title.

“There's the Grand Show Room, the largest in the shop, there's the Italian themed room, the Man Cave, where items that will finish off a room with a manly flair are shown. The 'All Roads Lead to Rome' hallway,”  she explained while leading a whirlwind walk through the store. “It is a whimsical way of organizing and allows me to be creative in shop presentation. It feeds my creative side because I can redecorate every day.”

 That passion for decorating helps her keep the shop fresh and vibrant as she hosts events throughout the month contributing to efforts in building a community spirit in Land O' Lakes.

 “The amazing part is that we've met so many wonderful people since opening, we get about 20 new people a week and its one of the greatest thrills of having a consignment store like this,” she said.

One her favorite furniture pieces is an item that had to be moved off site.  It is a Globe Bar that shows the world as it existed in 1578.

“Once we get some items repositioned I can't wait to bring it in as it is truly a wonderful piece that tells its own story,” she said.

Another prized item is a table carved out of single piece of rosewood selected, purchased and imported from Brazil. Then there is the tea cart table which she lovingly refinished, bringing it back to use after finding it in a dumpster.

“I love the pieces that tell a story,” she said. “Like the German beer stein customized with the owner's name and engraved on the stein are all the places he experienced as a German soldier in World War I along with all the names of people who were part of his military unit. It is wonderful piece of history.”

So, what are the biggest items sold so far? A solid oak book case with a matching china cabinet. “It is a very special set and being able to see it positioned in the new owner's home was wonderful,” she said.

And of course let's not forget the corner curio cabinet her mother purchased on a trip to the Czech Republic. It was going to cost another passenger seat to get it home.

“Mom just decided to hold it on her lap for the duration of the 18-hour trip home,” she said.

An online look at what's at the store is visible on the Internet through the web site caycehomeconsign.com.  It is a pale comparison to a walk through the shop itself which can only be better with a glass of wine in one hand. 

So put the wine and cheese tasting on your "must do list" for Friday.

Set your GPS to the address 6616 Land O' Lakes Blvd., which is north of Ehren Cutoff just past Caliente Boulevard.  If you need directions call, 813-996-7185. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.