Published: May 25, 2007 02:17 pm      

New decor store began as eBay business

Ambience Home is unique to Eastern Oklahoma County.

The new shop just east of Indian Meridian Street on N.E. 23rd Street resulted from the growth of an eBay business owned by a woman who lives just south of the city.

Jamie Willis started selling home decor items on eBay seven years ago. Eventually, the business outgrew the garage and building located behind the Willis home.

Willis began to look for a place to open a store to house her merchandise. She told The Sun Wednesday that she opened in March 22.

“I kind of started looking around for a place that I could warehouse out of,” Willis said.

Retail is only a part of what the business owner does.

“I also had an interest in helping people decorate their home,” she said.

Willis specializes in the one-day makeover, where she and an assistant rearrange someone’s home to help them better utilize what they already have.

“I go in and pretty much empty out the room and redesign it with what already exists,” Willis said.

People buy things they see and like but after they put them in their house, they don’t always know how to get the result they wanted from it, she said.

“It’s really in how it’s all arranged,” Willis explained.

Willis also does consultations to help rather than fully rearrange a home.

“There’s nothing out in this area similar to this,” Willis said, explaining that those stores that do sell home decor items don’t help customers in thinking about how to arrange the items.

“It’s all just laid out on the shelf and you have to figure out how to put it together,” Willis said.

The store, open Tuesday through Saturday, has been a success so far, Willis said. Her consultations and one-day makeovers have been steady as well, she said.

“I’ve consistently had houses to do,” Willis said.