A recent piece by Grace Elletson Elletson, 23, grew up in Cape Cod in Massachusetts and attended Ithaca College in New York. She said she inherited her interior design sensibilities and frugality from her mom. She was just so good at making spaces look beautiful when we had no money, Elletson said. I bring that to refurbishing, because I take furniture that is on its last leg. People are throwing it out. Transforming a large piece of furniture, such as a desk or a dresser, from junkyard-bound to Insta-ready requires some 20 hours of work. Elletson sands and primes every part of the wood, hand-paints, sprays a topcoat, and often replaces the hardware. Some pieces need more repairs, if a drawer is falling apart or a leg is wobbly.