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Welcome Home is located at 71 Quartermaster Circle. The store is closed Sundays and Mondays. Check facebook.com/welcomehomeforto for special holiday hours, or call 706-820-6685 to learn more.
Silas Campbell, left, and Jai Cooper co-own Welcome Home, now open in Fort Oglethorpe. "I had lived in this area years before," said Cooper. "I liked the really old buildings. I remembered seeing it [the Quartermaster Building] growing up. When we checked it out, I fell in love with it. I thought it would be a good fit."
Fort Oglethorpe's Welcome Home store is decking the halls for the holidays.It may be Jai Cooper and Silas Campbell's first Christmas, but they're going all out. The business partners own Welcome Home in Fort Oglethorpe, and the decor - and spirit of the holiday - embodies the atmosphere they want to create in their new home decor store.
"This is something we've been working on for about a year," said Cooper, while taking a seat at the dining room table in the store. "This building is beautiful and has a welcoming feel. [The store is] set up like a familiar and comforting area. I like to take it and make it as homey as possible.
"Not everyone has the same tastes, but everyone likes to be around comfort and be at home."
Amid the hand-painted furniture and unique accent pieces are decorative wreaths, Christmas trees and whimsical grapevine garland. Glitter dusts across the room.
Like the repurposed pieces that make up the type of inventory patrons can expect to find year-round, the holiday touches were all done by hand.
"We've done 42 to 45 Christmas trees and wreaths combined between our store and commercial and residential accounts this year," said Cooper. "I create all the wreaths and garlands. I make pine cone jazz ornaments and repurpose bed springs into bells and other ornaments."
Cooper started out as a visual director for Goody's, and Campbell started his career as a home merchant for Rich's, which was later bought by Macy's. Since June, they have been doing what they enjoy, but doing it for themselves.
The business partners said they love antique stores and retail shops and wanted a similar concept, while also making merchandise affordable. The pair have a combined 39 years experience in retail.
"One reason I want to do more home decor instead of just antiques is I've always viewed my home as a safe haven from the craziness outside," Cooper added.
They plan to begin hosting furniture painting classes at the beginning of the year. Wreath making classes might be offered as well.
"The thing I like about us having our own shop is we get to give it that personal touch," said Cooper. "We really have a great relationship with clients. Someone can bring in a piece and we completely transform it. We had someone with prisms in their chandelier and we created a new lighting fixture out of it. It still works and holds the same sentiments."
Campbell said the store is definitely a passion for them both.
"We are a little more minimal at our personal homes than here," he said with a laugh.