If you’ve relocated to the Catskills, full or part time, and moved into one of the nifty, quirky older homes that fill these hills along the creeks and byways, you may find yourself dreaming of what it could be like with the right kind of TLC applied. But you don’t want it to lose its character in the process. You want updates that are really you, a home that lifts your heart when you wake up there in the morning or return after some time away—a place that’s both beautiful and easy to care for and live in. You need an Artisan’s Touch.
Isabel Salinas was toddling around holding tools for her dad as a small child in Argentina, where remodeling and building was the family trade. As she grew, he trusted her with more and more complicated tasks, and it wasn’t long before she realized that she’d inherited the knack for envisioning, then creating, great beauty. She could look at an old, dusty surface and see, in her mind’s eye, what it could become.
Bringing her talent to the United States, she set up shop in New Jersey and served clients in the metro area, combining her knack for furniture
restoration with an eye for interior design and a collaborative approach that keeps the client’s sense of beauty front and center. Salinas never forgets that you’re the
one who’s going to be living with the results, never lets trends or fads get in the way of taste and functional elegance, and finds creative ways to work within your budget to achieve gorgeous, lasting results. And now she’s established an Arkville outpost, taking over the former Catskill Kitchens and reinventing the business with flair and dedication.
“I have had my kitchen cabinets updated and painted by Artisan’s Touch and I was so happy with the job they did, I recently had them update my bathroom,” writes a client in a fivestar review. “Isabel has great ideas that I would have never thought of and the attention to details was exceptional. Can’t wait to start my next job with them! My home is slowly coming back to life!”
Find yourself something at a barn sale that’s got great bones but needs a lot of love to be beautiful again? Salinas won’t just fix it; she’ll restore it to the original creator’s vision and beyond. Her skills include upholstery and refinishing. Upholstery, she points out on the Artisan’s Touch website, comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a craftsperson who could make furniture comfortable and sturdy; over time, it came to include finish and beauty. Upholstery is hand-done craft that calls for getting it right, layer by layer, and that’s the approach Salinas will apply to every detail of your work, whether it’s a single antique piece or a whole home redesign or restoration job.
She could look at an old, dusty surface and see, in her mind’s eye, what it could become.
Find yourself something at a barn sale that’s got great bones but needs a lot of love to be beautiful again? Salinas won’t just fix it; she’ll restore it to the original creator’s vision and beyond.
Using a wide-ranging set of techniques and materials, from time-honored lacquers and varnishes to digital printing, she’ll re-create the surfaces of your space to make it feel brand new and fresh, yet so authentic you can practically feel the spirits of earlier inhabitants smiling and nodding in satisfaction. She knows how to find you just the right piece for the right spot, how to help choose wallpaper and install it flawlessly, and how to help you make decisions that complement the combination of your tastes and the beauty of your home to create a space where you can flourish. Her knowledge is encyclopedic, and she’s constantly learning, updating her skills as she goes along, and integrating the newest tactics with time-honored arts.
Interior design and re-creation is about being a great listener with expert hands, and combining those traits is her life’s work. Having surroundings that bring joy is, she believes, key to contentment, and combining functionality and beauty shouldn’t be something reserved for the wealthy. “It's not a luxury thing; it is a need,”
Having surroundings that bring joy is, she believes, key to contentment, and combining functionality and beauty shouldn’t be something reserved for the wealthy.
she says of fine design. “Everyone should have access to improve their living space, through creativity, reinvention, renovating... And what’s more rewarding than doing it in a green and sustainable way? Restoring, repurposing, and facelifting are all environmentally positive ways to showcase the uniqueness that is in you, and I would like to be the artistic hands that guide the experience."
So if you have a home, a room, or a single item of found furniture that you’d love to have reclaimed and “upcycled,” you need to pay a visit to the Arkville showroom and get to know Artisan’s Touch. Working with 3D renderings, Salinas will bring your vision to life. “There’s no end to the possibilities of what we can accomplish together—and absolutely no piece, no space, that doesn’t contain huge potential for a new look and a new life,” she says. “I look forward to getting to know you and applying my artist’s eye and skilled hands to bring you something that will delight and fulfill your need for gracious, invigorating surroundings.”
artisan's touch
44310 State Route 28, Arkville
845-586-6311
artisanstouchbyis.com
