In December 2022, a winter storm dropped temperatures to 7° in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, home of Kingwood Church of Christ. The church’s sprinkler system pipes froze, raining water into the church, including the main offices where Melanie Gardner manages the day-to-day operations.
“We could not have services here,” says Gardner of the decision to cancel Christmas Day mass, one of the most heavily attended services of the year. “Yeah, that was difficult.”
The offices were rendered unusable by damage caused to desks, file cabinets, and other furniture. A make-shift solution was quickly devised.
“We have a conference room in the back of the church. Our two desks we were previously using were in there,” explains Melanie. “Then our ministers all shared the large conference table that was back there.”
This was not the ideal situation for work that requires privacy and contemplation.
Expert Support from Quill Furniture Specialists
Knowing the situation needed to be more conducive for her and her colleagues to do their best work, Melanie’s thoughts turned to replacing furniture. She reached out to Quill furniture specialist Jody Stella, but she only knew there was money for new cabinets.
“At first, it was really, ‘I know that we will need cabinets.’ So I wanted to see what you have available for them. [Jody] sent a brochure through email and screenshot of the type of cabinets in uppers and lowers stand-up styles,” says Melanie.
When Melanie learned they would receive more insurance money than anticipated, the project scope shifted. Instead of just replacing damaged cabinets, she now saw an opportunity to transform her office space into something better.
“[In the old space], the cabinets were one color, desks were different colors, just things that over the years had kind of accumulated. So maybe this is a way to make it look a little more modern, put-together, and matching.”
Melanie and Jody started discussing more than cabinets, including new desks for her and her colleagues. After Melanie researched online, she sent Jody ideas she had for furniture. Jody then came back on pricing and delivery solutions.
“She made herself available at any time,” explains Melanie. “I knew that I could email her or call her, and I did whenever I needed to. And she always responded right away. She was very easy to work with.”
Fast Turnaround and White Glove Setup
Being displaced from their offices was hard on Melanie and her colleagues, so a quick turnaround was crucial once the furniture was chosen. “We wanted to get back into our space,” says Melanie.
Knowing that influenced which furniture Melanie decided to purchase. Jody advised her that an alternative option would take over a month to be delivered. The Bush series would only take about 10 days.
“We knew we wanted to get things in quickly without sacrificing quality,” Melanie explained of her decision to go with the Bush series.
Once new desks, storage cabinets, and file cabinets were selected, Melanie faced a new challenge: delivery and setup of the new furniture.
“We thought, “Are we going to need to get an army of guys in here and put everything together, or what would it cost to pay for, you know, delivery, installation, white glove treatment, everything?” she says of her initial thoughts on delivery and setup.
But after working with Jody, Melanie discovered that setup would be neither arduous nor cost-prohibitive.
“It really wasn’t that bad,” she says. “They did a great job putting it together.”
An Office She Loves
What started as a Christmas Eve crisis ultimately turned into a new office that Melanie and her colleagues love.
“The old space was more pieced together instead of designed where it all went together. Now all of it is the same color, it has the same look to it,” notes Melanie. “We have matching desks, we’ve got matching storage, we’ve got filing cabinets up here we didn’t have before. So it just has a cleaner look. And the way it’s set up now makes the space look bigger.”
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