Don’t know what to do with that tacky tablecloth you received as a wedding present?

How about your grandfather’s driftwood lamp, stashed in the back of a closet?

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Lake Highlands resident Barbara Jones has an answer for those extra knick-knacks. She recently started a business, Barbara Jones Interiors, Etc., and will redecorate a home or room, turning those worn-out, embarrassing items into eye-pleasing attractions.

“They say: ‘I’m so embarrassed, it’s so tacky,’” Jones says about many of her customers. “Well, it doesn’t have to be. It’s gratifying to know you’re doing what you love and people appreciate it. I want to use other people’s treasures with my talent.”

Jones charges $50 for the first two hours and $20 for each hour after that. She says the average house costs about $100 to redecorate, or as she says, to re-fluff.

“It doesn’t cost a lot of money,” Jones says. “Decorating is changing. I used to think you’ve got to have a lot of money for a decorator to start from scratch.”

But Jones operates on the premise that you don’t have to start over to attain a new look. She attacks a job by taking everything off the shelves and walls in a room and putting it all in the middle of the floor. She asks clients to show her where they keep their linens and knick-knacks.

She then starts all over, placing things in new places that make them more appealing and complement each other. Some clients have her decorate their house for every season or holiday or for parties.

“I’m very aware of my surroundings,” Jones says. “I like to be around beauty, whatever that beauty is.”

For information about Barbara Jones Interiors, Etc., call 341-9944.

News & Notes

QUICK BUSINESS FIX: In addition to buying a drink and a candy bar, you can send a fax or cash your pay check at some neighborhood 7-Elevens. The 7-Eleven at 2944 Buckner at Peavy has a Business Service Center.

Customers can cash checks, purchase American Express money orders, send a money transfer, receive notary public services, file tax returns electronically, send a fax or mail a package.

Service center hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

NEW POSITION: Rick Bentley has joined Texas Community Bank, 1824 Abrams Parkway, as a senior vice president. Bentley was formerly with Swiss Avenue Bank.

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP AWARDED GRANT: Clark & Associates, a neighborhood consulting group that serves local, state and national non-profit agencies, was recently awarded a grant from the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities. The grant will fund a project to record the stories of friendships in seven Texas communities between people with disabilities and people in mainstream community life. Lake Highlands residents Sharon Clark, Roy Underwood, Dave Edmonson and Sue Freshwater will work on the project.