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Moving to Sydney from NYC, Kristen was energised by the natural splendour of Australia. This inspired her to start Cooper James Home and create gorgeous decorative home accents and ornaments from re-purposed oyster shells (harvested off the Australian coast).
It all started when she went to toss some oyster shells in the bin after a party she hosted. She noticed the shape of each shell looked like a mini sculpture; much too beautiful to throw away. And knew she wanted to design something with them that added to their beauty. Some decoupage and paint did just that.
Selecting and creating the designs for the shells is one of the best parts of the process for Kristen. But with countless options to decide from it also makes it one of the most difficult. To decide, she simply ‘goes with her gut.’ And because she knows her client base, and loves the eclectic style, she has a nice mix of classic and modern designs.
The decorate shells add a wonderful touch to any space–place them in a bowl, on top of stacked books, or scatter them to create an amazing tablescape. The hanging shells can be hung anywhere–a cabinet knob, windowsill, bottle, door handle, and, yes, a Christmas tree!
And, about the name…well, her son Cooper helped with it. He also has decorated heaps of Elsa, unicorn, and rainbow shells. So if you spot one or two in her collection, you’ll know who snuck it in.
