photos by Shannon Richardson

Second Cycle

Designer repurposes bicycle parts, discarded materials into sustainable furniture and décor

more resources

Photos: Click here to view photos.

Related Stories:

From the Ground Up

In Her Own Right

True Grit

Share This:

Waste not, want not; one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – these proverbs are what come to mind after seeing Krystal O’Mara’s work.

Krystal has an eye for green design; when she spots a bicycle wasting away in a scrap yard, she conjures up a coffee table fashioned out of rims or a light made from spokes and hubs.

When she stumbles upon forgotten farm equipment corroding in an unused barn, she imagines wall art forged from plow discs or a stool constructed from a pitch fork.

When a tree dies and its wood is left to decompose, she reclaims it, allowing the tree to live on in the form of furniture or home décor. For the 30-year-old, self-described idealist, her message is clear and simple: The best things in life are free.

Krystal O’Mara’s personal library consists of a plethora of books advocating sustainable living and addressing environmental conservation. “The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Guide, “It’s Easy Being Green” and “Homesteading,” to name a few, reside on the bookshelf in her living room that showcases her simple, yet striking designs manufactured from upcycled (repurposed) materials.

“It’s so simple, all the little things you can do to live a little bit greener lifestyle,” says the owner of ReMain Eco Design. Raised on her family’s farm in Robertson, where her father and grandfather harvested cotton and peanuts, Krystal and her two younger siblings learned how to carry out home-improvement projects from laying tile and painting to refinishing furniture.

“I was lucky I grew up in a family that we always did stuff for ourselves,” she says. “The skills that are involved in building all of [my designs] just really come naturally to me. I’m not scared to try to learn to do something.”

When Krystal was in junior high, her grandfather passed away and the family moved to a ranch south of Canyon, continuing the country lifestyle they had always known. Growing up on the farm and being surrounded by beauty instilled in Krystal an appreciation for nature and fostered an ardent imagination.

After graduating from Canyon High School, Krystal attended Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M University, but she decided college didn’t suit her idealistic mindset, she says.

Leading a minimalist existence, Krystal and her proudest achievement, her son, Tommy, don’t own a television. For entertainment they go for a walk, ride bikes, take a road trip or sometimes watch documentaries on the computer. One of her greatest responsibilities, Krystal resonates, is to teach her 4-and-a-half-year-old to be a good steward of what God has bestowed upon us.

Krystal’s interest in sustainability was a gradual process, she says. She realized she had a propensity for design when she ran a rustic furniture store in Durango, Colorado nearly 10 years ago. About three years ago she picked up “The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook” by environmentalist David de Rothschild.

At that time Krystal was working as the director of sales for a hotel in Amarillo, but it wasn’t until February 2010 that she formed ReMain Eco Design. Six months prior, Krystal and Tommy moved back out to the family farm, which consists of a couple of farmhouses and a large barn, and made it inhabitable.

The designer admits her career change was sudden and unpractical. Some considered her brave; she just assumed she was crazy. Although she enjoyed the relationships she built through the hospitality business, Krystal says her heart did not beat for it, unlike her current career choice. The hotel industry was stressful and consuming, and she wished to spend more time with her son as well as focus on herself and her budding business.

“I’m an idealist so it was really hard for me to sell something that I wasn’t convicted about and then you start feeling like you’re working for a paycheck and that’s it,” Krystal frankly states. Krystal made a deal with herself when she began this new cycle, allowing herself one year to make a name for herself with her eco designs. With the instruction of her father and brother, Krystal bought a wire welder and over time was able to hone the craft; she has the scars to prove it and she couldn’t be more pleased with them.

“Of course doing that you make little mistakes but it’s all a process,” she explains. “I’ve gotten war wounds but at the same time I really enjoy it. I like getting dirty. It makes me feel accomplished and I feel like it’s also a contribution. It’s rewarding.”

While it was a difficult transition, Krystal didn’t mind living with less. It gave her a fresh perspective about the quality of life. For the first nine months it was a financial and emotional struggle, but Krystal had no qualms she and Tommy could live comfortably.

“It’s quality, not quantity,” she begins, green parlance in tow. “There’s not a lot that I want or need in my life besides my son. The best things in life are free and I believe in that concept a lot. That’s the reason I’m drawn toward designing with found objects because it’s sad to me to see something that’s deteriorating, that’s lost its original purpose. It’s satisfying to know that I’m creating something that would have gone unused. It’s a contribution.”

Trying to spend as little as possible, Krystal took on all the responsibilities of the business from building and selling her work to designing a logo and establishing connections through social media and a company website. She meticulously researched a fitting name for the business and decided on the word “remain,” which means “to continue in the same state; to be left after the removal, loss, destruction, etc., of all else,” as it states on the business’ homepage of remaindesigns.com.

“I’m not totally deconstructing anything to where it’s unrecognizable. You still get that presence of what its original use was, but it’s in the same sense, to remain, it’s still being used. It still has a function. It may not have the original function,” she pauses, her blue eyes effervescent as she contemplates her own definition of the word, “but it’s still there.”

Working in sales for most of her adult life, Krystal understood how wrenching it could be to sell a product bred from one’s own blood, sweat and tears. However, through the process, Krystal realized her potential and powered through. If her creative juices weren’t flowing in one area, she could direct her attention to another aspect of her business.

Krystal initially intended for ReMain Eco Design to revolve around upcycling and interior design, but a volunteer opportunity with the annual bike race benefiting cancer research, 24 Hours in the Canyon, paved the way for her bicycle concept. Looking to give back, she built a table made of bike rims emblazoned with the fundraiser’s logo for an auction.

“Once I started playing with the material, my creativity totally kicked into high gear,” Krystal says, no pun intended. “I’ve learned a lot about myself in all of this, what I’m capable of but also where my creativity can go. In my mind I constantly have this,” she stops to think. “I don’t even know how to describe it. I see possibility in almost anything that’s unused. It’s fun for me to walk through a barn or walk through a junk pile with no intention of picking anything up but just to see what the possibilities are, what can happen.”

With a bike and all of its parts at her disposal, the idea for the table quickly cultivated inspiration for more designs and Krystal found herself venturing into new territory: lighting. Treads, hubs, spokes, rims, you name it, she’s used it. In addition to a bike’s versatility, Krystal also loves what the bicycle represents and its association with reducing one’s carbon footprint.

Despite her hit design at 24 Hours in the Canyon, her business was not thriving and she was forced to hold part-time jobs, Krystal says. That first year, she became involved in the Lubbock Art Market, showing pieces at the Tornado Gallery and participated in Sunset Gallery’s First Friday Art Walk in November 2010. A month later, she finally pushed pieces she needed to, she says.

“I’m a firm believer now, after all of this, that when you follow your passion and are truly convicted about it you find that you’re grateful for everything that goes along with it,” she affirms, placing her chin in her palm. “It has certainly not been rainbows and butterflies, but I think that everything else falls into place… I don’t have a big bank account, but God, I’m happy.”

Krystal’s Etsy store brought more attention to her work, but it was an email from a San Francisco designer that was interested in commissioning her to construct lighting for an apartment complex that pushed the young designer to try harder. The project didn’t work out, but Krystal began to see her sales increase shortly thereafter. She built a chandelier from wheels and rims for a restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H. and sold a piece to a buyer in Park City, Utah. She’s found a local niche at shops such as Gray as Grey and Nest, with pieces on display at The Ground Café, and she’s reached markets in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Krystal says she has been lucky in the fact that whenever she seems to be beaten and worn down, a blessing comes her way, providing her with a sense of peace and justification for changing her way of life. In May, Entrepreneur Magazine contacted Krystal to inquire if she would be interested in being featured in the August issue and naturally, she accepted.

“I’m definitely one of those people, I get a good piece of news and I dance around my office,” she laughs. “I had to silent scream. I was just ecstatic because it was hard work paying off. It’s not easy, but stuff like that, that’s what it’s all about, those moments when you feel validated.”

Currently living in Amarillo, Krystal divides her time between here and the family farm. She stays busy bonding with her son all the while promoting a green lifestyle through her work. The possibility of her business taking a dive and reverting to less-than-prosperous times doesn’t worry Krystal; it drives her to succeed even more.

“Sometimes doing exactly what I did, taking that huge leap, it scares the hell out of you and you can’t possibly know what the future holds,” she maintains. “But if it all fell apart, I’d get back in the rat race... But for the time being, I’ll just keep chugging along and at the same time do what I can for other people in my life and pay it forward.”

To view more of Krystal's work, visit her business website remaindesigns.com and her Etsy store, ReMain Designs.

by Drew Belle Zerby

After graduating from LSU in 2009, Drew Belle worked as a page designer in north Louisiana until moving to Amarillo in late 2010. In her spare time, she loves to read, travel and watch movies.

blog comments powered by Disqus