Part 1
This summer, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tina Hamlin Beer, the owner of Coast Consignment and decor soulmate matchmaker. Coast has been a long-time cherished business on the North Shore, serving its customers and matching them with their decor soulmates for 21 years. Tina’s father, Richard Beer started the business under the name, Coast Canada in 2004 and distributed antiques from his homeland in England. They rebranded the business as Coast Consignment in 2008.
The secret to our success is ensuring that your experience here is top notch, even if you are coming in just to browse and you don’t have the budget to buy anything right now, you are always welcome
The company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, when did you become involved with the family business?
So, 2008 was a huge year of change for me. My father, who started the company, asked me if I could join the family company. At the time, I was working as a senior tax analyst for Bell Canada, and I was in my seventh year of my career doing that, specializing in telecommunications, tax on linear assets, fiber optic assets. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join the family company, because compensation wise, it wasn’t going to pay me what I was making.
I had recently got engaged to my longtime boyfriend, and we decided to move to Squamish, where he was policing, and we bought a house up there, and so I knew I also wanted some flexibility, to be able to come back and forth to the city if there were issues with the Sea to Sky Highway or weather.
I also knew that my dad really needed me at the company, and that my corporate background and my interest in these things would be an asset to the company, so I decided to take the plunge and join the company. It was fortuitous because my fiancé and I did get married a few months later in the summer, and unfortunately, a few weeks after we got married, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
That was my job from then on, and the rest was history as they say… It hasn’t been easy. Mayumi, no, it’s been tough.
My father passed away five months later on Christmas Eve, but when he was diagnosed in July, essentially that was his last day ever coming into the showroom, and from that day on I started running the company and becoming the appraiser and so following that, I received my certification as a Certified Personal Property Appraiser, and I took over the back end of the business and doing all the appraisals, working with my mom and my brother and our team.
Wow, I just got a chill. They say things happen for a reason. Was it after your career as a realtor that you acquired your certification in appraisal?
The certification I have is through the CPPAG, its the Canadian Personal Property Appraisal Group. I also do a lot of continuing education through the American Society of Appraisers. And I’m working at getting my American certification as well. That takes years of building up specific courses and credits, and I’m working on that.
At the same time that I got my certification, I also finished my Diploma in Public Administration through UVic, because when I was working as a tax analyst, I was doing an enormous amount of lobbying on behalf of the telecommunications industry, and so I thought that I would get involved more in lobbying and and provincial and federal politics. Many of the things that I learned from that diploma have been excellent for management of a small business and human resources management.
Can you explain the appraisal process for someone who does not know where to start?
Insurance, charity, sold for current market – auction, consignment. Depends on the scope, right? The appraisal processes depend on why you’re appraising an asset. Are you appraising it for insurance purposes? Or are you appraising it to be distributed amongst friends and family? Is it for taxation purposes?
For charitable contributions? Are you appraising it to be sold in the current market? And then how do you plan on selling it? Through auction, through consignment, yourself, in a home that’s already being sold with the furniture? So the appraisal process depends on many different factors, and a professional appraiser will ask you several questions to determine what kind of appraisal and the scope of the appraisal.
What would your advice be to someone on a budget who would like to brighten up their home and find their decor soulmates?
I feel that now more than ever, there are so many opportunities to purchase items for your home on a budget without having to buy new items. Thrifting, of course, is a really big one. Knowing what areas of your home you’re looking to brighten up will help you be able to nail down the kind of items you might want to be shopping for, but easy and inexpensive ways to brighten up your home are with pieces of artwork, originals, prints, a small sculpture, a vase with whatever in season, flowers or greenery may be around you. You don’t have to buy that from a florist. Those are things that you can pick up. Fresh flowers are always a budget friendly way to brighten up your home, always.
Now more than ever, there are so many opportunities to purchase items for your home on a budget without having to buy new items
My best advice on that is to stick to one kind of flower. When tulips are in season, just buy a bunch of tulips in one color. Cut the stems. You don’t need a lot of stem to come out of the vase. Keep them short, but those kinds of things will brighten up your home quickly.
Throw pillows, as well as throw blankets, are another way to brighten up your home, and you can buy those new or used. Look for high quality down filled if you’re not allergic to down and you’re not vegan, makes for a more comfortable but there’s lots of good down alternatives. Look for cotton fabric, silk fabric, embroidered wool or a combination of those.
Good advice. What are some essential pieces or must haves?
The first thing that I would look to get is to ensure that you have enough places to keep and store items that you want to see, so small side tables and a good cocktail coffee table are an excellent investment. I always say, if you can buy one that has either a shelf underneath or a drawer or a combination thereof, that will have a place for you to put playing cards or matches, lighters, you know, small pamphlets or things that you need to have around closely.
And then I think fabulous table lamps. I can’t express enough how important lighting is in your home. If you have pot lights or fluorescents in your ceilings, and you don’t have the budget to change those, using table lamps and floor lamps is a really budget friendly way to incorporate a sophisticated look.
I’m passionate about design, architecture, textiles, wall coverings, artwork
To set a beautiful ambiance, especially for entertaining or even just relaxing a meeting, having several choices of lighting in your home in terms of brightness or dimness is an awesome thing to start with in your home. And to ensure that you have those special places where you may want to sit in a comfy chair and read a book or browse your phone with great lighting and a place to rest your tea or coffee or a cocktail.
What is the best part of being in the consignment business?
The best part of being in the consignment business is the amazing things that I see. Almost every day, I see an item that I haven’t seen before. It’s amazing what people have collected over the years and what kinds of items end up from other parts of the world, and many of those pieces came in the 1800s and early 20th century. So those things must have quite a story of how they traveled here and what they’ve seen and what they’ve lived through.
I’m passionate about design, architecture, textiles, wall coverings, artwork and so for me, the best part of this business is being able to work with those kinds of items every single day.
What is the secret to Coast’s success?
The secret to our success is ensuring that your experience here is top notch, even if you are coming in just to browse and you don’t have the budget to buy anything right now, you are always welcome.
We hope that you can consider this a place that you can come to relax and get inspired and have ideas, even if you’re not buying. We love your energy. We love to have you in the store and we think our customer service is what sets us apart, because we do appreciate each and every one of our customers and our consignment clients. Without you, we wouldn’t be what we are today.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of How to find your Decor Soulmate with Tina Hamlin Beer coming soon!
If you would like to learn more about Coast Consignment, please visit their website, their listings and Instagram.
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