You might recognize the brand with just a glance: a bright pink serving tray here, a Tiffany-blue bud vase there. Minnetonka resident Julia Moss started her small business out of her home in 2014 when her son told her that her process of PowderColorizing, which applies a bright coat of color to silver pieces, can be applied to any metal, in any color. “That was like music to my ears,” Moss explains. “I started running around my house and collecting different silver pieces and my grandmother’s silver tray, which I no longer wanted to polish, and it kind of went from there.”
Moss grew up going to antique shows with her parents and eventually went on to study design at the University of Minnesota. In 2015, after she hosted a successful Julia Moss Designs pop-up shop, demand for her colorful catchalls took off. “People are so happy to keep the pieces in their family and to know they’re being used,” says Moss. “I know my grandmother would be thrilled that her tray has been redone and that it’s [on display]. We bring those memories back to life.”
There are two different ways to participate in Julia Moss Designs: The first is to head to her Uptown Minneapolis brick-and-mortar location, or go online to browse pieces that have been repurposed and designed by Moss herself. The other is via the Next Generation of Silver program: Bring in your own metal piece for Moss to design and colorize with a fresh look.
Moss says that one of her favorite parts of her business is hearing the stories behind the pieces that people bring in to her shop “I feel somewhat like a confessional sometimes,” she says. And though the PowderColorizing process is permanent, Moss says that most customers are excited to put a pop of color in their homes and to reinvent their family treasures.
