It’s a rainy Wednesday morning, and as I stand in the dining area of Black Dog Coffee, I realize that I have no idea what my coffee date companion actually looks like outside of Instagram. As I start to grab my phone to do some social media research, a woman walks through the door wearing a MOM t-shirt, and I know that this is Meggan Smith, better known as MRS Pallet Décor. Because as she gets closer, I see that MOM actually stands for “Maker Of Many Things.” Highly appropriate, as Meggan is a multitalented mixed media artist, and she does indeed make many beautiful things.
Although she grew up being creative and always doodling her ideas, her business is relatively new, starting only three years ago. Outside of being a Maker “MOM,” Meggan is the mom to three young girls. After her second, she found herself in the position of stay at home mom; a role she never planned to play, but necessary and now loved. One weekend, Meggan and her husband set out to redo their patio, which of course required power tools and pallets of materials. As the mind of a creative often wanders, Meggan looked at those pallets as opportunity. She innocently asked her husband if she could keep them, and that was the start of MRS Pallet Décor.
Over the past three years, Meggan (in conjunction with her handy husband) has taught herself how to work with power tools and pallets. Shortly into her creative journey, Meggan had the idea to add in elements of metal to her creations. By happenstance, her husband had access to a plasma cutter, so the metal additions were born. And the art continued to evolve into what Kansas Citians are familiar with today—the beautiful mix of wood and metal, and often backlighting to illuminate the work.
Most people would be surprised to learn that the same creator of immaculate Kansas City skylines that adorn the walls of many KC residents, the maker of stunning Chiefs stadium signs that hang on players’ walls, the artist that has custom built signage for local and non-local businesses actually started with a sign that simply said “Poop.” When Meggan started her business, a neighbor asked for her to make this custom sign for their bathroom, and wanting the practice and experience, she was game. For those of us that follow MRS Pallet Décor on Instagram, we are not surprised, as Meggan is the meme queen, frequently sharing her favorite funny finds and displaying her hilarious and incredibly relatable sense of humor. (Sorry friends, she’s not spilling her meme-finding secrets.) Her work has continued to evolve since those early days, and she recently completed her first curved piece, as a custom order for a Kansas Citian’s home bar.
Meggan is incredibly engaging and is transparent about her desire to grow and explore the additional possibilities of her art. Right now, she is creating after her girls are in bed, but she does involve them in the creative process as much as possible. They can often be found sitting on the floor of her studio, painting scraps of wood or making their own creations. Her husband is still very much involved in the process, still helping with the metal cutting and interpreting Meggan’s sketches and ideas.
Most of the business for MRS comes through word of mouth and through Instagram and Facebook DM. However, you can purchase her work locally at RE, Hyper, and Ugly Glass. Meggan is very humble, and says that she struggles with the word “artist.” However, I assure her that is certainly her description, and any of us who have seen, admired, and purchased her art would agree.