Life With Ferris: Mosaic Is Your One-Stop For All Your Hosting Needs

The buzz around Mosaic when it opened was astounding! The phrases “Have you been? You gotta go!” were repeated in different neighborhoods all over Hamilton County.

Creating a life well-lived at home is the shop’s motto, and owner Yancey Kenna Martin has created a one-stop shop for hosting and connecting with friends and family around their own table. And, making that particular table and everything on it unique and memorable.

Yancey moved to Chattanooga in 2019, and before that she lived in four different cities over the past decade. No stranger to finding her own place and claiming a spot as her own, she has a secret to making a place her home. As a newcomer, she knew that making friends wasn’t going to happen overnight, and she also knew she couldn’t just sit at home and expect to be invited to places as a newcomer.

Married to Jack Martin, Yancy knew just want to do.

“My husband and I started doing something I love, hosting dinner parties. The really good ones tend to turn into dance parties and some of my favorite fuzzy but fun evenings. There’s simply no better way to get to know someone than around a table in the comfort of home,” Yancey explained. But as an interior designer, she wasn’t content not to make these gatherings really, really special.

“To prepare for these parties, I found myself driving all over town (sometimes even to Atlanta) to get all the pieces I wanted. I love good lines, hand-blown glass, and painted ceramics to set the scene. As my husband can attest, I’m much better at reheating than cooking, so when planning the menus, I was always looking for premade items that taste homemade. That’s when the idea for Mosaic Home & Market came to life,” Yancey explained.

Yancey started her own design firm about six years ago, Mosaic Interiors, formerly YanceyK Designs. She uses a lot of color, pattern and texture in her designs and gravitates toward handmade, hand-blown and hand-painted - essentially anything crafted by an artisan. Yancey was having a hard time finding accessories for her clients’ homes locally, so sourcing for the home portion of Mosaic was also important.

“I am able to feature some artisans I’ve been working with for years. It’s an honor to be able to showcase their talents and tell their stories to our customers,” Yancey says of her new shop. Yancey is known for sourcing pieces that are unique, something your next-door neighbors won’t also have on their table.

Truly an instant success, opening and operating Mosaic is not without its challenges.

“Have you ever put 3,500 barcode stickers on in one sitting? Ha!” Yancey quips, adding that she has so much more respect for retail owners after [opening a retail shop.] “It’s hard! There are so many moving parts going on in the background to get a store like this off the ground, but I’m eternally grateful to my left-brain friends who stepped in and helped shepherd me.”

Mosaic is her first retail shop, and so much of what’s happened during and since opening is new, but one thing stands out to her as rare and totally unexpected.

“I was just shocked at the community’s welcoming response. Both customers and businesses alike. Opening day, we were full of so many friendly and new faces. The owners of Bud Floral & Home and The GoodKinsmen have been so gracious. Hopefully, with our powers combined, we can become one of Chattanooga’s coolest shopping destinations, Yancey says, not just of her shop, Mosaic, but of her neighbors’ shops, as well.

Mosaic offers a one-stop shop for all your hosting needs, from food to salad tongs to the perfect napkins and beyond. All to encourage people to reconnect around a table. Yancey has the perfect pick-up casserole for you and everything for a magical table. Ask her for a playlist for the dancing. I bet she’s glad to share.

Mosaic is located at 516 Cherokee Blvd. on the Northshore.

* * *

Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a free pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.