The Eco Chic Story
2010 - Maria Bosak opens Eco Chic Boutique
Maria Bosak opened Eco Chic: A Green Boutique in the spring of 2010 with a desire to bring natural and eco-friendly baby, mom and home products to the community of Fargo.
While this concept was noble, it was obvious about a year into business, that what the community wanted was a place to find interesting and one of kind pieces of furniture. Often asked about her refurnished display pieces, Maria soon realized (with the help of her husband Tate) that the community was more interested in her furniture than they were in her assortment of cloth diapers.
A First for North Dakota
The story has been often told of how Maria would arrive home at night to tell Tate that sales were sluggish at the store, but another customer asked to purchase the display hutch holding the cloth diapers, to which Tate finally exclaims "Sell the Damn Hutch."
It was this revelation that led Maria to start searching for more and more furniture they could re-purpose & re-furbish to sell in the store.
Late nights spent spray painting furniture in their garage led them to find a healthier (and more beautiful) way to paint furniture. It was about this time that Maria stumbled upon a blog talking about Annie Sloan Chalk paint.
In 2013 Eco Chic Home became the first retail store in North Dakota to sell Chalk Paint. It was at this time that Maria realized that Eco Chic was quickly becoming a destination for furniture and decor.
JunkMarket is Born
With the addition of Chalk Paint and re-purposed furniture the store was finally starting to gain some traction but wasn't out of the woods yet. It was this year that Maria was introduced to "junking" and the large national vendor shows that host these local junkers and artisans. With a desire to find something to draw more attention to the store, Fargo Junk Market was born. A twice annual event that started in the parking lot of Eco Chic Home grew from an initial 33 vendors to an arena show featuring almost 200 vendors.
Fixer Upper in Fargo
Maria's LOVE of DIY introduced her to the famous TV show Fixer Upper. It was in October of 2014 when Maria met Joanna Gaines at an event in Waco and later invited her to come to Fargo to share her story. Chip and Joanna came to Fargo in April of 2015 and the Eco Chic Design conference was born. This wildly popular event went on to do two more shows produced by Maria and the Eco Chic team. 2016 introduced its audience to the Property Brothers and Clint Harp. 2017 brough Chip Wade and Ree Drummon (The Pionner Woman) .
Fostering the Family
It was the very day after the 2017 Design Conference that Maria & Tate welcomed their very first infant foster daughter into their home. It was this introduction into fostering that led Maria and Tate to adopting their three kids years later.
Due to this newly expanding passion for fostering children Maria & Tate decided too close a location in Bismarck, North Dakota they had opened in 2013 at the height of the Chalk paint Boom!
A New HOME
Eco Chic Boutique had outgrown its original location and in 2018 moved to a newly built location in south Fargo. The repurposed furniture did not come with. This was the introduction into a NEW world of new furniture, home decor and interior styling and home staging. It was then that the "Boutique" was dropped and Eco Chic Home was born.
A Family Affair
Two years after relocating Eco Chic Home, Maria & Tate welcomed three children into their home FOREVER! Maria became a first time mom, (to 3 Under the age of 3) at the young age of 46. This new adventure only fueled the fires for creating HOME.
Eco Chic home will undergo another change in the summer of 2025 that will once again prove to be a testament to Maria's devotion to her business and creating a store that is truly serving those who LOVE home as much as she does.
Stay Tuned for exciting changes in June of 2025.