You may know
LINDA LOVE
b did you know... BY MANDY HAYNES • PHOTO BY SHERRY CARTER
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ou might know Linda Love as the lady who brings the bling with her Amelia Island business, Bling Staging and Redesign, but did you know that Linda Love had plans to be a flight attendant? At 17, she was all set to start her career with Delta Airlines, but the universe had other plans. At a car show, Linda met a handsome young man named Nat. It was love at first sight, and her dreams of flying with Delta never took flight. Instead, she and Nat set off on a new adventure that included snorkeling, scuba diving, and saltwater fishing. Did you know that Linda is an avid outdoorswoman? She started hunting at the age of ten, but she was a city girl and hunting was limited. After she and Nat were married, they bought some land and had acres and acres in which to spend time enjoying nature. Eight years after they married, they started a family, but that didn’t slow Linda down. She was still climbing tree stands eight months into her pregnancy. At three years old, her daughter would go with Linda and sit in the deer stand, taking in the beautiful scenery with her mama. A coloring book and crayons kept her from getting bored. On one of their trips in the woods, Linda and her daughter had a visitor. A little fawn decided to lie down at the base of the tree. When they climbed down, the fawn followed them home. It was free to come and go, but the deer loved to come inside and snuggle up with Linda’s daughter in her beanbag. One day, Linda got a call from her daughter’s teacher, who claimed she was making up stories about her imaginary friend. Linda and Daisy May hopped in the car and showed up for show-and-tell at her daughter’s school. Linda says hunting isn’t about “the hunt” as much as it is about being outside and seeing all the beauty. She says she’s 51 AMELIA ISLANDER MAGAZINE •
never felt closer to God than when she’s out in nature. “Do you think I ever shot anything with Daisy May hanging around?” she laughs. “The answer is no.” Linda started a women’s hunting group and was very active in the Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, and Elk Foundation. When their daughter moved to Colorado for college, Linda and Nat followed. Did you know that she and her daughter owned a store in Pagosa Springs called The Hideout? Linda was an interior designer, and the store was full of items she’d use in her work. Did you know that Linda worked with contractors on remodels and new construction to make sure her clients vision stayed true through the whole process? Just listening to some of the homes she’s designed is a story in itself. Linda has a natural gift for it. Whether it’s a huge project or a small one, she knows just what her clients want – sometimes before they do. After eighteen years in Colorado, now a widow, Linda decided it was time for a change. She followed her daughter and granddaughter to Palm Beach and planned to retire. But Palm Beach was a little too “busy” for Linda. She bought a new house that was a blank canvas in Fernandina Beach and, in making it her own, she realized how much she missed doing that for other people. Did you know that instead of retiring, Linda took a course in Staging with Transformations in Jacksonville, got certified, and started a new business? Bling Staging and Redesign, where the motto is “We Bring The Bling,” suits her to a tee. You’d never guess by looking at Linda, a small, blonde lady with her blinged manicure (including sparkling rhinestones that match the shine in her eyes) that she’s killed (and cleaned) a 400-pound elk and a 275-pound bear! But you know by that sparkle in her eyes she has some stories to tell! JUNE 2022
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