THE SCRAP BINS, draft folders and backburners of the design world are filled with products that didn’t fit a given project. Karen Quiana and Leslie Linksman, co-owners of LQ Design in Beacon, had tacked up a pinboard and filled dozens of bags with photographs and tear sheets of eclectic art, accessories, furniture and other pieces they loved but hadn’t been able to use.

That frustration led them to create LQ SHOP, an online store launched last April that features products by small-scale (yet notable) local, national and international artisans they’ve stumbled across in their travels.

Linksman describes the company as “a hybrid between a design studio and a showroom, a marketplace and a gallery.” In the short-term, local artists and friends “that aren’t in the shows—someone that someone knows,” Quiana says, can gain visibility on a much larger scale. Work from local artists/artisans like Dakin Roy, Matt Kinney and Kim Markel are currently available on the website.

“We’re planning on opening a brick-and-mortar space in Beacon, which will be very much like a gallery,” Linksman explains. “We also want to help facilitate the local craftspeople we know and give them a place to show their work.” Down the road, the self-described globetrotters hope to bring in work by more international artists.

Quiana and Linksman are familiar with the “struggling artist” trope—both pursued art themselves before entering their respective landscape and interior design careers. “The reality is, most successful artists don’t represent their own work,” Linksman says. “They need someone to say, ‘You’re awesome, and I’m going to tell everyone how awesome you are because you deserve it.’”