About us!
We thought we would share a little bit about who we are and what lead us to making this website.
It's crazy how in our younger years my sister and I fought like crazy over clothes, candy, you name it! There was hair pulling on more than one occasion. :) Now we are best friends and I am so glad I have a sister!
I am Neleh, the blonde one. (and yes, the older sister by 21 months although I like to think I look younger than her) I live in Utah and am happily married to the most wonderful man Kris.
We were married in July of 2003 and have 3 beautiful children, 2 boys and a girl.
My passion for painting came when we moved to Texas into a dated house. We loved the bones of the house, the area, the neighborhood, the yard but the house inside was covered in wood panelling. Bright gold fixtures and a very outdated kitchen.
I am Neleh, the blonde one. (and yes, the older sister by 21 months although I like to think I look younger than her) I live in Utah and am happily married to the most wonderful man Kris.
We were married in July of 2003 and have 3 beautiful children, 2 boys and a girl.
My passion for painting came when we moved to Texas into a dated house. We loved the bones of the house, the area, the neighborhood, the yard but the house inside was covered in wood panelling. Bright gold fixtures and a very outdated kitchen.
So the journey began to update on a DIY budget. I got crown molding, a saw, a meiter box and went to work! I hand cut crown molding to fit and resurface all the cupboard doors. I then glued and nailed them on, repainted them all white and added new hardware. I couldn't believe the difference!
I am trying to find a better picture but you can see part of the cupboards here. I painted the side wall panelling the same as the dining room.
Loved the old chadeliers in the house! I wish I would have taken them with me in the move. But seriously, this wood panelling was everywhere! My husband was not thrilled about the insides but we loved everything else. I told him to trust me that we would make the insides something we would love.
Painted the panelling in the diningroom and loved how much brighter the area looked!
The panelling in the family room however had to come out. We felt like we lived in a wooden box. Thanks to my wonderful husband and Dad it was out and sheet rocked in a jiff! What a difference it made!
Not the best picture I could find but you get the idea.
The living room wallpaper was removed and walls painted.
The wallpaper was removed from the entryway and painted to flow with the living room (this picture was taken before the family room remodel).
Those are a few of the major changes we did. We also got a few cans of Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze spray and updated all of the gold light fixtures, towel racks, toilet paper holders, knobs, door handles, fireplace cover etc. All you have to do is take a 220 grit sand paper to rough them up a bit then wipe them and spray them. Such a cheap and easy way to update without spending a fortune on new fixtures!
We lived in this home for 2 years. Once the house was the way we loved it, we moved back to Utah for a job. (isn't that always the way it works? As soon as your house is done, you move? It has been for us anyway...)
I took my passion for this change to furniture! Same type of concept and sooo much fun! My sister McKenna called me and sent me a picture of a dresser she redid. I love it and we were hooked from that point on. We have experimented and tried many different methods for refinishing and restoring furniture and that is why we made this website. To pass our knowledge on to you and show you how you can make changes in your home and refresh your furniture rather than thinking you need new everything! It is so much fun! Don't be afraid to try. I think you will be shocked that you have the same talent.
I was in Texas at the time and McKenna was in Virgina, now we are both back in Utah and having a blast being together and refinishing furniture. Hope you enjoy our blog and website. We will keep updating often! Feel free to ask any questions! - Neleh
We lived in this home for 2 years. Once the house was the way we loved it, we moved back to Utah for a job. (isn't that always the way it works? As soon as your house is done, you move? It has been for us anyway...)
I took my passion for this change to furniture! Same type of concept and sooo much fun! My sister McKenna called me and sent me a picture of a dresser she redid. I love it and we were hooked from that point on. We have experimented and tried many different methods for refinishing and restoring furniture and that is why we made this website. To pass our knowledge on to you and show you how you can make changes in your home and refresh your furniture rather than thinking you need new everything! It is so much fun! Don't be afraid to try. I think you will be shocked that you have the same talent.
I was in Texas at the time and McKenna was in Virgina, now we are both back in Utah and having a blast being together and refinishing furniture. Hope you enjoy our blog and website. We will keep updating often! Feel free to ask any questions! - Neleh
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I'm McKenna (the younger one with dark hair) I have 4 children, 3 girls and one boy.
I got married to my high school sweetheart Ryan in 2000. We moved to Virginia from Utah to attend dental school in 2008.
I got married to my high school sweetheart Ryan in 2000. We moved to Virginia from Utah to attend dental school in 2008.
The home that we purchased was built in 1986 and was very outdated. We made a
lot of improvements to the home while we were there. In 2010 I knew that soon
we would need to put our house up for sale. I started to get nervous. The
housing market was not the best and my furniture and decorations never really
went with the house. I would need to stage the house to make it as cute as
possible without spending much money.
I decided to start with my dining room. My table and chairs were oak and looked
awful with our wood floors. I began to read up on how to paint a table and
chairs. I figured I couldn't make it any worse so I went for it. I couldn't
believe how different it looked, It totally changed the whole look of the room!
I was hooked and started painting everything, even my gold hardware and light
fixtures! As my confidence grew I decided to take on my countertops in the
kitchen. You can read about that HERE.
lot of improvements to the home while we were there. In 2010 I knew that soon
we would need to put our house up for sale. I started to get nervous. The
housing market was not the best and my furniture and decorations never really
went with the house. I would need to stage the house to make it as cute as
possible without spending much money.
I decided to start with my dining room. My table and chairs were oak and looked
awful with our wood floors. I began to read up on how to paint a table and
chairs. I figured I couldn't make it any worse so I went for it. I couldn't
believe how different it looked, It totally changed the whole look of the room!
I was hooked and started painting everything, even my gold hardware and light
fixtures! As my confidence grew I decided to take on my countertops in the
kitchen. You can read about that HERE.
I had always wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets from day one but was too
scared. We had a leak in our dishwasher and didn't realize until it had caused a
lot of damage. The insurance company replaced the floor in the kitchen and had
to take our cabinets out to replace the floor. In the process of taking out the
cabinets they broke my countertop! After they replaced my countertop and floors
my cabinets looked really bad. I knew the time had come to paint them.
I took on this project and loved the results! You can read about this HERE.
scared. We had a leak in our dishwasher and didn't realize until it had caused a
lot of damage. The insurance company replaced the floor in the kitchen and had
to take our cabinets out to replace the floor. In the process of taking out the
cabinets they broke my countertop! After they replaced my countertop and floors
my cabinets looked really bad. I knew the time had come to paint them.
I took on this project and loved the results! You can read about this HERE.
I had always wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets from day one but was too
scared. We had a leak in our dishwasher and didn't realize until it had caused a
lot of damage. The insurance company replaced the floor in the kitchen and had
to take our cabinets out to replace the floor. In the process of taking out the
cabinets they broke my countertop! After they replaced my countertop and floors
my cabinets looked really bad. I knew the time had come to paint them.
I took on this project and loved the results! You can read about this HERE.
scared. We had a leak in our dishwasher and didn't realize until it had caused a
lot of damage. The insurance company replaced the floor in the kitchen and had
to take our cabinets out to replace the floor. In the process of taking out the
cabinets they broke my countertop! After they replaced my countertop and floors
my cabinets looked really bad. I knew the time had come to paint them.
I took on this project and loved the results! You can read about this HERE.
My house was looking really nice at this point except for one last BIG thing....the awful stairs. It was too pricey to replace the carpet because we would have to replace the whole upstairs too. I decided to take a peek under the carpet and see what was under there. I was so excited that it had bull nosed stair treads underneath!
I called my husband at school and said,"hey so.... would you care if I ripped the carpet off the stairs to redo them?" He said yes (by now he had total faith in me) and by the time he got home that night I had it all ripped up, sanded and was in the process of staining them.
You can read about this HERE.
I called my husband at school and said,"hey so.... would you care if I ripped the carpet off the stairs to redo them?" He said yes (by now he had total faith in me) and by the time he got home that night I had it all ripped up, sanded and was in the process of staining them.
You can read about this HERE.
I had so much fun I decided to refinish pieces of furniture I found on craigslist, and sell them to help make ends meet while we were in school.
Through trying to make the most of what I had, I found a talent I never knew about.
I absolutely love doing this and wanted to help others achieve this too.
Now we are back home in Utah! I love doing this with my big sister who also shares this same talent and loves it just as much as me. We are so lucky that throughout our life our parents taught us hard work and gave us the confidence in ourselves that we can do anything!
-McKenna
