My Story
I grew up in Minnesota, but married a military man in 2020. In the time we have been together, we have lived in Minnesota, Mississippi, Arizona, Texas, and Virginia. Luckily we love to travel and explore!
Throughout most of this time, I worked as a High School math teacher. Teaching students and watching them grow was incredibly rewarding, but ultimately the prospect of frequent school changes as we are continuously relocated for the military prompted me to look for a different occupation. So in 2020 while we were temporarily living in my parents’ basement, I started thinking about new jobs.
While I was brainstorming, I also wanted to do something for my parents while they were so generously letting my husband and me live with them.
I grew up hearing my parents talk about renovation plans. I remember my brother was given a scooter for Christmas one year, and our dad told him he could ride it around on the wood floors because they would be getting new ones soon. 20 years later, they still had that same floor.
I know that my parents aren’t the only ones that put off renovations because of expense, lack of time or expense or just not knowing where to start. Tackling a project by yourself can be intimidating and time-consuming. So I thought, maybe I could help?
Suddenly, I found myself spending hours coming up with new designs, watching “how to” videos on YouTube, and bringing my ideas to life in my parents’ home.
However, I would frequently find myself stuck. My husband grew up in a home where building, designing, and creating projects was almost a daily occurrence. He’s one of the most creative people I know, and it’s something I’ve always admired about him. So he was always the first person I went to when I got stuck. “If it doesn’t work properly, you’re never going to use it no matter how good it looks”, he’d say.
However, being as stubborn as I am, I never took that as good enough. If I was going to put all that time into creating something, I wanted it to look beautiful, feel comfortable, AND serve its purpose. The best projects always strike a balance of form AND function.
With each project I finished, I took on another more challenging idea. I epoxied kitchen counters, replaced an entire front door, and re-tiled an entryway floor. When we moved out, I left my parents with an almost entirely new house. It was now organized in a way that worked for them day to day, and still felt like a beautiful, relaxing & enjoyable place to be.
The best part was, all of the updates I completed were affordable.
That’s why I decided to start Form & Function Renovation, to help families and homeowners begin to affordably tackle the projects in their home and turn it into a space they love.