Who is Shelly?
"First, I am a mom to 4 amazing kids and a nanna to 6 grand-kiddos. In the late 80's I decided to step out on faith, left my steady job, and started hanging wallpaper and some small painting jobs. I soon had to hire a couple of people to help keep up with all the demand. I was extremely blessed to have worked with some of the top designers in the area that were constantly giving my name out to their best clients.
When the demand for wallpapering dried up I was able to make a great connection with a local company that provided us with insurance work. They were having a hard time finding reliable people to complete projects for anxious homeowners on time. I was also able to get work from a couple of builders for new construction projects.
In 2008 things started to slow down a bit. Money for everyone was getting tight and people were working off their insurance deductibles by completing their own painting projects. New home construction stopped.
It was about this time that I told a friend of mine that I was looking for a dresser for my youngest son. She found one sitting by the side of the road, packed it up in her truck, and dropped it off in our garage. It needed a bit of help but had good solid bones. I painted it black and painted the hardware silver and it looked amazing. Well, amazing for a brush and roller finish. In the end, I decided it was just too tall for the spot I wanted it for so, I put it up for sale on Craigslist. Would you believe I had 8 people fighting over it? That's when I had what I like to call a "God moment." A little voice said I think there's a market here. That's when Shelly's Dressers was born.
I had family members and friends who became great sources for free and very cheap ugly, outdated but solid furniture. I purchased my first sprayer with the profits from several of my early pieces. Moved out of the garage into a storage building. We then outgrew that spot and found another one twice the size. Outgrew that spot and moved into one 4 times that size. (with a bathroom and running water, yay!)
I had several people comment that they loved the incredible finish that spraying produced and ask about spraying their old outdated kitchens. At first, I was hesitant because I did not want to sand, prime & spray inside someone's home. It can make a huge mess. We finally figured out we could take down the doors & drawers and refinish those at my shop and found a way to complete the housing right on sight with the same product but without the mess and inconvenience of having an unusable kitchen for days.
People loved it. We were soon getting referrals and more business than I could handle. People kept asking me why I have a business name of Shelly's Dressers when I do so many kitchens . . . that's when Shelly's Kitchens & Designs was born.
In December of 2018, we decided we wanted to provide the absolute best kitchen cabinet finish possible for our clients while protecting our employees health, so we did something unheard of in the painting business. We stepped out on faith and made a very sizeable investment into a fully enclosed, state of the art spray-booth. (There are automotive body shops that would be envious of this set-up) It completely eliminated all of the dust, bugs, pollen and fuzzies from embedding themselves into the finish. Plus, it has all the filters and air scrubbers needed to protect our employees and the environment! The baked on finish it provides is absolutely stunning!
Fast forward to today, I am blessed to have an amazing crew working with me to help keep up with all the demands. Well, try to keep up anyways. We are completing between 4-7 kitchens per week and we are still booked 3-6 weeks out.
Please be patient with us, we promise you will love the results, it will be worth the wait!"
Founder & CEO of Shelly's Kitchens & Designs
Shelly Kuipers
When the demand for wallpapering dried up I was able to make a great connection with a local company that provided us with insurance work. They were having a hard time finding reliable people to complete projects for anxious homeowners on time. I was also able to get work from a couple of builders for new construction projects.
In 2008 things started to slow down a bit. Money for everyone was getting tight and people were working off their insurance deductibles by completing their own painting projects. New home construction stopped.
It was about this time that I told a friend of mine that I was looking for a dresser for my youngest son. She found one sitting by the side of the road, packed it up in her truck, and dropped it off in our garage. It needed a bit of help but had good solid bones. I painted it black and painted the hardware silver and it looked amazing. Well, amazing for a brush and roller finish. In the end, I decided it was just too tall for the spot I wanted it for so, I put it up for sale on Craigslist. Would you believe I had 8 people fighting over it? That's when I had what I like to call a "God moment." A little voice said I think there's a market here. That's when Shelly's Dressers was born.
I had family members and friends who became great sources for free and very cheap ugly, outdated but solid furniture. I purchased my first sprayer with the profits from several of my early pieces. Moved out of the garage into a storage building. We then outgrew that spot and found another one twice the size. Outgrew that spot and moved into one 4 times that size. (with a bathroom and running water, yay!)
I had several people comment that they loved the incredible finish that spraying produced and ask about spraying their old outdated kitchens. At first, I was hesitant because I did not want to sand, prime & spray inside someone's home. It can make a huge mess. We finally figured out we could take down the doors & drawers and refinish those at my shop and found a way to complete the housing right on sight with the same product but without the mess and inconvenience of having an unusable kitchen for days.
People loved it. We were soon getting referrals and more business than I could handle. People kept asking me why I have a business name of Shelly's Dressers when I do so many kitchens . . . that's when Shelly's Kitchens & Designs was born.
In December of 2018, we decided we wanted to provide the absolute best kitchen cabinet finish possible for our clients while protecting our employees health, so we did something unheard of in the painting business. We stepped out on faith and made a very sizeable investment into a fully enclosed, state of the art spray-booth. (There are automotive body shops that would be envious of this set-up) It completely eliminated all of the dust, bugs, pollen and fuzzies from embedding themselves into the finish. Plus, it has all the filters and air scrubbers needed to protect our employees and the environment! The baked on finish it provides is absolutely stunning!
Fast forward to today, I am blessed to have an amazing crew working with me to help keep up with all the demands. Well, try to keep up anyways. We are completing between 4-7 kitchens per week and we are still booked 3-6 weeks out.
Please be patient with us, we promise you will love the results, it will be worth the wait!"
Founder & CEO of Shelly's Kitchens & Designs
Shelly Kuipers
Pictured above is the beautiful family of Shelly's daughter Amanda and son-in-law Jason. At the beginning of 2022, Shelly began the journey of transferring ownership of the company to these two in the next coming years. Their investment however goes beyond financial. The two both work full-time for SK&D. Amanda has been our main spray-booth technician since the beginning, and Jason recently joined our management staff, as supervisor of our field technicians.
Proudly Servicing West Michigan. Providing the best kitchen cabinet refinishing, kitchen cabinet painting
and kitchen remodeling in the area!
and kitchen remodeling in the area!