Over the month of March we have been featuring various women in skilled trade professions and craft or artisan fields. For our last feature, we are highlighting the female DIY’ers who have taken over social media and the hashtag #WomenWhoBuild for showing off their impressive projects. However, it’s not what these women can do that makes them inspiring, it’s that they are teaching other women that they can do it too.
Let’s meet our female DIY’ers!
Female DIY’ers
Katie Scott | Camille Kurtz | Michelle McRae | Tay Nakamoto | Chelsea Smith | Stephanie Bloom | Shayna Alnwick | Emily Rayna | Christina Muscari
Katie Scott, Female DIY’er & Furniture Flipper
Styling your home is an exciting experience, but furniture prices can make it feel unattainable. However, DIY’ers like Katie Scott find a solution in upcycled furniture.
Katie Scott is a furniture flipper based in New Brunswick, Canada. She takes worn thrifted or discarded furniture, treats the issues, and then gives it a second life with a one-of-a-kind design. She also documents the entire process and shares it with her followers online so they can learn how to do it too.
You can follow Katie Scott on most social media platforms. You can also shop from her Amazon storefront, SALVAGED by k. Scott. There you can find all of her favorite products, including products grouped together according to project.
Where to Follow
Camille Kurtz, Female DIY’er & Interior Decorator
We all dream of moving into the perfect house. But between the sticker shock, bidding wars, and low inventory, most of us just settle for what we can get. However, DIY’er Camille Kurtz believes you can transform any house into the perfect home.
Camille Kurtz likes to say it’s her vs her builder grade home and has been documenting her home renovation room-by-room. Her personal style includes bold colors and a mix of modern and classic elements that result in a high-end look while sticking to a budget. And she shares all these budget-friendly hacks in her step-by-step tutorials.
Where to Follow
- Social Media: Amazon Storefront, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.
Michelle McRae, DIY’er & Furniture Flipper
Furniture flipping, DIY home decor, and construction hacks are just a few of the things you’ll learn from Michelle McRae, and with a giant smile on her face the whole time too!
What sets Michelle “Shelly” McRae apart from other female DIY’ers on our list is that she actually has an Etsy store where she sells furniture flips nationwide. A lot of people who sell handcrafted products don’t believe they can so openly share the “how” of their process. However, understanding the work behind each product can help people better understand the work that goes into each piece.
McRae is most active on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Where to Follow
- Social Media: Etsy, Amazon Storefront, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.
Tay Nakamoto, Female DIY’er & Interior Designer
Tay Nakamoto is known for her bright, bold, and whimsical interior designs and renter-friendly DIY’s. She often teams up with fellow interior designer and vintage reseller, Dani Klaric. The two have already traveled the world designing together. In fact, last year the pair headed “down under” and remodeled a client’s Australian apartment.
Nakamoto fell into interior design as a form of art therapy after a series of hospitalizations. Klaric’s love for color stems from growing up in Mexico. Together the pair creates bold maximalist designs that I believe Gen X and Gen Z will be known for.
Where to Follow
- Tay Nakamoto Social Media: TikTok, Instagram.
- Dani & Tay Podcast: Accidental Experts podcast.
Chelsea Smith, Female DIY’er & Historical Interior Designer
Many of us have taken design inspiration from our favorite movies and TV shows. But is your favorite TV show a historical fantasy set in the 1700’s to early 1900’s Scotland, and did you redesign your whole home to look like it’s from that time period too?
Most of us aren’t so brazen, but none of us are female DIY’er Chelsea Smith.
Chelsea Smith’s favorite show is Outlander and she has been taking followers through the room-by-room Outlander-inspired transformation of her historical Massachusetts home built in 1759.
While many furniture flippers are starting wars over whether or not you should paint vintage wood furniture, Smith is preserving and celebrating these vintage pieces – scratches and all! In fact, Smith and her husband take measures to preserve a historically accurate appearance that hides modern upgrades. Some of these are simple creative hacks, like framing a TV, while others techniques are more technical. Such as creating housing to hide modern appliances and electrical.
In a world full of minimalist modern design, it is refreshing to see someone go so boldly in the opposite direction.
Have you ever taken design inspiration from your favorite TV show? If so, tell us about it in the comments!
Where to Follow
- Social Media: Amazon Storefront, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.
Stephanie Bloom, Female DIY’er & Wallpaper Designer
We all want our homes to look like a million bucks, but most of us don’t have the million bucks to spend, or are limited by rental contracts. This next female DIY’er shows her followers how to achieve a high-end look on any budget in any living situation.
Stephanie Bloom loves to share budget and renter-friendly renovation tutorials and products. This includes testing out peel-and-stick tile in high-wear areas of the home so you don’t waste your money on cheap products. She also shares how simple products like wallpaper and contact paper can help you add a pop of personality to a space. She even partnered with WallBlush and created her own custom line of wallpaper.
In addition to her DIY and design tips, Bloom loves to keep it real with her followers. She often makes videos with her no make-up, her glasses on, and her hair thrown-up in a messy bun. She shares her projects in real time and stresses that she is just a normal mom figuring out too!
Bloom is most active on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Her wallpaper line is available through WallBlush.
Where to Follow
- Shop Wallpaper Line: WallBlush – The Stephanie Bloom Line.
- Social Media: Amazon Storefront, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.
Shayna Alnwick, Female DIY’er & Furniture Flipper
Furniture flipping is great, but it can be so technical, and not all of us have an eye for quality vintage pieces worth the flip. This next female DIY’er instead shows how to transform common furniture pieces from IKEA or budget pieces from Target and give them the high-end look of your dreams.
Shayna Alnwick has all the same gadgets as our other female DIY’ers. She will even refinish that vintage find from Goodwill. But she is more likely to show you how to elevate that IKEA dresser you bought five years ago, or turn pallets into an herb garden. She also does smaller decor how-to’s, such as “how to build a balloon arch”, or “make your own festive candles”.
Overall, Alnwick’s approach showcases that anyone and everyone is capable of design.
Where to Follow
Emily Rayna, Female DIY’er & Interior Designer
If you like simple, clean, modern design then go away. This designer, who uses bright colors, groovy shapes and elements, and lots of out-of-the-box designs is not for you.
Emily Rayna was a design student working five jobs and set to graduate when the pandemic hit and derailed her career and graduation plans. This was a low point for her, but she decided to get creative and offered to renovate her parents’ home for as little money as possible. They let her, and she documented the process on TikTok, which showed off her unique designs and DIY skills. As a result, Rayna shot to stardom nearly overnight.
Since then, she’s been able to keep decorating, building, and inspiring others to take on their own bold designs. She also created her own line of peel-and-stick wallpaper, which is available through RoomMates.
Where to Follow
- Shop Wallpaper Line: RoomMates Emily Rayna Peel And Stick Wallpaper
- Social Media: Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat.
Christina Muscari, Female DIY’er & Furniture Flipper
I’ll admit, at this point in the list I was wondering, “do we really need another female DIY’er?” and called it quits. But then I found Christina Muscari and her unique refinishing work that had to be shared.
The majority of the furniture flippers on this list teach you how to create a modern and high-end look typically through refinishing, painting, and interesting items you can add for detailing. Christina Muscari also shares these tricks of the trade but takes it a step further with truly unique detail and mural work. While many teach you how to use existing products like dowels to add dimension, Muscari teaches you how to make your own 3D decals. Also, as the business owner of Pretty Distressed, it makes sense that the majority of her flips don’t strive for a clean modern finish. Instead, she shows followers how to paint wash and other techniques that give even new pieces a vintage, rustic, and even ethereal look.
Muscari is busy! Lucky for you that means you can find her work and tips and tricks on her website, social media, or podcast “The Cypress Room”.
Where to Follow
- Website: PrettyDistressed.com
- Storefronts: Amazon, Walmart.
- Social Media: Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.
- Podcast: The Cypress Room
More Female DIY’ers You Should Know
Did we miss anyone who inspires you? Leave their name, website, or social media info in the comments and we will consider them for future posts.
Check out our previous female skilled trade pros and artisans you should know:
