Kate: My first project was redoing a metal type writing table that I spray painted and then stenciled. I did this while in college and used it for a type writing table and a night stand. In the end I think I gave it to a room mate.

Kate: It's always been something that I enjoyed. I always enjoyed taking something kind of yucky and turning it into something beautiful and pretty to be able to just enjoy it.

Kate: My husband and I worked together to design an office the whole family can use at one time. Every detail was considered including the height of the windows to be desk height to be able to watch my children playing, two computer stations, and a last minute addition of another work area perfect for crafts. The desk stretches along three walls. Everything, including the twins' crafts, has a place. The fourth wall, without a desk on it, I painted with magnetic chalk board paint, which contains the girls spelling words, Christmas cards, and messages I need to remember about my different clients.

I even have photos of my daughter helping! They are future DIYers for sure! We teach our girls about shop safety, tool names, and simple projects.

The cabinets are made out of an oak base and the doors are made of maple. I stained and sealed everything (bases and doors) myself, adding the iron on veneer to the base cabinets. My husband and I put in the cabinets while my daughters were holding up the hammer. Then I put in Formica countertops over the desks because it cleans so easily and hides marks well.

Kate: This office is definitely up there, also our stair railing that I stripped and refinished in a week...in the middle of the winter! I learned that thinned out wood filler helps cover gaps containing paint and make it stain better. The previous owner had painted over a sealer which caused the paint to peel and we found out it's made of chestnut and part of a 130 year old house.

Kate: The first project in our current house was when we refinished a cabinet. It was a linen cabinet that was built in and had a million layers of paint on it. It was a couple effort but it was mostly me getting it stripped. Then I did a nice pickle stain and added the original copper fastener and found hinges.

We gutted our dining room, everything but the ceiling! We put in new floors, sheetrock, wallpaper (during this projects I learned about tinted sizing to prevent any tears from showing), stained molding (had molding cut to match the molding we already had in our house). I even went shopping for curtains and couldn't find it anywhere, so I had those made with a design that I did, one that would show off the molding instead of hide it.

We've redesigned our breakfast nook 3 times. We're probably going to destroy one more wall of it and then we'll finally be done.

I ended up redoing a desk that my father had started before he passed a way. I took it over, completely refinished it and then gave it to my sister as a wedding gift.

Kate: Bragging rights! I just love it. And getting what you want instead of settling for something other than what I want. If that's not enough, now I've gotten the respect from the lumber guys at the lumber yard down town. They treat me like one of the guys when I'm buying the wood but they still carry it to my car!

Kate: Think about not only today; think about future uses for this project. If your wall is open, think about what you'll want in the future. Wire for cable, sound and anything else you might need. Doing it now will save you so much time and money later.

Kate: It's affected my life that it started as a hobby and turned it into a business. I went from a job in the film industry to now having a career building cabinets from scratch. My business makes custom radiator cabinets. I do this while my kids are at school, making each one to order, routing all of the edges and doing all of the beading.

Not only has it affected me, it's been a very important part of my family's life. My husband and I, our thing is doing home improvement together, so each project is a joint effort. As for my girls, they know about shop safety and know they can anything. They even have their own little safely glasses and gloves.

Kate: The craftsmanship behind it makes me feel like I'm connecting with something that's been around for years past. It's a dying breed. I would rather see a really cool tea pot that I can use than a painting. To me it's artwork. Being able to take a piece of wood and turn it into something beautiful and functional is what I love.

Kate: Don't be afraid and ask questions. There are so many people out there. Go to the old hardware stores (not the big home improvement centers) and ask for advice. They are more than willing to give advice...just ask.