Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus and Melissa Moore.
Hi Marcus and Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We started out without any idea that we would eventually own an interior renovation business. Marcus was a video editor and producer for YouTube channels and Melissa was a nutritionist turned stay at home mom. But with a growing family and growing discontent with Marcus’ job we made the crazy decision to walk away in 2019 without an idea of where we were walking away to. Marcus has spent most of his life building and creating whenever possible whether it was woodworking or working in the film industry and had already been asked to build a custom fireplace for a friend. Melissa felt inspired and saw an opportunity, took some pictures of his work, and put an ad on the Facebook marketplace. And it’s just taken off from there. One would think that starting an interior custom renovation and design business right at the onset of a world pandemic would end in failure, but thankfully we’ve never been without a schedule full of work. That may be in part to our marketing…or lack thereof. Besides that first Facebook post, all of our amazing clients have come to us from word of mouth and clients referring their friends. Together we’ve created dozens of custom built-in fireplaces and mantles, cabinets and shelves, kitchen tables, built-in benches, faux ceiling beams, desks, a built-in basement playhouse, and feature walls. Those smaller jobs turned into renovating entire kitchens. Most recently we gained a business partner and renovated an entire 1970’s house into a beautifully updated home. Melissa works with each client to design their custom creation within their budget and together we try to take a design vision and recreate it. We are so excited about our next big project, which is our dream of building our own home from the ground up ourselves with the help of our 6 kids! And maybe one day, we’ll live our dream of renovating a chateau in France too.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been challenges that any start-up small business experiences. Perfecting your trade and figuring out the business side at the same time can feel overwhelming sometimes. There were plenty of times, especially when we first started, when we’d go for a consultation with a prospective client that we would just look at each other and say, “let’s walk in there and pretend we know what we’re doing”. But we’ve been blessed along even when we weren’t sure what we were doing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Carpentry is our specialty, but we work hard to create whatever you can dream up or find on Pinterest 🙂 While we’re probably known for our built-in fireplaces, we’ve taken on unique requests too – like a giant countertop made from epoxy. One of our favorite requests was for a cast concrete fireplace mantle. It took the whole family helping to pour it into the form and then transport it into place. We are really proud of how that mantle turned out. But, the more you put your heart into something you’re creating the more you love it and feel amazing when you’re done. The Walnut house, as we coined it, was the house we completely renovated and we are so proud of. It was so much more than cosmetic and we really stretched and grew and learned so much as that came together into something more beautiful than we anticipated.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We’re still learning as we go and grow in our business. We will continue sharing on our Instagram page moorebydesignutah and a follow and share is always appreciated. We’ll also be starting a YouTube channel as we begin the process of building our own dream home.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://moorebydesignutah.com
- Instagram: moorebydesignutah
- Facebook: moorebydesignutah
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFEOnu64yVnG1yDuZwFyrGw
Image Credits
Picture of Marcus and Melissa by Shanda Randy Photography
