Our Story

THIS IS US. Brian and Sherry, husband and wife team. Two creatives at heart. One an entrepreneur. The other an artist. And now we have a business together. Selling handmade products. Such a predictably simple storyline, right? But our journey to today has been anything but predictably simple. We’ve lived what seems a lifetime together. It all started in Pompano Beach, Fl. Brian managing a demanding produce business. Sherry a SAHM. Four children in six years. Lost that business. Called to ministry. Entered seminary in KY with four teenage kids in tow. Several failed job interviews later, we landed in Pittsburgh, PA. As the pastor of a small church. Meanwhile, hit hard by the 2008 crash. Struggling to make ends meet. Left the ministry. Experienced lots of turmoil in our workplaces. Decided to open an Etsy shop!

 We love our story and wouldn’t change a thing. Failure and challenges have only made us stronger. Our journey gave clarity to what’s really important. Loving others and treating everyone with respect is probably highest on our core values list.

 Where did woodworking enter? Brian’s granddaddy owned a lumber mill in Miami, FL. Sherry was a tole painter on wood back in the day. We both have a huge passion for creativity. And excellence. And quality. It’s taken us 6 years to perfect every aspect of our shelf-making. Design. Wood selection. Sanding. Painting. Finishing. Packing. The standing joke has been that it takes almost as long to make the custom box each shelf is shipped in, as the shelf itself!. And we’re still looking for how we can improve every part of the process.

 We’ll never forget waking up one Saturday morning and finding our Floating Shelf featured on the front page of Etsy’s email ad! One of the first Etsy shops to sell Floating Shelves. That was 6 years ago. Today they are our best sellers. Today we have lots of competition. We are one of the only shops on Etsy, however, that paints floating shelves. Most are stained. We now know why. We’ve spent literally years perfecting our painting and finishing process. Our customers attest over and over again that the finish on our shelves is stellar. We love to stain shelves as well.

 This business allowed us to move close to three out of four of our adult children. YAY! (cause that includes 5 of our grandchildren!) We started in Pittsburgh in our garage. Now we have a 2000+ square feet wood shop. We started with just the two of us working around the clock. Now we have 7 employees. We are back in KY near the seminary Brian attended 20 years ago. We employ many seminary students. We remember how difficult it was to make ends meet, and work, and study, and have a family. So, we’re giving back by allowing them the freedom to fit their work schedule into their class and study schedule. We honestly have the best employees we could ever ask for! On behalf of The Shelf Shop team: Thank you for your support! Sincerely, Brian and Sherry