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Amy Geib, left, and Ursula Mendoza-Carrasquillo sit in Geib's favorite space an her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Amy Geib removed a wall to create her favorite space at her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Wall mount kitchen cabinets set on the floor were used to create storage space in Amy Geib's home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Amy Geib removed a wall to create her favorite space an her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Amy Geib, left, and Ursula Mendoza-Carrasquillo sit in Geib's favorite space an her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Amy Geib removed a wall to create her favorite space at her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Wall mount kitchen cabinets set on the floor were used to create storage space in Amy Geib's home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
Amy Geib removed a wall to create her favorite space an her home in Lancaster on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
In this occasional series, we ask experts who design or improve our living spaces about a favorite room in their own home and how it all came together.
Amy Geib was working as an X-ray technician nearly a decade ago when she attended a blogging conference and discovered an outlet for her love of do-it-yourself projects.
She started the blog Always Never Done as a hobby to share the joys of thrifting and breathing new life into used furniture. But soon, that hobby became something more when Geib’s blog and her DIY transformations started attracting attention from the likes of HGTV, Home Depot and the lifestyle website PopSugar.
“I was at the pivotal moment that I was enjoying this way too much,” Geib recalls.
And so the theme of her blog became a theme for her life, too. In 2015, Geib transformed Always Never Done from an online hobby into a brick-and-mortar store, and she transformed herself into a business owner.
Three years ago, she outgrew her tiny, 1,300-square-foot shop in Salunga and purchased a new space at 3090 Harrisburg Pike, Landisville. Last year she brought on two partners, Lisa Hofman and Michelle Zachery. More recently, she added lead designer Ursula Mendoza-Carrasquillo to the team.
Today, Always Never Done offers a curated collection of one-of-a-kind pieces and home decor repurposed by Geib and other local artisans. Geib can find hidden treasures that are ripe for transformation pretty much anywhere, including the trash.
“We literally pick up stuff off the side of the road and just repurpose it again,” Geib says.
The team also does accent walls, kitchen cabinet painting and custom painting, and offers design services that include everything from color consultations to room refreshes to complete makeovers. For those who share her desire to DIY, Geib and others host workshops on topics like chalk painting and creating seasonal planters.
Always Never Done also has a cafe/coffee shop and a market featuring locally sourced goods.
“We’re trying to make it that place you come and want to stay,” Geib says.
The East Hempfield Township home Geib shares with her husband and 13-year-old son is in many ways an extension of Always Never Done. Filled with repurposed pieces, it’s an ever-changing palette for Geib’s DIY artistry and, most of all, a place that invites people to come and stay.
She’s a fan of durable, real wood surfaces, whether it’s a kitchen island or a dining table, and she’s not concerned about a scuff or scratch here and there. She wants people to feel comfortable sitting anywhere and putting up their feet, she says.
Not surprisingly, the home has gone through some transformations of its own since the Geibs moved in about 12 years ago — namely on the main floor, which once was divided into a separate living room, dining room and small kitchen.
Geib still laughs recalling the day her husband came home to find her — and their son — knocking down the walls. The impromptu construction work left them with a somewhat nontraditional open-concept floor plan along with the challenges that come with it.
With the addition of a sunken family room off the kitchen, the living room at the front of the home became a dining area — its centerpiece a table with enough extensions to seat a family gathering of 20, Geib says. Knocking down the walls also allowed them to extend the kitchen island with a wood top they discovered at a local building material supplier.
In addition to the island seating, Geib added a round high-top table, another repurposed piece she created by placing a natural wood top on the base of a table purchased on Wayfair. The matching black chairs were a Facebook Marketplace find.
“I’m a penny-pincher,” Geib says. “I love a good deal.”
When all was said and done, the Geibs were still left with an open space between the dining area and kitchen that didn’t really have a function.
With a little handiwork from her husband and some design advice from Mendoza-Carrasquillo, Geib transformed that space without a purpose into what is now her favorite space — a comfy seating area for two, perfect for reading, watching the cook prepare dinner or sharing a glass of wine with a friend.
Despite the open concept, the seating area is a space all its own thanks to a few key design elements, including an accent wall made from white-painted weathered hardwood boards, an area rug, and a floor-level row of storage cabinets (originally upper kitchen cabinets) painted white with a wood shelf on top.
“There are more wine glasses in there than any person should ever need,” Geib says.
Two swivel barrel chairs with nail-head trim and a small round accent table invite people to relax and stay awhile. The table is another of Geib’s creations — a base and top that weren’t originally meant to go together. The chairs were an Overstock find.
Mendoza-Carrasquillo helped Geib add the finishing touches, including a large, abstract landscape on the shelf and floral arrangements designed to add color and texture to the room.
“Ursula came in and zhooshed all of it,” Geib says. “I fall-ified it,” Mendoza-Carrasquillo clarifies.
That includes accent pillows and a cozy ginger-hued throw to make those chairs even more inviting.
“My husband said, ‘Why do you want to put chairs there? That’s so dumb,’ ” Geib recalls. “Now he sits there all the time.”
With a new project always on Geib’s radar, he might not want to get too comfortable.
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This open-concept kitchen used to hold multiple small closets and bathrooms.
• Shop used: Some of Geib’s favorite places to find treasures are Goodwill, thrift stores, the Lancaster Habitat for Humanity ReStore, estate sales, auctions and furniture outlets - and of course, the side of the road.
• Look online: With supply limitations and delays, online sourcing has come in handy, says Mendoza-Carrasquillo, noting the Overstock chairs in Geib’s favorite space. “They have elevated their options incredibly,” she says. “They make knock-offs of name-brand looks … There’s something for every budget. ... You don’t always have the budget that you can go after your first find.”
• Make easy changes: Not every room redo has to involve something major like painting a wall, changing flooring, or finding new or repurposed furniture. “A really easy way to change the look for a low budget is throws and pillows,” Mendoza-Carrasquillo says.
• Loosen up: “Be more playful with yourself,” Mendoza Carrasquillo says. “Choose one thing and start there to go outside your box.”
• Think in threes: If you want to try a new color, add it in groups of three. In Geib’s new sitting space, Mendoza-Carrasquillo introduced fall vibes with a shade of ginger in two different arrangements on the storage cabinet and in the throw on the chair.
• Be open to repurposing possibilities: A piece of furniture doesn’t have to have a single use, Geib says. A console table could also become a desk or a bar or a sofa table.
• Plan your open space: Open floor plans are great for gathering, but they can also be a challenge. Mendoza-Carrasquillo suggests thinking about how you want to use the space, then creating zones for each of those needs. Be sure to allow room to flow between the areas.
• Don’t line it up: There’s a temptation to line furniture along the walls to make a space appear bigger, but that is not always effective. You can float furniture in a room and ground it with an area rug.
• Play with patterns and wood tones: Don’t be afraid to mix florals, stripes and plaids as long as the size of the pattern is not the same. Varying wood tones can also play well together, so don’t assume everything has to match.
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