New Owners Of New Lenox's Board And Brush Eager To Say Hello

NEW LENOX, IL — Stacie Volpe remembers sitting in a class at a Board and Brush studio that her friend owned and feeling jealous that a business in which so much creativity abounds didn’t belong to her. But at the time, there was no way she figured owning such a place could ever turn into reality.

Volpe, who grew up in Joliet, has always considered herself an artistic type with a flair for creativity. That made Board and Brush — a DIY-driven small business that allows customers to create wood-based home décor from start to finish — the perfect fit if she was ever to own small business with her husband, Tony.

In January, the couple took over ownership of the Board and Brush-New Lenox, located at 2401 E. Joliet Highway, and will hold an open house on Saturday. The event, which will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., will be kind of a getting to know New Lenox event for the Volpe’s, who admit that taking over ownership of the studio while the coronavirus pandemic was still in full effect.

Now, nearly seven months later, Stacie Volpe feels like the time has come to make the couple known in a community where they soon plan to be residents after recently closing on a new house. But getting to this point, she admits, wasn’t always easy.

“It was both great and terrifying,” Volpe told Patch on Tuesday. “Everybody kept saying, ‘why are you going to invest in a business now?’ We would just say that this seems to be the best time for us. Because of the circumstances, everyone was more willing to work with you and make it possible to do it for us.

“I would say it was scary and it was a chance, but we’re definitely glad we did it. … everything just worked out for us. It was a miracle.”

Volpe had been working at the location as a manager while also managing homeowner associations for a property management company before she and Tony — a reading intervention teacher in Oak Lawn — decided to sign on as the studio’s new owners. The fact the business was already established in New Lenox, where it opened in 2016, was certainly a plus, Stacie said.

Unlike other art studios, Board and Brush allows customers to take a piece of wood, sand it, stain it and then create a unique piece of art — all over the course of a three-hour class which run $68. Volpe’s favorite moment comes when customers see the finished product and realize that they had created something from scratch regardless of previous artistic ability.

She also loves seeing the unique color combinations that people come up with, which makes no two art projects the same.

Before taking over the studio in January, Volpe said that she and her husband went through a definite trial and error phase in which they had to learn all the facets of running their own business. Because the business is a franchise, there are certain parameters in place, but there is also a certain amount of freedom that comes in owning the small business.

While working together, Stacie and Tony also leaned on friends that also own a Board and Brush franchise and worked with the studio’s previous owners to find their way. But when the couple walked into their new business for the first time, the feeling was almost unexplainable, Stacie said.

“It was surreal,” she said. “It took us a while to get comfortable making changes and at first, it kind of felt like somebody else’s place.”

Saturday’s open house will offer customers the chance to work on mini projects which will give them a taste of what a full class is like. Each table will include a different step of the creative process from using power tools to sanding and distressing the wood to staining and then painting. The event will also offer the sale of finished home décor items as the couple officially introduces themselves to what will soon be their full-time home.

Gift bags will be given to the first 50 people inside the studio and each gift bag includes a $10 coupon. While the business has been opened for five years in New Lenox under a previously corporately owned set-up, Volpe says that six months of being the owner seems to be the perfect time to introduce herself to the community.

“We just want people to know that when they’re buying from Board and Brush, they’re supporting a family,” Volpe said. “We want them to see us and know us.”