Pinterest is a great way to kill some time and look for a project or two to attempt, but for Casey Hrncirik, a search led to a whole new business unlike anything else in Wichita Falls. That business is Board & Brush Creative Studio, and Casey and her husband Bryce, are riding the wave of progress and innovation towards success.
Board & Brush Creative studio is a business in Century Plaza where workshops are held to create personalized home décor items. As the name suggests, they are created on boards and are custom wood signs for every need. Everything is provided for the client, and there over 200 designs to choose from.
“I have a lot of crafts at home and I was on Pinterest looking for a project to do,” Casey said, “I wanted to do a board, and that is how I came across Board & Brush. I saw their monogram signs, and I started looking into it. It just kind of went from there.”
Board & Brush Creative Studio is a franchise started by Julie Selby. What started out as a “Girl’s Night Out” with wine and crafts in her basement turned into a business idea. There are now over 240 studios nationwide. Casey and Bryce saw the business sense of opening one in Wichita Falls, and it is paying off. The company provides custom graphics with the latest trends. In order to take the workshop, clients sign up online and choose their stencils ahead of time.
When they arrive at the studio, their choice is laid out before them. They are taught how to age the wood with meat mallets and screws hammered into the wood. Hammers are also used to give the wood a weathered look. Each person chooses a stain color and a paint color for their own creation. There are over 70 colors of paint. The supplies even include gloves for staining and ear plugs used while “aging” or distressing the wood.
“One of our Facebook slogans is, ‘You want to distress when you de-stress,’” Casey said with a smile. Taking out your aggression on a piece of wood, really cuts down on the stress factor. “That is part of the fun of our workshops. People look at us like, ‘We are really allowed to do this?’ and we say, ‘Yes.’ With the music and the hammering, it can get pretty wild, but it is so much fun.”
“Everyone that comes in gets to do a different design, so. it is whatever fits your needs at the time. We can also do personalization like your last name or important dates. So, it is something that hits close to home for you and is something that you want to put in your home or give as a present,” she explained.
The studio has several hand-built wooden tables, in fact, all the furniture is hand-built by Bryce with the exception of the stools. “It looks like a workshop with nothing girly about it, although we do have a lot of women that like to come,” Casey said. The great thing about it is that you don’t have to go to the art supply store or to the building supply store. All the items needed are at the studio, and, of course the mess stays there too.
“The signs have an authentic and interesting look to them,” she shared, “We want it to look antique and have a farmhouse look.” The walls of the business are covered in signs of every sort. Everywhere you look around in the studio, you see something different. “There are so many different options I feel like when people leave, they automatically go get online and pick what they want to do next time,” Casey said with a smile, “The company comes out with new designs every month, like this month was home designs. There are always fresh ideas. It keeps the flow going and gives everybody new options.”
And business is booming. Workshops fill up fast and are scheduled Friday and Saturday in the evenings except on every other Saturday during the day. Casey said that it is easy and fun, but that you will work, and each workshop last from two to three hours. “It is a great time to hang out with your friends and have some ‘me’ time. Whenever you get done with your project, you will be so proud. I remember when I did my first project, I just kept walking by it in the house and looking at it—I made it. It looks like something you could buy, but you made it,” she said.
Casey has a staff of 11 people that help teach the classes. Board & Brush has private parties during the week. At the workshops and parties, the adults use large boards and have the option of making a board or a clock. It takes 10 clients to “have a party,” and they also have private event mini boards for team building and for large groups. There is even a 16X24 board for children or it can be cut into three pieces for three times the fun.
And Casey and Bryce are really going through some wood. Their first wood order was supposed to last 3 months, but it didn’t, and they had to reorder. “But now we are going more local and getting our wood in town. We are building the frames ourselves now and doing a lot of the work, but it helps with costs. When you own a business, every penny counts.
Bryce has building trades experience and Casey describes him as “awesome.” He not only built the furniture but renovated their home and back porch. Casey said that he is more creative than she is; however, Casey has had 2 years at an interior design school in Dallas, so they are both well suited to the business.
While they love their location in Century Plaza, Casey said that they originally wanted to open in the downtown area. “Either the buildings were renovated and too expensive or they needed too much work; but we do see ourselves there in the future,” she said. In the meantime, their current location’s space and rent was “perfect.”
“I would love everyone to come in,” Casey said, “I know everyone’s lives are so busy, but the board you take home will have so much meaning.”
– Cindy Kahler Thomas
