Meet your local furniture fairy
Hi, I’m Jenny! I do furniture makeovers from my garage workshop in San Diego, California. From curb-find rescues to client commissions, I believe good furniture deserves a second chance.
How it started
In late 2022, I was laid off from my corporate tech job and couldn't find a new one, even with almost two decades in the industry. Six months before that, my dad passed away. He was the one I learned my hard-work-say-yes-to-everything ethic from, but on his deathbed, he told me, "I wish I wouldn't have worked so much." When the layoff hit months later, it all clicked and I had to rethink my identity and work ethic to keep his final words alive.
And, during this time, I was grieving, had hundreds of job rejections so I felt unwanted, rejected, and honestly pretty depressed. I saw a junky table in my friend's basement and felt how it looked. While I always loved watching shows like Flea Market Flip, I actually had no idea how to use power tools or even know there are different kinds of wood stain. So to learn, I binged a lot of YouTube videos, asked a lot of questions to innocent Home Depot employees, learned from a bunch of mistakes and somewhere along the way, while I was cleaning, sanding, repairing, painting, and restoring these pieces, I started feeling a little restored too. Sounds cheesy, but it's so true!
How it's going
I started San Diego Furniture Flipper in January 2023. Almost three years later, I’ve worked on close to 100 pieces from my garage workshop. Today, I restore secondhand furniture alongside a corporate 9-to-5.
I take on select custom makeovers, rescue pieces when I can, and help people find furniture with potential through my wish list. I also share the process on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, including the messy middle, the before-and-afters, and yes, sometimes the songs. Music has always been part of how I process things, so it makes sense that it found its way into the furniture too. Because I do this alongside a full-time job, my projects take 6-10 weeks to complete. I usually work on furniture one weekend day a week, which means I move slower than a full-time shop, but every piece gets real care and attention.
I was also recently featured on the San Diego CBS8 Earth8 Report with Neda Iranpour! This business is growing, and so am I. For now, I’m building it one project, one Sunday, and one second chance at a time.
Want to work together?
Whether you have a piece that needs a makeover, you’re looking for something specific, or you have an idea for a collaboration, I’d love to hear from you.