If you know who Chip and Joanna are, then you need to know who Jen and Carlene are. Our community’s very own celebrity refinishers, the ladies of The Coo Coo’s Nest in Mt. Airy have grown an incredible following simply from word-of-mouth referrals from customers who are thunderstruck by the results of their home transformations.
I had heard about The Coo Coo’s Nest - and all they could do with specialty painting projects - from a neighbor who hired them to radically transform her boring kitchen into the gorgeous heart of their home. So when I finally got sick and tired of living with an ugly staircase banister that didn’t at all match the rest of my house, I knew who to call.
As soon as you walk in my front door, you’re greeted by a towering staircase in a two-story foyer. The previous owners installed gorgeous wide plank Brazilian hardwood floors, but left the eyesore of that builder-grade yellow oak banister. As soon as Jen arrived to give me an estimate, she understood what I was looking for in a remodel. She told me about all the options, and we settled on white spindles and bottom boards with dark stain on the handrails to match the floors. I knew it would be an improvement, but I had no idea at the time how much skill and artistry it would take on their part to make it look perfect.
Their process included cleaning, sanding, a coat of primer, base coat, stain, second coat, and a shiny top coat. During each part of the process, Jen and Carlene were meticulous about drips, brush strokes, blending, and clean lines. If I’d undertaken to do this project myself, which I considered in a moment of temporary insanity, I would have not only made a huge mess, but also left drip marks on the spindles and come nowhere near to the crisp clean contrast between white paint and dark stain accomplished by The Coo Coo’s Nest. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn’t want to stand atop a twelve foot ladder trying to paint intricate wood-tooled details, the way they did!
All told, Jen and Carlene came to my house for about 4 hours a day over 8 total days. I normally feel uncomfortable having anyone working in my house while I’m there, but Jen and Carlene were so down to earth I actually enjoyed visiting with them each morning and grew to feel completely at ease. Not only that, I felt incredibly grateful for the artistry they brought to my project and the many hours they dedicated to it – more than I expected it would take, but obviously time well spent to achieve an incredible result.
My giant staircase banister is still the first thing you see when you enter my house, but now it’s also the first thing people comment on. The Coo Coo’s Nest took something that was kind of ‘blah’ and dated looking and transformed it into something that looks impressive and modern.
Jen and Carlene are enormously skilled, and were a pleasure to work with from start to finish! If you have a kitchen that needs updated cabinets, a fireplace surround that needs a facelift, a banister that needs to get with the times, or any other specialty painting project, I’d urge you to get in touch with The Coo Coo’s Nest right away – their schedule is already booking into Spring 2019!
The Coo Coo’s Nest (Facebook page)
301-785-4309
jenmaloni@yahoo.com
