Meet the Canterbury Family
We’re the family behind Canterbury Creative.
Canterbury Creative is a small, family-run business built around creativity, practical experience, and a whole lot of real life. What started as a creative outlet has grown into a place where furniture painters, makers, DIYers, and small-business creatives can find beautiful products, useful guidance, and the kind of help that comes from actually doing the work.
More than a craft-supply store
We carry the products we love for furniture refinishing, decorative painting, mixed media, and creative projects—things like Redesign with Prima transfers, decoupage papers, stamps, moulds, Wise Owl, Dixie Belle, Fusion Mineral Paint, tools, finishes, and all the little things that make a project come together.
But Canterbury Creative is not just about selling supplies. We want you to know what to use, why to use it, and how to make it work for your project. That is why we put so much time into tutorials, product guides, project ideas, comparisons, and troubleshooting. If you are standing in front of a piece of furniture wondering what on earth to do next, you are exactly who we built this for.
Built from real project experience
Heather and Mike are at the heart of Canterbury Creative. Before this business grew into what it is today, we spent more than 18 years traveling the country for commercial construction work. That experience shaped the way we look at materials, finishes, repairs, prep, tools, and the difference between something that simply looks good and something that actually holds up.
Mike brings decades of hands-on construction, carpentry, repair, and project experience. Heather brings the creative side, the product knowledge, the details, and the tendency to turn one idea into seventeen more before lunch. Somewhere in the middle is Canterbury Creative.
That combination is a big part of what makes this business different. We can talk paint colors and transfers, but we can also talk about the furniture underneath them, how to prep it, what needs repaired first, and which products make sense for the job.
A family business in the truest sense
Kim is family in every way that matters. She is one of our biggest supporters and the person who helps hold Canterbury Creative together when life pulls us in another direction. When we have to leave town for Sophia’s medical care, Kim is one of the people making sure things at home and in the business keep moving. We truly could not do this without her.
Our daughters Lexi and Sophia are a huge part of our why. Lexi brings her own creativity and personality to the family, while Sophia’s medical journey has changed the direction of our lives and businesses in ways we never expected. We also have grown children who remain part of the larger Canterbury family story.
Why we’re changing gears
For years, work meant travel, job sites, long days, and a lot of time living out of suitcases. Life has changed. Family needs us closer to home, and we have become much more intentional about where we spend our time.
That means less time on the road, more time with family, and more focus on growing Canterbury Creative into the kind of business we want it to be: useful, personal, creative, and genuinely helpful.
We want this to feel like the shop where you can find the beautiful thing you came looking for, learn how to use it, and get help when the project decides to humble you halfway through. Because projects do that.
Come create with us
Whether you are refinishing your first nightstand, painting kitchen cabinets, working on a mixed-media piece, decorating furniture with transfers or decoupage, or simply looking for your next project, we are glad you found us.
And because apparently we do not already have enough going on, we are also writing a book about the whole journey.
Read more about our experience →
Read Sophia’s story →
Learn about the Vascular Compression Alliance →
Follow the book project →