If you live in Cincinnati, Tara Lipinski’s kitchen designer lives about twenty minutes from you.
The Olympic figure skater found Melissa Kehayes’ work on Instagram and was so impressed she had Melissa design the kitchen in her California home. However, if you have the chance to meet Melissa, she won’t lead with that. She’ll lead with questions about your home – how you use it, what you love, what’s not working for you, and what’s on your dream list. Talented enough to design for an Olympic superstar, but far more interested in you and what will make your home better.
I know this because Melissa Kehayes transformed my kitchen in 2023.
The Visit That Started It All
It began with a healthy dose of envy.
I walked into my friend Sarah’s house and found myself speechless. Her kitchen wasn’t a refresh; it was a transformation …the kind of thing I assumed only happened if you built a house from scratch.
It had me at hello. It was beautiful, sure, but it was also a functional, crisp gathering space that managed to be both classy and comfortable at once. The daydreaming started with a fury, resulting in a full-court press on my husband to go see for himself (which was a lot for a man who would still be happy sleeping on a mattress on the floor because “it’s functioning just fine”). I promise I did not bribe or coerce Sarah’s husband into giving mine man-to-man reassurance that it was worth every penny – that was totally unprompted. Following our visit, Sarah introduced me to the wizard behind the curtain: Melissa Kehayes of Western Custom Cabinetry.
My Kitchen Transformation
At our first meeting, Melissa led with questions and curiosity. She wanted to know what I loved, what was frustrating, what was missing, how I move and cook in my kitchen, and more. Then, she took careful, detailed measurements and walked me through what to expect next. She mentioned she’d come back with two options, maybe intentionally leaving out that one of them would completely change how I saw my own kitchen.
At our second meeting, we started with option one: an elevated version of my existing layout (you can see my original kitchen in the before photos). It would have been a lovely upgrade, and given how tight our footprint felt, I assumed it was really the only option without tearing into walls (which felt like more than I wanted to take on). Boy, was I wrong. Melissa walked me through option two: flipping the entire kitchen around and adding just a few inches to one wall to create symmetry for a 5×10 island that hadn’t existed before, with a reoriented view onto our backyard living space. Our old peninsula sat three comfortably, four in a squeeze. The new island includes a sink, dishwasher, and cabinet space, with comfortable seating for six. Friends and family visit and can’t believe it’s the same kitchen, since we didn’t add a single square foot.
Cooking is a passion of mine – part meditation, part art, part human connection. Feeding the people I love is high on my list of joys. Now my kitchen is both beautiful and functional, and it’s become more of a gathering space than I ever imagined. It’s the heartbeat of our home, and I feel lucky every day that I get to use it.
One thing to note: working with Melissa is a treasure. She is not only creative, but also meticulous and attentive. And she offers her designs without pressure or persuasion. It felt like a friend sharing a good idea and giving me space to process and see if I could catch up with her vision.
Early Beginnnings
Western Custom Cabinetry’s roots trace back to co-owner Jeff Friesz’s family business. In the 1960s, His family started Western Hills Building Supply. Long before Home Depot or Lowe’s existed, they were the home improvement store of their time; family-run, with Jeff at the helm of the cabinet division. As industry shifted, big-box stores moved in, and family circumstances changed, the decision was made to sell. Jeff explored a few other paths but found himself pulled back to his cabinetry roots; this time building something new and adding custom Amish cabinetry to the mix.
Melissa’s story starts somewhere else entirely. She spent years as a trainer in the fashion industry, which is different from kitchens and bathrooms, but its own kind of creative expression. When economic shifts eliminated her role, she found herself at a crossroads, deciding whether to reimagine her direction entirely. That’s when her love affair with home design began. It was a step back to take a leap forward, but her husband had already seen her creativity, commitment, and work ethic. “We can make this work,” he told her. So, she leapt and never looked back.
Melissa worked her way up from there – countertops, tile, vanities, a variety of rooms and projects – until a shared client introduced her to Jeff, who was running his growing cabinet business and needed to add to the team. She wasn’t sure at first. She said yes anyway. The rest is history. Today, she’s an integral part of Western Custom Cabinetry, helping shape the vision and direction of the business alongside Jeff.
None of it happens alone, either. Behind every design Melissa brings to life is her longtime assistant, Betsy Brown, whose steady, detail-oriented work behind the scenes keeps everything moving. Melissa is quick to say she wouldn’t be where she is today without her.
What lights Melissa up, and what I experienced firsthand, is the excitement of dreaming up something a client never could have imagined, then waiting to see if they’ll catch the vision too. “It’s an ever-changing industry,” she told me. “You will never know it all… you’re always learning something new.”
Advice + Trends
If you’re thinking about a kitchen remodel, Melissa’s advice is simple: start a wish list. Note what you like and don’t like about your current kitchen, how you move through it, what feels missing, and what you’re ready to let go of. Get online and start pulling inspiration photos, even if you feel uncertain about your own style – people often gravitate toward something without realizing it. You may not know the term “inset cabinet,” but if it’s in every photo you’ve saved, chances are that’s what you love.
As for what’s trending: warmth is having a real moment. Soft white is still going strong, but it’s being joined by cream and taupe tones. And the single hottest cabinet color right now is Sherwin Williams’ Shoji White. Gold finishes are shifting too; the brighter, yellow-toned satin brass that’s been popular is starting to fall out of favor, giving way to warmer, more refined tones like champagne bronze and unlacquered brass.
So Much More Than Cabinets
You don’t have to go fully custom to work with Western Custom Cabinetry. They have options across budgets and styles, so whether you’re doing a full reimagining or something more modest, Melissa and her team can meet you where you are. No matter the scale or scope, with Melissa on the job, you get her keen and creative eye …value far beyond the cabinets themselves.
People ask me all the time about our kitchen. They are curious about how I came up with the design and whether it was worth it. Undeniably, it was worth it. And the credit belongs to Melissa, the wizard behind the curtain who saw what I couldn’t, and then helped me see it too.
Thank you, Melissa, for disrupting my linear thinking and handing me something better in its place. My kitchen has become the heartbeat of our home, and I owe it all to you.
Melissa Kehayes and Western Custom Cabinetry are based in Cincinnati. Visit westerncustomcabinetry.com or their Instagram to see more of their work and reach out to Melissa@westerncustomcabinetry.com to schedule a consultation.
Check out more insights from your Neighborhood Guide, Lisa Daley.
