top of page

About Us

The ReBorn Team

At ReBorn, our skilled team harnesses a blend of talents to repurpose

and transform furniture into one-of-a-kind pieces!

Kathy Vander Lugt

Kathy Vander Lugt 

Owner / Designer

Kathy is one of the owners of ReBorn. She has been refinishing furniture and painting for as long as she can remember -"before it was cool"! In addition to re-purposing furniture she is a busy farm wife, mom of three adult kids and grandma to four grandkids. Previous to opening up ReBorn she ran a professional house painting and wood finishing business. In 2009, she decided to change focus and pursue her dream job of working on furniture full time and opening a store. We joke that she had to open a store because her house was full of her projects and in order to keep doing what she loved, she had to start selling some things! What motivates her is the thrill of the hunt for that next treasure and the satisfaction of seeing a outdated piece become something beautiful. She is the paint and refinishing expert on our team, mainly working in the shop on the farm with her husband Ron (you will hear about him later) but you will see her in the store from time to time and teaching workshops.

Ron Vander Lugt

Ron Vander Lugt 

Owner / Restoration Specialist

Ron is an owner of ReBorn along with his wife Kathy. He has been involved in this business every step of the way. Ron's job is very important - being a very humble man, he refers to himself as "the chair glue- er" or "the drawer fix-er", but we prefer to acknowledge him as our Restoration Specialist! He literally looks over every piece of furniture and makes sure it is functional and sound and if it needs fixing - he will tackle anything. Well, almost... there was this one buffet that came into the shop in pieces and he said "no way"... it went on the burn pile. 😊 Ron is involved with painting and varnishing pieces when he is not fixing or handcrafting original furniture. Speaking of handcrafting furniture, he has this unique talent of taking ideas that we think up in our heads and even though in our minds it should be simple, it's actually not, but he always finds a way! In addition to his role at ReBorn, he is a farmer, dad and grandpa.

Becky Feikema

Becky Feikema

Store / Business Manager

Becky is the business manager at ReBorn.  Keeping track of the nitty gritty details of running the business from payroll to inventory and advertising is what keeps her busy.  Even though she loves the business aspect, restoring furniture has been in her blood too, starting out with 4-H projects and then furnishing her own home with repurposed treasures.  Becky loves it when rooms and homes come together with pieces that have meaning and a story behind them.  No matter the style you can mix and match so that your home is a reflection of the people in it.  She brings that aspect to displays and products at the store and helping customers design their homes.  When not at ReBorn, Becky is the bookkeeper for the family farming operation and mom to two girls.  

Kristi Stroeh

Kristi Stroeh

Sales Associate / Social Media

Kristi is a sales associate at ReBorn. She works at the store about three days a week. When we were looking to expand our business, Kristi came along and has been a perfect fit! She is great at managing our website, Pinterest and Instagram. She is also very knowledgeable about working with Chalk Paint® and helping customers with DIY projects. Many of the accent and decor items in the store are created by Kristi - pillows with custom wraps, signs that she has designed and made, macrame wall hangings and more. She is always on the lookout for the latest trends and new things that we can offer our customers. Kristi is a woman of many talents and a great asset to our team. In addition to working at ReBorn, she is wife to Alan, as well as a mom and grandma. 

Larissa Capersen

Larissa Capersen

Design Team

Larissa is part of the design team at ReBorn, working at the shop regularly and at the store about one day a month. She also gets in on our treasure hunting adventures, garage sale searching, and old house tear down projects. With Kathy, Larissa and Ron in the shop it is amazing how efficient they can be! Larissa brings a fresh perspective - sometimes we get stuck in a rut and have no inspiration for a piece and Larissa will look at it and come up with a great idea for what to do. She is also looking at what the trends are and pushing us to try new things even if it isn't our own "personal style". She helps us keep things in the store that appeal to many different people. If you see Larissa in the store you can be sure that you will get great advice from someone who works with Chalk Paint® products on a weekly basis and has seen it all. In addition to working at ReBorn, Larissa juggles another part time job and is a busy wife and mom to three kids.

John Wade

John Wade

Treasure Hunter

John has a very important behind the scenes job. He has treasure hunting down to a science! John has it all planned so that he know which days the local thrift stores put out fresh furniture and which auctions he is most likely to get a good deal at. With a great eye for quality furniture (and a bargain), we can always count on him for awesome pieces to re-purpose and put on the showroom floor at ReBorn. John is also a talented woodworker. He makes hand turned pens, custom tables and other wood items. And how he makes everything fit in his truck to deliver to Luverne is quite impressive!

Abbie Fey

Abbie Fey

Treasure Hunter

Abbie is the garage sale queen! She will brave 100 degree heat in a van with no air conditioning or sleet and snow in the same van with no 4-wheel drive. She has many stories about going to garage sales in "White Lightning" - what we affectionately call our big van with no seats so we can haul lots of stuff. If she takes more than one friend along they have to sit in a lawn chair and usually by the end of the day, there isn't even room for the lawn chair - you just find a place to sit between the stuff. I think there was even a time when her and her friends had an audience when trying to get that last bargain in the van. They had to unload everything and repack it but they got it all in. The crowd clapped when they got the door shut! In addition to these fun adventures Abbie is also a full time taxidermist, wife to Trevor and mom to two kids.

bottom of page