Better Than Before Home Furnishings & Design LLC

Inspiration for your home

Our goal at Better Than Before Home Furnishings & Design is to provide inspiration and support for the homeowner who takes pride in her home.
We're passionate about sustainability and also about supporting our local artisans. You'll find a carefully curated selection of items for the home, including reclaimed and/or upcycled furniture and home décor as well as handmade items that are perfect for you, or to give as a gift. We have a little something for everyone.

Now offering gift boxes of carefully curated themed items perfect for your home or to gift to a friend.

Hi, I'm Kerri...
the Decorator for the DIYer. I grew up in a modest Cape-style house in a middle-class neighborhood with a stay-at-home mom and a dad who worked his tail off as an iron worker. My parents provided for us very well despite my dad's inconsistent work, due to their great money management and creativity.

Our house was always well-maintained (thanks to my dad's skills), with nice furniture and pretty décor (thanks to my mom's skills). My mom was the queen of DIY, repurposing and thinking out of the box. And my dad was one of those guys who could build or fix anything.

As a kid, I was a tomboy who'd rather play in the dirt with Matchbox cars with my brother and the neighborhood boys. And I was the little girl who asked for a tool box for Christmas! If I wasn't playing with the boys, I was drawing. My girl friends would play with my Barbies while I sat and drew pictures. One of my dream gifts was a box of 64 Crayola crayons. The box even had a sharpener built in!

I've loved anything creative as far back as I can remember. Whether it was sketching Tippy the turtle from the pack of matches, dreaming of doing what Darrin Stephens (from Bewitched) did for work at the ad agency, designing Lincoln Log homes, "painting" pictures on the sidewalk with a cup of water and a watercolor paintbrush, I always wanted to be creating.

I guess it's no surprise that I ended up wanting to help homeowners make their homes beautiful using what they already own, and repurposing old furniture. Growing up, I gained an appreciation for buying well-made furnishings, looking for function and need, and being mindful of ways to create, re-create, and decorate beautifully on a budget. Thanks, mom and dad for the life lessons I didn't know I was learning!

Featured designer in the
2018 New Hampshire Designer Showhouse.

160 Plaistow Rd (Rte 125), Plaistow, NH
603.479.3041
(green awning Plaistow Commons plaza,
next door to Moe's Sandwiches)

Hours:
Mon & Tues - by appt.
Wed - Sat - 10am - 5pm
Sunday - 10am - 3pm