UNIONTOWN, Ohio — In a span of just a couple of years, Kelsey and Ryan Mansingh turned their social media channels into a viable business, sharing their tips and tricks while renovating their Akron-area home.
“We have definitely not always been a DIYer or handy by any means,” Kelsey Mansingh explained. “There are a lot of unique homes in Northeast Ohio that are just waiting for people to bring them back to life.”
@newbuild_newlyweds ITS FINALLY HAPPENING! Who is excited?!! #moving #movingin #diycouple #homerenovation #homereno #renovation #diytok #newhouse #LaurelRoad4Nurses #BBPlayDate #ShowYourJOWO ♬ Sunroof - Nicky Youre & dazy
As Kelsey told News 5, the couple were both laid off from their jobs at a popular Orlando theme park at the start of the pandemic. From there, the two decided to move closer to Kelsey’s family and bought a home in Northeast Ohio, which they have spent nearly the past year upgrading and renovating.
“When I walked in, I was like this is the house we’re renovating,” she explained. “I could already see it.”
Known as the Newbuild Newlyweds, the two take a methodical approach to renovating their home, originally built in the 1970s, and share their experiences on their popular Instagram and TikTok pages.
“We kind of just taught ourselves and learned and now we’re renovating a whole house,” Kelsey Mansingh explained.
Their TikTok account currently attracts more than 1.5 million followers with their videos garnering 27.4 million likes.
Among their most popular projects involve their cat, Stella.
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“She’s basically a celebrity,” Kelsey Mansingh said. “We created a hidden bedroom for her and it’s definitely our most viral video on social media. One of her videos got 24 million views which is insane and she doesn’t even know how famous she is.”
While managing social media is a full-time job, Kelsey told News 5 it’s not easy by any means.
“We’re not only renovating our house and doing these projects but we’re also stopping to record different angles of the project, and we’re stopping to explain what we’re doing and we’re stopping to move the camera and make sure we get good pictures,” she explained. “I do a lot of transitions for Before/After, so we have to make sure we get all these shots, then we have to pause and I have to sit there and edit it and then post it on Instagram in real time and put music to it. What would usually take us to do an hour sometimes takes three hours to do because we have to do all of that.”
Almost a year into renovations at their home and there’s still a couple projects left; so what’s next?
“We definitely plan to start buying homes and start flipping them, maybe keep them as Airbnbs in the Portage Lakes area, that’s really popular out here,” Mansingh added.
Her advice to those who watch their videos is to take that first step outside your comfort zone.
“You just learn and grow as you go, and you never know what you can do if you don’t try it,” she added.
