The art of renovation comes from a love for tradition. In a world of instant gratification, big box stores and online shopping, some of that love has been diminished, but it’s not gone when there are people like Rose Ann and Kendra Riley stepping up to fill a common void — fixing what isn’t broken. Together, the mom and daughter team are fixing what was once loved with a fresh coat of upholstery so it can be loved longer.

Building a brick-and-mortar brick by brick

The West Riley in Dexter is a nod to Rose Ann and Kendra’s last name with a tie-in for the type of products they sell that appeal to the western lifestyle — think Pendelton, leather, bison print — anything that reflects the blend of heritage and rugged charm. They also offer custom reupholstery services on well-loved furniture looking for an update.

Even the building where the mother-daughter team work was refurbished to encourage a rustic, western-type feel with touches from yesteryears.

“It was a labor of love to get the building to where we wanted it,” Rose Ann says. “We rebuilt the front wall, brick by brick. The old rafters weren’t in good shape, so we figured out a way to hide those away. My dad was an electrician, so I grew up with that and could help some with that aspect.”

The backdrop of the checkout counter is the original ceiling from the hardware store in town, which no longer exists, but is still represented in Dexter with its use in The West Riley.

The spirit of Kansas community support in Dexter

The spirit of The West Riley is rooted in Rose Ann and Kendra’s upbringing. Rose Ann grew up in Winfield, just 20 miles from Dexter, and ever since she can remember, she’s sewn, making her the seamstress who works to refurbish pieces of furniture customers bring her.

“It’s been a joke ever since I can remember that I was born with a needle in one hand and a power tool in the other,” Rose Ann says. “At just 3 or 4 years old, I remember making doll clothes. I made a shirt for my husband before we were married, and in April, it will be 48 years together. He still has that shirt. With a dad and grandfathers involved in woodworking and electrical, that’s where the power tool comes in.”

“Mom is the fabric guru,” Kendra says. “She’s been manipulating fabrics her entire life. She knows which way they stretch; she knows how they’re going to ravel. She knows more about fabrics than she could ever teach me.”

Kendra went to school in Dexter, a testament to the town’s dedication to supporting its community to keep its school at the heart of life, despite a population of only around 200. When she graduated, Kendra moved to Manhattan to attend Kansas State University, then Oklahoma State for a master’s degree, then back to Manhattan to work at Kansas Department of Agriculture in the Animal Health division. Twenty years later, moving back home close to Dexter to work on the farm with her dad and on eclectic furniture pieces with her mom, was an opportunity she didn’t want to pass on.

“I grew up on a hog farm,” Kendra says. “And we always had sheep. My granddad got the first sheep on our place in 1939. We sold the last of the sheep last summer, so this will be the first summer we won’t have sheep at our farm in 85 years. We still run cattle, so I help my dad with our herd.”

The ranch work is the No. 1 priority for the Riley family. The West Riley isn’t necessarily second fiddle, but it is only open on the second Saturday of each month. That’s not to say Rose Ann and Kendra aren’t working tirelessly on custom pieces they’ve commissioned — their working space is at their respective homes, where Kendra refurbishes the bones of the pieces and Rose Ann finishes with upholstery.

“A lot of people joke that we only work one day a month,” Kendra says. “It just allows us the flexibility to do chores, feed our cattle and do all of that in the mornings and then my mom has a heated work room where she keeps the fabrics separate from where I work on the woodworking side of things, which is all done at my house just a mile away. In the afternoons, we can work on our client projects.”

Being open the second Saturday of each month was a deliberate choice. Dexter has a community celebration on the second Saturday of July each year, which was a way to get everyone who was already there for the celebration in the brick-and-mortar storefront.

“That was the whole push,” Rose Ann says. “The second Saturday of July 2019 was the grand opening, and we were here until 1 a.m. to get everything ready.”

Kendra’s absence from Dexter for the previous 20 years didn’t hinder the community from being welcoming and offering help where the Rileys needed it.

“I had just been back for about a month at that point,” Kendra says. “The community flooded in these doorways. They asked what they could do to help. I was overwhelmed because, again, I had been gone for so long. The amount of support from this community was just empowering, honestly.”

Although Dexter dwellers aren’t The West Riley’s main clientele, Kendra says the community is 100 percent their emotional support.

Rebuilding memories to continue generations of love

The West Riley’s storefront gets people in the door, but their custom upholstery side of the business is the majority of their business.

“We figure about 80 percent of our business is the custom upholstery side,” Kendra says. “Most of that is people come to us with either grandma’s chair they want refurbished or grandma herself comes to us with her chair that she got redone in the ’80s but wants to pass down within her family.”

“We bring things back to life to let them love on,” Rose Ann says. “It is the love they have for the memories involved with that piece.”

One local resident brought in a small rocking chair that had been in his family for five generations.

“He said, ‘I want it back like I remember it,’” Rose Ann says. “His daughter would be the fifth generation to have this rocker. Those kinds of stories are why we keep doing this. I always say it’s a labor of love. We love doing, we love creating. We love bringing things back and sometimes we surprise ourselves like, wow, we did that.”

Creating specialty products with a western flair

As the Rileys have learned through the years, many of their demographic prefer a western trend. The store features Pendleton blankets, pillows made from cut-up Pendleton blankets and child-sized rocking chairs with cowhide and western-themed fabrics they call their Ranch Rockers. The mini-rocking chairs are a unique product the two designed and have been popular with their clients.

“We love our Ranch Rockers,” Kendra says. “We had gotten a child’s chair to refinish. My dad was tearing it down for us and he said we could make them ourselves. So, we tweaked the design a little bit, made the rockers longer so the chairs wouldn’t tip over as easily and made our own pattern. I’ve looked everywhere that I can think of, and I’ve never seen anything like ours. My tagline for them is child-size, heirloom quality.”

Kendra’s passion for their handcrafted Ranch Rockers is evident in their unique design and their story. But while their creativity knows few limits, Rose Ann is quick to chime in with a playful dose of reality.

“What can we not do?” Rose Ann asks with a smirk. “Cook.”

A sense of humor, a love for repurposing family heirlooms and an attitude that no job is too small or too large, the Riley mother-daughter duo are a force. They just don’t prioritize cooking.

The West Riley takes custom orders through its website or Facebook page. 

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