F&J Builders
Mid-Atlantic Chapter

Antoinette Nunez, CKBD, describes herself as “unconventional” and it certainly fits the path she has taken — from learning kitchen design at Home Depot to honing her talent during a three-year stint at three Lowes stores in Delaware (where she was promoted to Project Specialist and rose to the top of district rankings), to finding her niche as the in-house designer at Wilmington-based F&J Builders after being recruited by one of its owners, Francis Biddle. “He reached out to me and said he wanted to open his own showroom in the future and have me as his in-house designer,” Antoinette recalls. “He kept me in mind for almost two years while he built his business and before I knew it, he was calling to make me an offer. It was such a compliment to be sought out and to have people that quite literally built a space for me to do my thing.” 

 “It’s such a treat to come into work every day and see the space — knowing how it looked before — and to know that I had such a big part in creating it.”

That space is F&J’s auto repair shop-turned-showroom and Antoinette’s thing is the kitchen display, along with the office set-up, both of which she was given free rein to design. “It’s such a treat to come into work every day and see the space — knowing how it looked before — and to know that I had such a big part in creating it,” Antoinette says. Her favorite part of her job is its fluid nature. “I hardly have a typical day, every day is different,” she admits, noting the mix of client consultations, vendor calls, materials sourcing, project follow-up and, of course, designing (she’s put more than a quarter million dollars on the books in her first three months). It’s a juggling act she honed at Lowes throughout the pandemic while logging long hours as an essential employee and working toward NKBA’s modified level-up option for CKBD certification in her spare time.

Antoinette says there is one particular era that speaks to her — “I love a well-executed mid-century modern look, the color palettes especially.” And several four-legged friends have also captured her heart; she has three rescue dogs, Lolly, Dixie and Cloe. But her primary passion aside from design is music, whether it’s going to concerts or adding to her collection of vinyl. A Long Island native, she is also deeply attached to the Big Apple. “It’s not a crazy thing to me to drive from Delaware to New York for the day. Once I did it just to get a bagel for lunch,” she admits, revealing that flair for the unconventional that guides her day to day.