Excelsior Springs, Mo. – In a world full of neutral walls and predictable Pinterest boards, Ember Manley is building something that is bold and all her own. The Excelsior Springs-based content creator behind @homewithember has transformed her passion for DIY, color, and community into a growing digital platform that resonates with thousands across the country. What began as a quarantine-era curiosity has become her full-time career; equal parts creative expression and encouragement for others to “just do the thing.”
While she loves coloring outside of the box inside her home, she shared it’s a work in progress being shared, not about the final product. “I’m just a regular mom,” she says. “I’ve just got an eye for design and organization. I’m not perfect. I definitely make mistakes in my DIYs, and I like to showcase those mistakes too.”
With a degree in corporate fitness from the University of Central Missouri, she worked as a personal trainer and CrossFit coach before deciding to stay home during the pandemic, when she was pregnant with her youngest child. “Being home, that’s when I really started diving into my home improvement passions,” she said. “That’s kind of where the pivot happened.”
In 2023, she launched her Instagram page, slowly finding confidence on camera while balancing life as a mom and stepmom of four. “I started filming myself, which is very awkward in the beginning,” she recalled. “But the more I put myself out there, the more things grew. Now, here I am today, doing this full-time. It’s kind of crazy, but that’s my story.”
That story now includes a loyal following of tens of thousands, content collaborations, and a catalog of original projects ranging from bold wallpaper installations to full room remodels. The hallmark of her work? Bold color and patterns, character, and having fun with the process of creating.
Making a Home You Love
For Manley, design is a deeply personal endeavor. “There’s really no right or wrong thing you can do to your home when it comes to style,” she said. “It’s about creating a space that reflects your personal tastes and values, rather than always sticking to what might be trendy. Trends change.”
Instead, she mixes sentimental items with bold features, dopamine-inspired palettes, and practical DIY. One of her recent reels shows her transforming a standard hallway into a vibrant statement corridor, complete with playful wallpaper and colorful accents. “Little hallway glow-up time,” the caption reads. “What a fun little project that really made a difference.”
She strives for her followers to feel empowered by their homes, not overwhelmed or out of place. “I hear this all the time: ‘I was so scared to do this or that, but you inspired me.’ And then they’ll send me a picture. It makes them feel good, and it makes me feel good.”
A DIY Family
In the Manley household, projects often include more than just paint and plywood. Her husband, Kenny Manley, a local real estate agent of The Manley Home Team in Excelsior Springs, is supportive of her heart for design. Their children, ranging in age from four to fourteen, are frequent collaborators. “I can’t get around not doing projects around my kids, especially in the summer,” she said. “My four-year-old helps with painting. My older girls love helping choose colors and giving opinions. And my oldest is really good at organizing. She was born that way.”
The kids, she says, each have distinct personal styles, some elegant and simple, others loud and colorful. These different personalities have helped expand Ember’s creative range. “It’s actually really good for my family,” she noted. “We can pivot to a lot of different styles.”
Her content, much like her home, is both relatable and aspirational; bright, moody, and full of personality, but also grounded in real family life.
A Growing Platform
Manley’s page experienced a growth spurt in early 2024 after she committed to a consistent posting schedule and increased her video content. “I set a goal for myself. I was going to post a certain number of reels a week and get more confident in front of the camera. And I did that,” she said. “Things just took off out of nowhere.”
The project that catapulted her account: a full staircase relocation in her new home. “That’s something you don’t see very often,” she said. “It caught people’s eye, and that’s where things really started taking off.”
While she didn’t swing the sledgehammer herself, she documented every stage of the remodel, alongside DIY-friendly content like wallpapering, painting, and cabinet refinishing. “Our kitchen was a favorite. I had never remodeled kitchen cabinets before, so that transformation was one I was pretty proud of.
Though she receives frequent requests for design consultations and help with follower projects, Ember is still considering how best to scale her growing platform. “Ideally, I would love to start something online to give to people, whether that’s a class or advice,” she said. “I don’t know what that looks like quite yet.”
However, Manley is committed to continuing her content production and bringing her followers along as she lives her dream of design each day. Whether it’s a crooked wallpaper seam, a paint-splattered toddler, or a perfectly organized linen closet, Ember Manley is proof that building a beautiful home doesn’t require perfection, just a little courage, a lot of color, and maybe a kid or two holding a paintbrush upside down.
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