In 1991 Melinda Marye detoured from a conventional career path to explore her creative and artistic side and the career possibilities that might lie there.

The business thrived, and today Marye-Kelley employs 15 full time employees at its Houston studio/showroom. The line has expanded and is sold at over 2000 fine home goods and decor stores around the country and the world. Melinda maintains a permanent showroom at the AmericasMart in Atlanta and has two seasonal shops near her summer home in Block Island, Rhode Island.

In 1991, she learned aout the technique called 'reverse decoupage'. She asked her mom for some magazines that she could cut up to try to make the plates. Her mom gave her a stack of magazines. She opened the first magazine to an article about reverse decoupage plates in a federal style. She thought I am supposed to do this and taught her self the technique. After much trial and error, she was soon selling her hand-made, one-of-a-kind plates all over Houston and beyond. She formed what is today Marye-Kelley in her Montrose home and continued to sell decoupage home goods at local fairs, holiday markets and a few shops in the area.

Melinda joined the Block Island Farmer's Market in 1991. First with hand painted ceramics and then added decoupage in 1992. Melinda is still a vendor at the market every Wednesday and Saturday from 9- 11:30 at Legion Park. In 2024, she added tasty treats such as pimento cheese, chicken liver pate and chili con queso.