Our House

Welcome!

 We live in Washington, DC in a 94 year old row house, which is always in some state of remodeling or redecorating. When we purchased the house, 13 years ago, it had three kitchens (none were functional), five tiny closets, orange shag carpeting, and lots of walls - and we had no money.Thus began our journey into creative remodeling. Turns out it doesn't cost anything to tear down walls. Now, replacing them is another story. 

Foyer

Being far from home, I am always looking for ways to connect my children to their extended family. So, I use the foyer as a gallery for family pictures.  This photo project is easy. All that is needed are old photos, a copy machine, craft papers, mod podge and target or IKEA frames.  Check out my DIY section for simple directions.
 The foyer table actually covers a radiator; the fabric is raised in the winter to release the heat.

The Living Room

My great grandmother’s sofa holds center stage in this room. A nice comfy slipcovered sofa would probably be more my style but I am a bit of a sentimentalist – my husband and I shared our first kiss on this sofa when we were 14 - sometimes sentiment wins.  

Yes, the sofa is upholstered in white – and I claim I am a big believer in practical and functional.  Believe it or not, white is actually very forgiving, especially if it has texture.

The unusual chairs (they slide together to create a small loveseat) came out of the trash.   I had them recovered, rolled the arm and removed the seat tufting (buttons). Sometimes older furniture just needs a few tweaks to fit your style.  Old columns make unique candlesticks (they look great lit at night).  

Here are the living room chairs before...

You can see the narrow arm and remnants of buttons on the seat and of course the ragged fabric on this before version - proof, as my grandmother would say, that a sow's ear can be turned into a silk purse.

Library/Den
Sometimes a room needs a new purpose. This room was originally the formal dining room – a room which I have little need for. We tore down the wall between the old dining room and the kitchen (very liberating). This allowed light into the narrow kitchen and opened up the space. By building in a storage bench we created a seating area as well as a place to store large items such as the ice cream maker, and crock pot.

Eat-in Kitchen

What to do when you don’t have a functioning kitchen and very little money – think unconventionally. Our kitchen evolved over time – years in fact.  First, the walls came down. As I've said before, there was a wall between the den and kitchen as well as another at the large brick arch between the two ends of the kitchen.
The farm sink and pine hutch were original to the house but were part of the upstairs kitchen, which became our son’s bedroom. We found the rest of the cabinets on the street with a big sign that said FREE – a home remodeling miracle! 

The end of the kitchen where the stove is was formerly a mud room. The original kitchen was 6’ x 11’ with four doors and one window, which looked into the mud room   – not a lot of room for appliances or cabinets. I am honestly not sure how anyone cooked in such a dysfunctional space (the refrigerator was out in the mud room).

 Old tin ceiling panels serve as the back splash behind the stove. A cheap and functional (easy to clean) back splash solution.

I love our serving platter storage.  It is a terrific solution when you have limited space – easy to access and it looks great. Often there are a couple of inches of depth on the wall leading down basement stairs. Very narrow shelves can be built to hold cookbooks, family pictures, display kids’ artwork...

Dining Area
 I don't think of our eating area as its' own room since it shares the space with the end of the galley kitchen The dining area is in what was once the sleeping porch. I like to spend time in this area because of all the windows - my room with a view!

Master Bedroom
Wall hangings are a great focal point in a bedroom, especially if you are trying to create drama. I used old door knobs as hangers for the handmade suzani behind our bed. If you don’t have any antique door knobs lying around, you can pick them up for a couple of dollars apiece at local salvage yards.
 The bright white walls in this room are balanced by a black ceiling to make the room feel cozy.  Don’t be afraid to paint your ceiling! It can completely transform a room.

Daulton’s Bedroom
What to do with a bedroom that is smaller than many walk-in closets and was a kitchen in its former life? Gut, Repair, and Build in the bed!
This room is actually 7’8” x 10’5”. By building in the bed, we created a place to store clothes (under bed drawers) and books (bookshelves), as well as a cozy place to hang out while still having enough room to play with legos. 

The bed was built out of retail store fixtures. The drawer base came as is, my hubby added a plywood top to hold the mattress. The bed façade and bookshelves were created from two plywood bookshelves.

I feel sure this same bed could be fashioned from IKEA’s twin bed base drawer unit and free plywood bookshelves off of Craigslist. Every time I see free plywood bookshelves on Craigslist, I think of all the great things that plywood could be turned into! 

Ansley's and Whitley's Bedroom  
My 14 year old daughters are twins. They recently redecorated their room after an inspirational trip to ABC Carpets in New York. To create drama and a place to express themselves, we painted the wall behind their beds with black chalkboard paint. Then we took random thrift store frames and spray painted them white to break up all of that black.  The French provincial dresser was a find on Craigslist. We painted it Benjamin Moore semi-gloss. The girls and I love the modern white lamps which were $19.99 at Target! They look soooo great for such a little price. The other great thrifty find was the  IKEA Eivor curtains - $14.99 a pair. There is still more work to be done on this room. I will try to chronicle the finishing touches.