Psst- Sorry about yesterday’s truncated post, Reader users. There was some bad code in a video we embedded (we like to feed full posts, so if you ever see a shortened one, something wonky’s going on).
We’re painting something again today! Who’s surprised? Anybody? Nobody? We’ll be back with the goods tomorrow, but in the meantime we thought this house tour was so charming and creative that we had to share it. It’s a great example of a someone buying a house and just going for it, without being even a little afraid to make it theirs. And if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in this whole home-making journey of ours, it’s that the more personal you make a space the less it might appeal to someone else (like your mother-in-law, the mailman, or your handsome pool boy) but the more it can feel like “you” – and really, that’s what matters most. So stamp your house up baby. Leave your fingerprints all over that thing.
But on with the tour! First of all, how sweet is the exterior of Laura’s house in Reno?
Here’s Laura now, with her dog Emma. She’s also the mother of three kids, so you know, she’s not busy at all.
When you enter her home she has a wide foyer area with a curved wall, which is where Laura and her husband Dan got creative. Yup, she made shelves from old secondhand chairs that she painted a soft seafoam green color (Seacliff Heights by Benjamin Moore) and hung right onto the wall (after chopping them in half). I love the little potted plants that are resting on each chair-shelf. Here’s more on how she did that project.
Speaking of creativity, check out her dining room. Yup, the entire wall is filled with shutters that Laura painted in a bunch of soft beachy tones. Isn’t it amazing? As for where she got them all, many came from the Habitat For Humanity ReStore, thrift shops, and Craigslist. I’m also a HUGE fan of both the light fixtures and the chairs (which she found on ebay). It’s such a cool personality-filled room that she made all her own. And that table is actually an old conference table from a nearby university.
The kitchen is another classic-meets-creativity example, thanks to traditional white cabinetry and subway tile mixed with playful hanging pendants that Laura and Dan made from Home Depot lamps. I love that they don’t take themselves – or their home – too seriously. And the industrial bar stools (which were once science stools at the same university as her dining table) are another fun touch.
Laura decided that closing off this doorway made for better flow so she casually hung some secondhand window panes to subtly divide the space while keeping things airy. I love that colorful bench too. She picked it up at a thrift store and spray painted it Lagoon by Rustoleum and then glazed it for a less-new look.
Laura also added height and a breezy and cozy vibe to their bedroom, thanks to sheer curtains from Ikea that she hung from the ceiling for a makeshift canopy affect.
Their bathroom has awesome tile that mimic’s Laura’s childhood 1920’s home. I love it with the extra thick black counters and the white cabinetry.
Laura would love to take the subway tile all the way up the wall behind the tub to the ceiling, but in the meantime she added a really cool old ladder that she found at a thrift store for a couple of bucks and a few hanging plants.
Thanks so much to Laura and her husband Dan for sharing their gorgeous home! I hope you guys were as inspired by their fearless approach. And of course you can check out more about every project and room here on her blog. But before I get back to painting, let’s play the favorite part game. Mine’s the shutter wall in the dining room. Especially with those gorgeous glass pendants hanging down in front of it. Me-ow.
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From a mathematical perspective I am amazed & impressed at how she fit all those shutters so perfectly onto that dining room wall… it’s like a perfect puzzle!
I love the shutter wall!
LOVE the shutter wall…. so kewel. Love the bar stools though too, with the color (on the front) of the Bar.
I am so ridiculously inspired right now!!
You guys have been on an amazing house-crashing role- this one is gorgeous from beginning to end! Thanks so much for sharing!
That is quite possibly the coolest house I’ve ever seen. Very chic without being cold at all.
Wow, this house kind of blows my mind. Very inspiring!
the shutter was is absolutely stunning!
I REALLY love her shutter wall in the diningroom. That would be my favorite room.
I’m not sure I have a place here to recreate that though! LOL!
Love that shutter wall!!!! I can’t wait to see bigger pics when the sight is back up again. Thanks for sharing.
Love. The. Dining. Room. LOVE. Bonus points for making me think of Monster’s Inc. with the Tetris-like shutters and also adding character to a newer (at least looking) built home.
I can’t believe more people aren’t wowed by that closed off doorway. I’m LOVING how it keeps the open feel, but also closes it off as an entrance. Wishing I had an extra doorway in my house!
– Melissa
You have vindicated me! I take (just a little) ribbing from my husband about all “those blogs” I read, but your post from July 3 saved us a TON of money and time. We hadn’t really considered “refreshing” the wood floors upstairs in the foreclosure we recently bought and assumed we’d have to, at the least, buff them and re-poly. NOT SO! You inspired me to do some further digging and yesterday – in just ONE day – I took the floors from dull and lifeless to glorious, before my husband came home, using a product similar to the one you used. Thank you, thank you! Oh, and did I say, “Thank you?”
P.S. So love what you are doing with your newest home and Laura’s dining room wall was my favorite thing, too. Stunning!
Wahooo! That makes me so happy Amanda! Congrats!
xo
s
Haha, I love the mention of one’s mother-in-law not liking one’s style because we are going through this right now. We are renovating and redecorating our new house and my in-laws get really shocked that we want to get rid of all carpet for wooden floors, we don’t want orangey oak furniture in every bedroom and – the HORROR – we don’t want matchy-matching bed+wardrobes+bedside tables. Hahahaha
Wow! I’m torn between the chairs on the wall in the foyer and the shutters on the wall in the dining room.
Love. Love everything. Plus bonus, I have a dog named Emma too, LOL. Just gave me inspiration for the old windows my hubby has been collecting for years, I can use them in the shutter wall type way! Fabulous crash, one of my favorites.
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who had trouble seeing her blog. I am in awe of their dining room, so creative. Hubs holds me back from that sort of creativity, he just doesn’t have my vision and can’t think outside the box. So I live traditionally, for him, and do the creating in my head. ;0)
I’m with ya…I love the beachy, light feel to the dining room. Very creative! :O) By the way…may I ask how you two plan your weeks. I know blogging about your adventure is your full time job, so do you all ‘conference’ about your plan of action a month ahead of time and plan it down to what projects get done what day of the week? What days are rest days? Do you plan it down to the hour? Everything seems to run so smoothly around your house and I admire how much you get done! With doing reno’s around here, there are days where I just want to veg-out and do nothing after a weekend of non-stop working!
We’re your regular old fly by the seat of our pants DIYers! We’ve learned with a three year old that you never know what days you’ll get something done (on a good nap day we can get more than we thought accomplished, and on a bad nap day we can’t do a thing until she’s in bed at 8pm). We just try to keep our momentum up and to keep moving without forcing ourselves to rush (we get this bad feeling that we’ll regret everything we do if we’re in a constantly panicked state of rushing around).
xo
s
Thanks, Sherry….I certainly admire all you both get done!
Thanks Julianne!
xo
s
Very cool! You can check out some more pics of her home on pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/Oliveandlove/
okay seriously?!!! this house is amazing! the chair shelves are GORGEOUS!!!!!
I love how the bones of their house are so classic but they “funned” it up with all the quirky details. It feels soothing because of the colors.
Love the shutter wall (those seem to be popping up a lot lately!) and the ladder over the tub. The rooms seem enormous – photos or are the rooms really huge? I also love the solution to closing off the doorway – LOVE it. I have to admit, the half chairs on the wall – not my fave. Unique though!
I absolutely love their creativity. Its so original. I think these days people spend so much time reading magazines, blogs, and pinterest trying to duplicate other people’s ideas. It’s really nice to see something so different!
This house is amazing! Some of the most unique, yet simple decorating ideas I’ve ever seen. She is extremely talented!!
Okay, I think we broke their website. None of your links are working for me.
As my kids would say, “Uh-oh!”
Yes, the site’s down but we hope it’s back up soon (so sorry Laura!). Maybe if you try them tonight or tomorrow?
xo
s
I thought I was in love with their chair shelves on the curved wall until I saw the wall of shutters. Love! Now, I’ll be up all night trying to figure out where I can incorporate that into our house. Hmmmm.
Lovely! <3
What don’t I love about that space??! I’m kind-of obsessed with the floating chairs. Might have to try that in my new space!
I love the wall of shutters. I don’t think I could pull it off in my house though. Maybe something to remember for my next house!
The shudder wall is so stunning. I love it.
All of it! My favorite part is ALL OF IT!!!!! But if I had to pick just one thing then it would be the chair shelves, or the shutter wall, or the upside down lamps, or the ladder on the ceiling…
Now to find a wall in my house where I can hang some chair shelves!
Oh my gosh! Every single photo is amazing! I love the colors and the curved walls. I think the shutter wall is my favorite, but I also like the sheer curtains around the bed! I’m digging the plants everywhere. I can’t have houseplants because my lovely kitty likes to play in the dirt.
Basically, I love it all!
My cats (and kids) used to play in the dirt of my house plants. I found that big river rock stones over the dirt helped defer their little hands.
this house is just the right combo of personal, spastic, and wonderful… not too overdone by any means but so FUN!! This is one my favorite houses that you guys have crashed! Its just so different!!!
Wow- this is incredible and so creative. I absolutely love how she turned her house into such a creative, fun, serene, and inviting space in one!
Eeek– guess we crashed her blog. Can’t wait until it is back up and running!
I love the ladder idea. Very cool spaces.
Oh. my. gosh. Killing it with the shutter walls!!! Such a good idea. Although, I feel like every time I go to thrift stores all I can find is well, crap. What am I missing?? Love it. Love your house crashing posts!
Gorgeous colours! Not surprised we crashed her blog. Beautiful!
Love the Shutter wall! It’s done perfectly… I’m just in love with the whole room. It’s the perfect balance of color, texture, light, accessories… It should be in a magazine. The best part for me is the white and neutral walls (cabinets, tile, etc.) They serve as a great base for someone who likes to have fun and change things around. A ‘white board’ if you will! Thanks for sharing this inspirational home!
OK-This is my FAVORITE ever house tour!! Good grief I love so many things she did! I am hanging my old windows I was wondering how to use (just putting pictures in was not interesting me) in the bay window of my dining room-duh! Why didn’t I think to use them more “free hanging”?? And I already have to trek to Chicago area to get recycle bins for long car trips http://pinterest.com/pin/45599014950277907/
I think those curtains are a AWESOME idea for the MB!!
And those SHUTTERS! I am doing a house tour of my house this second trying to figure out how use that!!
BEST HOUSE CRASH EV-A!!
I think I saw this shutter wall in Country Living about a year ago! Maybe with a different table or different chairs though. I know I’ve been to her blog before as well because I’ve seen the half-chair shelves (love that!). I also love the ladder hung on the ceiling…
Great crash!
Yep – same wall, different table/chairs:
http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/dining-room-shutter-wall#slide-6
So much fun to see it with those chairs and table too!
xo
s
Wow! Best house crash ever! Totally different and I LOVE it!! Their unique style is refreshing.
I LOVE this house crash post. I love the fresh colors used throughout the house. They impart a feeling of tranquility and energy at the same time! I really like your comment in the beginning of this post about putting your mark on your home regardless of how it might affect the appeal of your home in the eyes of others. While I understand that people are constantly thinking about how their home might appeal to future buyers, the fact is that they are the ones who are going to be living there every day until that one day when you sell your house. Before that time comes, making it your own inspiring and restorative space is SO important. Thanks for those great words of wisdom. :)
I’ve seen that shutter wall somewhere (or one like it). I had to pin that ladder idea! That would be cool even on a porch or even in a kitchen as a pot holder!
Thanks for sharing!
Love every last thing about it!
I’ve seen a store counter that was completely covered in shutters before and swooned… but it’s even MORE impressive when it covers that entire wall. And the room still looks so light and airy – well done!
THAT SHUTTER WAY IS AMAZING!!! I’m so inspired, I almost spilled my coffee! I also love your intro, Sherry. “Leave your fingerprints all over that thing.” Our first house was nice and safe. I just recently moved into our second house and I just really want to go all in. Be funky. Be courageous. And see where that takes me! Anyway, thanks for sharing!
I mean “WALL”. I was way too excited to proof-read, apparently.
I love, love, love when people add thrifted pieces to their homes, especially when they’re vintage. But my fave has to be the shutter wall. It’s stunning!
Laura & I should become best friends immediately. JK ;) But seriously, LOVE what she’s done and will totally check out her blog.
That shutter wall is epic!
This may be my favorite house you have crashed thus far!
This house crash is my absolute fav of all time. Not only does it have personality, sentimentality and originality but you can tell it is full of intention. I will look at ordinary objects and layout in a whole new way thanks to this house. No limits. Well done!