Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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House Crashing: Cozy & Full Of Character

Who’s in the mood for some snooping? When Lori and her husband Greg (and their sweet son Owen) invited us over to crash their charming Richmond home, we jumped at the chance. Isn’t that little tin roof over the door awesome? I also love that the front steps are tiered on three sides instead of being closed in on the ends. Bet someone could DIY that…

Lori 1 Outside

Lori and Greg are actually veterans of the House Crashing experience. They had us over their first home back in 2010 (when both Lori and I were both prego). We loved that house so much that we couldn’t wait to see where they lived now…

Lori Last House Crash

… especially since in the time that we last crashed them they’ve had a son and were just on the cusp of having a daughter! Ellie actually came a little while ago, but Lori was still pregnant when we crashed her house. Apparently we only invade her home her while she’s with child.

Lori 1 5 Lori Out Front

The small world story is that they had a son named Owen just a few months after I had Clara and we hadn’t seen them for a few years. But now, by coincidence, Owen and Clara are preschool classmates. Seriously, we walked into school the first day and said “no way! how are you?!”

So while our kids were in school one morning, Lori had us over to check out their new has-room-for-two-kiddos home (we wanted to squeeze the house crash in before she had a newborn to work around). So here’s a shot of their pretty formal living room in the front of the house. The tall ceilings with thick detailed molding were awesome. Nearly all of Lori’s furniture is secondhand (hailing from Craigslist and thrift stores alike) which is always a really cool layered look – and of course it’s a nice budget-friendly method. She also loves to get accessories from places like HomeGoods and flash sale sites (the starburst mirror was scored at a deep discount from One King’s Lane).

Lori 2 Living Room

My favorite spot in the whole house was the more casual family room in the back of the house right off of the kitchen. See these built-ins? Lori and Greg hired a local handyman to build them to fit between those two windows and provide a ton of kid-friendly storage. So smart. You wouldn’t believe all the toys, games, movies and other clutter they’ve wisely hidden in those drawers & cabinets. I especially liked that they chose doors that are flush with the frame (it had a really clean look). And for anyone looking for a handyman, Lori said she found him through her realtor’s recommendation, so that method can actually work out.

Lori 3 Family Room

So even if you’re not able to build a giant TV cabinet yourself, it’s amazing how much input you can have by hiring someone local to make it (and it can often be cheaper than getting one made by a larger company, like KraftMaid or even buying a giant unit at Pottery Barn and paying a hefty shipping fee). You also get to pick the cubby sizes, the type of doors, the hardware, the paint color, the placement, etc – so it’s a great way to be involved and end up with something super functional and fitted to your home. Oh and see that coffee table? Lori got it at The Dump (the same local furniture outlet where we got our dining room table). The funny thing is that now stores like West Elm are selling tables like it, but she got it a while ago from a furniture discounter! I love that.

The kitchen is really open to the casual living room, so picture us taking this shot with our backs to the built-ins from the photo above. We loved that it had wood cabinets since so many of you guys request that we share house crashings beyond white kitchens (we share whatever we get invited to crash! haha!).

Lori 4 Kitchen

They had a nice dark granite to work with the cabinets (and dark hardware on the wood cabinets to tie it in) and the giant window over the sink was amazing. This shot does it no justice, but it’s a gorgeous wooded lot so Lori can basically watch birds and deer and pretend she’s Snow White while she washes dishes.

This little nook in the kitchen, to the left of the white table above, was one of my favorite little “moments” in the whole house. That gorgeous painting was by a local artist that Lori and Greg picked up a few months ago at the “READ Art Show” (held annually at the New Community School here in Richmond). I love the bright colors with the thin frame around it.

Lori 5 Cool Art

In person it’s about 100 times prettier. And those two skinny cork lamps were so cool and unusual on that pretty mid-century cabinet that Lori found on Craigslist and updated with new knobs.

Wanna see the cork lamps a little closer? They’re from another local furniture outlet called The Decorating Outlet (which is where we’ve found a lot of the lights in our house too, like the pendants in our kitchen and the capiz chandelier in Clara’s nursery).

Console Detail

This shot is what you see if you step about five steps to the left of the photo above, and it’s the hallway that leads from the front door to the kitchen. We loved the old industrial stool (a craigslist find!) and that huge cow painting (from a local shop called The Wild Orchid). And doesn’t that black door frame in the background look awesome?

Lori 6 Kitchen Cow Art

If you step further into the hallway you can see a little entryway table and a casual striped rug (which is another flash sale site find from One King’s Lane). The touches of black in the door, the letter on the wall, and the stripes in the rug were really pretty and understated I thought. Lori has this way of decorating that sort of screams “oh I just tossed this together” – especially in person. It really gives off an awesome not-too-fussy vibe. After all, two kids under two and a half live here, so it has to be functional and work for the family.

Lori 7 Hallway

Here’s a shot of their bedroom upstairs, continuing with the not-too-fussy theme. Doesn’t everything from the small sunburst mirror (another secondhand find) to those cool dark sconces and that orange pillow just feel warm and inviting without feeling extra frou-frou? The whole house has a very “we actually live here” vibe, which is awesome and comfortable. And those sconces also hail from The Decorating Outlet here in Richmond.

Lori 8 Master Bedroom

This pretty side chair on the other side of their bedroom was a secondhand score (Lori recovered the seat with some new fabric from a local fabric outlet called U-Fab). I love how those ikat-ish stripes in the fabric pick up on the darker elements in the room like the dark frames, the dark sconces above the bed, the dresser, etc. Just like in her hallway (two shots back) Lori has a way with using hits of dark colors just so (it never feels dark or brooding, just crisp and interesting).

Lori 9 Master Bedroom Chair

Here’s their bathroom and although they inherited a tub in the middle of the room set on a diagonal, Lori decided to work with what she had and just added a ton of function. So she had the same handyman who built that awesome media cabinet in her family room build the cabinets under those two windows on the back wall and she brought in that pretty dresser with the mirror above it for even more storage.

Lori 10 Master Bathroom

This is actually where she bathes her kids, so it’s nice to have that dark-drawered dresser (another thifty find from an old antique shop) to fill with kid-bath-stuff, while the white cabinets under the windows are used for seating and even more storage for her and her husband’s stuff. And going back to the dark hits of color thing that Lori does so well, see how she picked a dark-framed mirror and that dark-fronted cabinet to balance the dark vanities on the other side of the room? Love that.

Bathroom 2

Ellie’s room is awesome. This is how it looked before she was born – all floofed for the camera (of course the pillows and stuffed animals are out of the crib now that she’s here). And see that pretty crib? It’s from Pottery Barn – but she got it on Craigslist! Awesome right? She didn’t even need to paint it, it came that color.

Ellies Room1

The bunny art above the crib is something Lori found at a local store called Strawberry Fields, but the cool thing is that it’s actually by a local artist that John and I met at the craft fair last year. It’s a small world, eh? We love her stuff (Clara has the same bunny in the hall). And how cute is that felt mobile? It was an Etsy find.

Ellies Room2

Lori also got these cute book shelves on Etsy. I love the hot pink color and the way they play with the side table that Lori painted with a hot pink top. And that plush rocker below them is also a Craigslist find.

Ellies Room3

Owen’s room is awesome too. We were especially into this giant piece of art over his crib, which was actually a large piece of fabric that Lori stretched over a canvas and stapled around the back. It totally looks like a giant painting, right? The fabric is Marimekko for anyone wondering (it’s out of stock, but hopefully that link and the name might help you track it down on ebay or from another fabric wholesaler if you’re interested?).

Owensroom

There are sets of pretty pocket doors in a few places, like this one that looks into the guest room.

Lori 12 Guest Bedroom

Here’s that room a little closer. I love the old metal bed and the placement of it under the window with the peaked ceilings on either side of it. The cool thing about that bed is that it was Lori’s from childhood. Yup, she’s had it for nearly 30 years!

Guest Room

The same goes for the dresser, it’s from her room as a child and she didn’t even paint it (or the bed) – this is them in their original 30-years-old glory. Don’t you love the casual cottage-y feeling they add to the room? And of course I’m awkwardly obsessed with that glass based lamp (another secondhand find of Lori’s).

Guest Room Dresser

Looking through the other side of those pocket doors you can see a chill little office/playroom/sitting room.

Lori 13 Guest Bedroom Sitting Room

I loved these cool blue cube tables that Lori paired together (they’re from Home Decorators), along with framing a National Geographic map that she cut into nine parts on the back wall.

Office

So that’s Lori, Greg, Owen, and Ellie’s awesome home. We’re so grateful they invited us over to shoot some pics to share with you – and we hope you guys got a kick out of touring their home from the comforts of your chair/sofa. Want to play the favorite part game? I loved the pocket doors, the colorful art in the kitchen, and the awesome family room built-ins. Meanwhile John dug that clever fabric-made-into-art over Owen’s crib, the fact that most furnishings were secondhand finds, and also called those living room built-ins right along with me. Ok, your turn.

Psst- Let’s keep snooping! Click here to virtually walk around over 45 homes that we’ve crashed.

Comments

  1. CaraL says

    I love the pocket doors and the built-ins in the family room. How does she have time for all the DIY with two small children?!

    Reply

  3. Sarah says

    Their previous house was my ALL TIME FAVORITE crash!!

    And when I saw the little image with your Facebook post,I had thought how it looked like the same vibe.

    Funny to think it was the same people! And now I have a tied-for-first crash.

    Only question: What happened to the butcher block island from the first house? Please tell me you have it still!!

    Reply

  5. Kathy says

    Hi, its Kathy again wondering if Lori dropped in with the information regarding the gorgeous painting from the READ artshow? Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Lori has been dropping in answering questions so you can scroll back to see (there are a few pages of comments) if she has gotten to that yet. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

    • Lori says

      Mary Melton – I put a link to this year’s sale in your previous comment. You can probably find her contact information through READ. Good luck – we love her work!!

  6. heather says

    I adore cows, so it’s no surprise my favorite part is the cow painting. Yep, of *every possibly thing* I could like (which I do like other parts) the part I love most is the cow. Have you ever been nuzzled by a cow? It’s pretty much one of the best things ever, and funniest. I don’t really recommend nuzzling a cow, but I’ve had it done and it’s super awkward awesome time.

    Reply

  10. Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says

    I just ate that wooden stool in her bathroom. I ate it all up. Gobbled it down. Sorry, feeling very hyperbole today. But I love that stool. Did she mention at all where she got it? I’m now on the hunt for one.

    My best, Lynn

    Reply

  14. Jess says

    So funny. My friends moved into the old house. I’m visiting them in February and will see the beautiful butcher block. Can’t wait to do some snooping:)

    Ps. Love the bathroom!

    Reply

  15. Megan says

    But did they move the giant butcher block?!?! That was my favorite thing about their previous kitchen! I sooo want one. Maybe I can beg my aunt for her’s some day…

    Love the house crashing posts. I could look at homes all day long, every day.

    Reply

  16. Erika says

    I love the kitty cat getting a drink in the kitchen :)

    Those pocket doors and guest room are by far my favorite!

    Great idea to stretch fabric around a canvas. I would never have thought of that.

    Reply

  17. rachael says

    Gorgeous! Her first house was my favorite house crashing ever, so I’m loving this!!!!! Lori totally needs a blog, she has a real talent and eye for design!

    Reply

  18. J says

    Are those cat ears peaking out from behind the pillows on the couch in the living room? If so, I love that the kitty photo bombed you guys.

    Reply

  21. Stephanie M. says

    So jeolous of your “second hand” finds and those of Lori’s!! I live 6 hrs from Richmond, in WV, but rarely find those types if pieces. It seems that on Cragslist and our local Goodwill, there are only the junky, particle board types of stuff! #smalltownproblems I’ve even told my husband that we are going to plan a trip to Richmond just to thrift shop!!!

    Reply

  22. Lindsay says

    Many have said it before me, but this is one of my most favorite crashings as well! The decor, “livability” and comfort of this home whilst still staying chic is certainly something to strive for! We are getting ready for another move, from Seoul, S. Korea to Hawaii, so I can’t wait to have access to Craigslist again!! Their furniture choices are practical but stay unique. Where did they find their rugs? I loved all of them! Especially the one in the master bedroom!

    Reply

  23. Johanna says

    I have the exact bed frame as in their guest room!! It was my sisters when we were kids, she is 25! Love knowing there’s still another one out there :)

    Reply

  25. Isabel says

    Okay. I’ve been looking for those exact night tables/end tables in the guest bedroom. I’m excited to see they exist and would LOVE to know where they were purchased. Otherwise I’m may have to fly over and steal them. Kidding! not really…

    Reply

  28. Jennie says

    Really beautiful … Thank you to both J&S and Lori for sharing! My favorite part? The random kitty sightings throughout :) But seriously, lovely home, and a very enjoyable House Crashing!

    Reply

  29. Jessica says

    I love LOVE that butcher block in the kitchen of their first house. Where in the world do you find one like that (if you’re not lucky enough to inherit one that’s been lovingly used for generations)? I have looked and looked, online and in stores, and can’t find anything close. I have an island, but I would give it up in a minute for one of those.

    Reply

    • Lori says

      I found our old butcher block on (surprise, surprise) CraigsList. But it was actually listed in Raleigh – sometimes you have to be willing to expand your search if you’re looking for something really specific. Good luck!

  30. Nancy Y says

    So loverly (to quote My Fair Lady)! I know apartmenttherapy.com covers a lot of this territory but I’d love to see you guys occasionally house crash renters. What happens when you can’t change the house’s bones, paint the walls, or change flooring? Maybe renters don’t submit often enough but thought I’d make the suggestion since it is fun to also see ‘creative constraints.’

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’d love to! We are equal opportunity crashers, so we’d love for people to submit their rentals, townhouses, dorm rooms, air stream trailers, whatever! Haha.

      xo
      s

  31. Joy says

    What a gorgeous house overall. I’m especially loving that out-of-the-ordinary bathroom. The way they made the space work (with all that storage!) is beautiful.

    Reply

  33. Megan @ Two Live Colorfully says

    There is so much I love about this home! The striped nightstands, that gorgeous master bath! The whole house just looks so inviting. As much as I love the styled-up houses in magazines and design books, most of all I love houses that actually look like people live there!!

    Reply

  34. Meg says

    So, you only crash her when you’re BOTH expecting (or about to be…)?

    Kidding. Really. :) You know you’re a celebrity when you’re on bump!watch, though.

    Reply

  35. Rachel says

    I am in love. And I am seriously inspired by how much of these was secondhand and Craigslisted. Seriously. It gives me major hope that I can find beautiful things for my house on a budget. Wow – I’m so super stoked. I want to go look through everything on Craigslist right now, haha :)

    Reply

  37. Diana says

    This house is so different and yet so similar to yours: the styles are so far apart, but they fulfill the same need. The house fits and reflects the people who live in it. There are things I’d love to have/do from your house, there are things I’d love from this house. But mostly I just hope my house fits my family and me as much as yours fits you four and theirs fits them.
    And, to adress Lorri’s house, congratulations on achieveng something that is not for sale: harmony. Oh, and for having the tiny inhabitants!!

    Reply

  39. Lynn @thevintagenest says

    Loved peeking through the windows at your friend’s home. And it’s decorated beautifully with style and uniqueness. Being from the area too, I have frequented all the mentioned stores. All fun to browse in. The Jesus store is fun too.

    Reply

  41. Leslie in VA says

    Love their home! When time permits can you provide details on the cushions for the window seat? We built lots of them into our home and they are all without cushions. Thank you so much.

    Reply

    • Lori says

      Thanks! I bought the fabric at the Interior Outlet in Richmond (it’s the outlet store of Williams Sherrill) and had the cushions made by a great seamstress from my hometown of Chambersburg, PA. If you have a sewing machine and some talent, you could DIY them by buying cushion inserts and cutting them to fit from some place like Hobby Lobby. Hope that helps!

  44. Teresa @ wherelovemeetslife says

    I am loving how lived in their home seems. I even love that little stool she uses by the tub – and Owen’s crib. That’s a nice modern detail to offset other features of the house. She balances modern with old very nicely.

    Reply

  45. Michelle @ Lifewithacrazypup says

    What a beautiful house! Can I tell you something embarassing? Up until now, when you said you got something from The Dump, I’ve always assumed it was you know… the dump, the dump.. like a landfill dumpy dump. Now it’s all starting to make sense!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, so sorry for not making that clear! It’s a local furniture outlet – they have some pretty crazy things (hot pink leather recliners) and some great things hidden among the mix :)

      xo
      s

  46. Erica - From Millstones to Milestones says

    Wow – loved it all. What a beautiful home. Loved the large bathroom with the soaking tub.

    Reminds me of the rental I had years ago in an old home. When it was being renovated, one of the bedrooms was made into a bathroom/laundry room.

    It was ginormous – I still miss that bathroom!

    Reply

  47. MP says

    Definitely one of my favorite house crashes! I’m a sucker for warm yellow paint, and her house is full of it :-) Lori, if you stop by, could you share your yellow paint colors? Yellow is one of the hardest colors to get right. Also, not to be stalky, but what side of town do you live in (local Richmond person here!)

    Reply

    • Lori says

      Hi, and thanks so much! The previous owner picked the yellow paint during a remodel, so I’m not sure of the specific color. Sorry! We’re Southside – near Bon Air.

  49. MichelleR says

    Wow! This is definitely my most favorite house crashing to date. I love everything about it! They don’t have a blog? Bummer. I’d love to read/see more!!! I’m in love with this house.

    Reply

  50. Nina says

    the colorful painting reminded me of an artist i love- check her out on etsy! its all whimsical and light-hearted, and I’m sure Clara would love her favorite subject matter! She even has illustrated a children’s book featuring gee!

    http://www.etsy.com/listing/31549842/cirquey-giraffe-jennifer-mercede-print?ref=sr_gallery_25&ga_search_query=jennifer+mercede&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=handmade

    http://www.amazon.com/Gerry-Giraffe-Melissa-Northway/dp/0988308606

    Reply

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