Reader Design: Chrisi's Warm & Welcoming Home

Let's go to Utah, friends! We're off to see a mutt today who is truly one of our home. Chrisi is a wife and mother of five who has crafted a home that's perfectly warm and welcoming but impossible to identify with one particular style. 

Ready? Let's go!

From Chrisi:

“I would definitely say that my “style” isn’t easily defined. I am more of a “mutt” when it comes to zoning in on my preferred style. I am all across the board. I try and use all the elements of all different styles that I love and tie them all together. I dabble in modern, traditional, farmhouse, and boho. If i had to define my style it would be eclectic. I love how an eclectic space doesn’t have to be one thing from room to room but more of a tapestry of different tastes all sewn together. ”

Despite pulling from various styles, Chrisi keys her eye on the prize: paying homeage to the heritage of this home, reinvigorating it with life and color, and making this place the perfect home for her family. 

One of the rooms that underwent the biggest makeover was the kitchen, but it's also Chrisi's favorite room - and is a place she would decide to splurge on over and over again!

“I would say that the kitchen is truly the heart of the home and, more importantly, it has the most wear and tear! It is also one of those things that you will always see return on investment on. We dumped the bulk of our money into the kitchen. We spent quite a bit of money having a 900 lb. 26 foot long steel beam put in to open up the space and no part of me regrets that. We had an IKEA kitchen installed (which I will always love until the day I die) but had custom cabinet faces made from Semi-hand made. Ikea didn’t have any cabinet faces that we loved so of course we spent the extra money to get EXACTLY what we wanted which ended up being a navy island and the rest of the cabinetry is white! I think its more important to put money into the kitchen that you want then just putting together a sub par space for the heart of your home. ”

All that intention helps to create a space that feels about right and authentic for the people who live in it.

“I am a mother of five children and a wife which means that the MOST important overall “feel” for the house that I was trying to accomplish is warmth. I would say that having a unique design and staging a home beautifully will only take you so far but its the overall feeling of “warmth” that really turns a “house” into a home. More than that though, when I designed the home I tried to incorporate space that was defined only by the furniture. I wanted one open floorpan that flowed easily from space to space. This was especially important for us because our home was so small to begin with. We had to try to utilize as much square footage as possible. ”

Chrisi, thanks for bringing us in to share your space, if only on the internet. Follow Chrisi along on Instagram @hellohammer.

Reader Design: Jessica's Vibrant Space

Well folks, somehow we're now in 2018. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break because 2018 is here with a vengeance. 

Take New England for instance, the home of today's reader design tour. It's currently piled with two feet of snow! Thankfully, Jessica has her vibrant and eclectic home to keep her warm! 

A little about Jessica:

“I live in a 1934 Craftsman Bungalow home with my dashing husband, Christopher, our dopey mutt, Murphy, and silly dog-like cats, Marla and Sylvester. We’ve been here for just over four years, the last year being the most significant design-wise inside. Since then, I’ve taught myself how to hang french doors, rebuild floor molding, and board and batten. I believe you can build anything with a nail gun. My design eye was heavily influenced by my Mom’s desire to create cozy interiors throughout my life. Apparently we had a knack for feng shui and didn’t even know it. I keep at a design until I get it balanced and just right.

My home has rapidly evolved more in tune with my personality over the past year. For years, I had well-loved hand me downs, but I’ve begun to embrace (and trust my gut about) a wilder, more vibrant feel. I’ve always been an eclectic collector and a lover of color. I’m an avid fan of the glammy ‘20-30s, mid century, and the boho vibes of my grandmother-in-law’s Southern California home. I love idea of challenging myself to combine my BBB (big, bold & beautiful) antiques/thrifted goods with my husband’s California roots. My home has since grown into a modern-eclectic-glam abode that’s super cozy to all who enter.”

In the dining room, Jessica paired a Spanish revival sideboard she found at a tag sale with a custom 7' poplar table by Mason Dixon Handmade and vintage brass bar cart. Jessica's husband lovingly jokes that the home is "a modern Italian dream based in 1970s Miami," and no room says it better!

This place is just chalk-full of meaningful finds, 'more is more' design, and elements that satisfy all five senses - specifically "incense, good tunes, the velvet blue Article sofa, pretty pattens, and all the home cooking." There are also fun collections that Jessica has accumulated over time, almost by accident, of globes, decanters, and candlesticks. So much to please the eye, and the heart!

If there was a perfect place to wait out this storm, this would have to be it. Thank you for inviting us in, Jessica! Follow Jessica along on Instagram @imjessicabrigham for more.

See you next week,

Reader Design: Heather's Blended Digs

We're edging closer and closer to 2018, and the start of a new year always brings with it both excitement for the future and reflection on the past. How appropriate that today we're headed to a home that expertly blends old and new, keeping with the trends of today while paying homage to timeless design and craftsmanship. 

Let's head off to Heather's home near Minneapolis, Minnesota!

From Heather:

“I would describe my style as transitional with a heavy mid-century modern bent and a bit of boho thrown in. I truly am a style mutt in that I love old mixed with new, colors mixed with neutrals, and fall somewhere in the middle of the minimalist/maximalist spectrum.

I long for my home to be a safe place for all who enter. I want it to be warm and welcoming. My main goal in decorating is making our home a place where people feel comfortable to be themselves, which sometimes means I sacrifice form for function. It’s one thing for your home to look beautiful in photos, but it’s a whole other thing for it to feel beautiful to people. For a space to feel like it’s cozy and for it to function well is equally, if not more, important than how it looks.”

“My husband and I spent a couple weekends removing the cabinets on this wall, hanging removable wallpaper, and installing the shelves. To-date, I think it’s my favorite home update we’ve done. It took our kitchen from outdated, dark, and closed off, to open, airy, and modern.

I believe in updating, renovating, and decorating within your means. If you don’t have the time or money to do a project, then don’t stress about it! Do what you can with what you have where you’re at. That means that you may need to do smaller, short-term fixes until you have the budget for a larger renovation (like we did in our kitchen). Or it may mean that you embrace a part of your home that doesn’t feel perfect, but is good enough. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful!”

Heather and her husband took their time with this space and made it perfectly their own. It's the ideal spot to cozy up in the Minnesota weather to come. Heather also did this design consciously which can be so hard to do - financially and aesthetically. 

“I tend to be pretty thrifty when purchasing home decor, but one thing that I am willing to splurge on more than others is original art. Pieces that aren’t mass-produced are so special, and getting to support the artists who create them is a gift. But if you don’t have it in your budget to splurge on original artwork, thrift and antique shops can be a great resource for you! I recently found this seascape at our local thrift shop for $4, and I love the character it adds to our bedroom!”

Thanks for the tour today, Heather! 

Follow Heather along on Instagram @mysahomestyling for more! All photos shot by Lana Douglas of 1987 Photography. Check out Lana's photography on Instagram at @1987photography.