Young House Love

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House Crashing: Calming & Clever

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?

Exterior Of Home In Reno Nevada

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.

Laura Sitting With Her Dog Emma Outside

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.

Entryway Display With Vintage Chairs Cut In Half And Mounted To Wall With Plants

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.

Dining Room With Accent Wall of Large Colorful Shutters

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.

Kitchen With Pendant Lights Made From Hanging Desk Lamps

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.

Passthrough With Console Table And Vintage Windows Hanging As Dividers

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.

Bed Made Cozy With Curtains Hanging From Ceiling To Mimic Canopy Bed

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.

Bathroom With Black and White Hex Tile Floor and Vintage Armchair

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.

Built-In Bathtub With Ladder Hanging On Ceiling As Plant Display

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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Click Here To Check Out Nearly 50 Other Homes We Crashed

Comments

  2. Katy Wolk-Stanley says

    Okay, that shutter wall is in-freaking-sane! I want to move into that house! Seriously, is she taking applications for being her fourth child?!

    Incredible creativity that’s not just mimicking what she’s seen on HGTV.

    Great job!

    Katy

    Reply

    • Danielle says

      “Incredible creativity that’s not just mimicking what she’s seen on HGTV”

      So true! I love seeing houses that aren’t just what HGTV tells your what’s in. True creativity (even if it’s not everyone’s style) makes your house YOURS.

  3. Janelle @ Two Cups of Happy says

    Weee! What a fun house to crash. There is so much personality packed in to this home. I am loving the casual ladder hung over the tub with the hanging plants. It gives a bit of a rustic touch to an almost all-white bathroom. So creative! And I also love the shutter wall – they are so much more unique than painting them all one colour.

    Reply

    • Alisha says

      Agreed. This is an amazingly pulled together house! Everything is inspiring. I am completely in love with the whole house color scheme (and that dining room can do no wrong!) That the homeowners didnt get pigeon holed into a “theme” or “trend” other than their own personality is so refreshing!

  5. Ashley says

    I love the way she has managed to make a somewhat newer looking home have a home-y sort of vintage and playful feel. We live in a built in the 90’s townhome, and this is a nice reminder that little vintage and fun touches can make the place feel a lot let “standard builders quality” and more personal.

    Love it!!

    Reply

  8. N Shirley says

    A beautiful house! Where do her children live with all that white? lol It really looks like a fun home to live in. I would love to see the childrens’ rooms! Thanks for sharing. With all that trim you two are painting I keep thinking of “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…” from “Finding Nemo”!

    Reply

  13. Anika says

    I think we might have overwhelmed Laura’s blog…it won’t open for me! Gorgeous place though, so clever and creative! The shutter wall is especially awesome!

    Reply

  16. Carmen says

    Love, love, love this house, it’s so full of fearless personality, and uniqueness. I love it when people say this is our house, I want it to reflect our personalities, to hell with decorating 101. It is an amazing space from the moment you walk in you know this is no ordinary staged house, It is a home :-)

    Reply

  17. Nina says

    LOVE! Is it just me or is anybody else having trouble with the links? Only one seems to work and when I get there and try to click onto her blog, I get an error message. Would love to see more!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh no, we might be bogging down her site with all of the incoming traffic. I bet if you try this evening or tomorrow it’ll be a lot less busy.

      xo
      s

  19. Brenda says

    Wow, I love the quirky, unique style going on! I am in love with that shutter wall. I love when people use furniture or objects in unexpected ways, like the ladder over the tub.

    Reply

  20. Shannon says

    OMG that shutter wall is insane. I am so in love with it. Going to try and talk my friend into that for their beach house…

    Reply

  22. Sarah says

    My favorite is the bathroom, I like the vintage feel of the tile and love the ladder to hang plants above the tub.

    Reply

  25. lauren says

    The Shutter Wall reminds me of Monsters Inc. with all the colorful doors. I love it and want to know what colors she used because they all compliment each other. I guess her blog might have it :)

    Reply

  26. Laurie says

    I’m torn between the fabulous bathroom (how relaxing does that tub area look?) and the kitchen. I love having things to look at while yakking away at a kitchen with friends. That looks like one entertaining kitchen!

    Reply

  27. First House Spouse says

    Whoa, that master bathroom is huge! Loving the shear curtains on the bed posts – although I have a feeling we would end up wrapping our feet around them and ripping ’em out of the ceiling on accident :) Those chairs on the wall are so…edgy, haha! Neat.

    Reply

  28. Terresa says

    wow, she has really got some style! and it is amazing how well her quirky things work in that particular house. I really love those old stools at the bar. Great job Laura and Dan:) Thanks for sharing some inspiration

    Reply

  29. Sarah says

    I love that bathroom! Especially the ladder and plants above the tub. I can’t wait to have a big enough bathroom to do something like that in!

    Reply

  30. Josie @ Inside the Hive says

    Oh my! Some of the most inspired and creative decorating I think I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure you could pull many of those things off in just any house but it looks amazing there. I can’t wait until their server gets unloaded so I can look at more!

    Reply

  32. Manda Wolf says

    How she ever looked at that curved wall and thought this needs chairs attached to it I will never know. I love the shutters; I think that would make a very cool headboard.

    Manda Wolf @ Our Wolf Den

    Reply

  34. Em says

    I wish you guys made it so that you could click the pictures to see them full-sized. I’d love to get a better/more detailed look at some of these pictures – especially the shutter wall.

    I’ve thought the same thing in some of your other posts as well – would be nice to be able to click the scaled-down picture to see it full sized.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We wish we could make the photos bigger too! This is actually their full size on our blog (uploading them any larger threatens to crash our server). So sorry! But over on her site they might be clickable or larger, so once it’s back up and running maybe try checking that out?

      xo
      s

  36. Roos says

    Just wanted to let you know that the links are not working. I get this ‘Error establishing a database connection’ error…

    Reply

  37. Claire says

    Pretty much love every single thing they did with this house. It’s really awesome! Totally my style. Well done!

    Reply

  41. Gem says

    Oh wow, this is an amazing house! I’d never be able to pull it off but I love it in theirs.

    I think we crashed their blog though.

    Reply

  43. Kara says

    Those chairs, the shutters, the upside-down lamp pendants all BLEW my mind. my husband and I were going to put in some floating shelves on a wall this summer, but I’m showing him this. Maybe we can get WAY more creative!

    Reply

  44. Amanda says

    Wow, well I now have 2 blogs to check out every day! I am crazy in love with everything about that house!

    Btw, it’s so cool that you all link to each other’s blogs. Even though the site is crashing I’m sure she really appreciates all of the amazing PR! Kuddos to you guys for sharing the spotlight with other talented folks! One more reason to fall in love with YHL.

    Reply

  45. Angie Mae says

    Yeah, I can’t stop staring at that dining room photo! Holy-beautiful! I love that they don’t hold back–they have an idea and just go for it! No fear! Heck, with decorating and DIY–if you don’t like it, just tear it down and re-do it! Right?

    Reply

  46. GreenInOC says

    LOVE this home! I would buy it (if they moved it out of Reno – too hot for me!!).

    I forfeit the “what’s your favorite thing” game, because I love everything!

    Reply

  47. Gina says

    OMG!!! This is one of the most creative houses I’ve seen in a long time! How CLEVER!! I love the chairs/shelves.

    Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

    • Kb says

      I agree. I am completely geeking out. I find the closed-off doorway especially clever.

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