Quick update: Today we’ll be getting cozy in Boston at the West Elm on 160 Brookline Avenue for cookies, cocoa, and a book signing at 6pm. More info here. We’d love to see ya there!
We shared a sneak peek of this House Crashing adventure in our post about Cincinnati, and we finally sifted through the 200+ photos that we took to get this post together for ya. So let’s let ourselves in, shall we?
Did you see the little welcome note right on that happy yellow door? So cute, eh? And I love the three glass panes in that door. As for who lives here, meet Rick and Jessie. They were literally the sweetest folks we met the entire time we were in Cincy. Not only did they wait for us for over an hour at our hotel when our plane was delayed (eeks!), but they were so nice for the entire few hours we spent with them (since we didn’t have a car in Cincinnati they drove us to their house, chatted me up while John shot the place, and then drove us back to our hotel). So we’re officially “real friends” since we spent so much time bonding. Haha. But enough chit-chat. Let’s get to their awesome casa.
There were lots of homemade touches around the house, like this cool mason jar vase hanging from a rustic wood coat hook next to the yellow front door (which is painted in Valspar’s Santa Monica Blvd).
As for their kitchen, you might recognize it from this Reader Redesign. It’s always fun when someone invites us to crash them after we’ve seen one of their room makeovers, and let’s just say the rest of the house was just as awesome as their amazing kitchen (which was so much fun to see in person).
The cabinets are Ikea and they hung them all themselves as well as selecting things like butcherblock for the island and gorgeous soapstone for the rest of the counters.
This picture doesn’t do it justice (it looks a lot more “loud and swirly” than it really was in person – it was very subtle and sophisticated). It’s this gorgeous dark stone that looks like honed black granite but they said it’s really easy to take care of (no issues with staining or scratching so far). We’ve heard dark honed granite can be a bit higher maintenance, so soapstone sounds like a great alternative.
Where they built in their fridge they also added a framed out chalkboard, which was so sweet. The funniest part was that it said “we love the sun in our house” but ironically we were shooting just after the sun went down thanks to that delayed flight (our first house crash ever without natural light) – but we’re so thankful that we still got a bunch of good shots. It’s kinda hard not to when a house is this charming. How sweet is that yellow stool?
Here’s a shot from the kitchen looking towards the dining space they’re working on. They’re going to build in a bench against the wall for sort of a banquette feeling and add some giant art on the wall between those floating shelves that they hung. And that sweet striped runner is from Dash & Albert.
They also had this awesome wood wall in their living area that John and I loved. And everything from the media cabinet that they painted themselves to the homemade art (where they showcased dates that were important to them) had us grinning like fools. It really was one of those awesomely personalized homes.
There’s also a little desk area across from the wood wall in the living room, with a cheerful green filing cabinet and some more handmade art.
I love that yellow glass lamp (from World Market) with the swirly canvas behind it.
In the hallway, their homemade ruler that they use to measure both of their girls had us smiling (which Jessie actually did as one of our Pinterest Challenges).
Rick and Jessie have two daughters, and their youngest one’s room was full homemade art (framed craft paper)…
… and a homemade mobile…
… while their other daughter’s room had things Clara would totally go nuts for (check out that amazing play kitchen!!!!).
This plastic animal art was especially awesome. Yup, I totally had a moment with it. Love. Jessie actually got the idea here and did her own spin here.
So there you have Jessie and Rick’s charming home. We are SO GRATEFUL to them for waiting for us and being such amazing hosts while we traipsed around taking photos and chatting their ears off. You can see more over on their blog, but first let’s play the favorite part game. We all know I’m crazy about the animal art but I also love love love that play kitchen and those dark soapstone counters. And John was especially enamored with the apron sink and the modern dark window trim above it in the kitchen.
Psst- Don’t wanna stop snooping around? You can check out dozens of House Crashing adventures right here.
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
the pops of yellow are awesome!!!
Shauna Fisher says
wow. I love this! I want a more unique home, that is more personal, but I’m having a hard time knowing even where to start. As a new idea: you should start a housecrashing tour and makeover a room in someone’s house and show them how to do stuff like this! Yes, I am first in line…come help me do my house!
Mary Ann says
The night before this post I was hunting for your earlier Reader Redesign highlighting their kitchen. I would LOVE to open up my kitchen to the living area as they have done, but now that I have a fuller picture of the layout of this home, I can see that it would not achieve the same effect in our space. Thanks for the extra camera angles!
Chris says
Wow loved this place. I have pinned a few things in their house not even knowing.
Thresha says
This is such a cute house!! My favorite part is the wall behind the entertainment center.
Jessica says
I absolutely love that ruler! I cannot wait to recreate that and use it to track my son’s measurements!
Carolyn Coulter says
This is a LOVELY home! Just lovely!
That said, I wish you’d crash a house that doesn’t look pretty much just like yours, as the last two have.
YoungHouseLove says
We have some awesome ones in the hopper (one is an old farm house with high ceilings out in the country and one is a mid-century house with tons of retro details like unprinted paneling that actually looks cool!!). So excited to share them- we love all houses equally! Haha.
xo,
s
Carolyn Coulter says
One more comment — it would be nice to see photos that show the entire room, rather than so many detail shots. For example, there’s no shot of the living room as a whole, which means the reader (viewer?) has to scroll up and down to get a sense of what’s where in the room.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we do our best to capture the house as well as we can. Sometimes in challenging lighting situations (ex: it was dark when we shot this due to a plane delay) some of the whole room shots don’t turn out as well. So we just pick the shots we think look great and show off the features we think you’ll love- but we definitely aim for as many wide shots as we can get in there!
xo
s
Amelia R. says
I love LOVE the combination of modern and arts&crafts elements in their home. What a beautiful labor of love!
Ellie says
Thought you’d be interested to know that “Animal Butt Magnets” are available from Kikkerland! Look like they’re made from the back ends of those same kinds of little plastic animals, but not spray painted. Wonder what they did with the fronts? However, you can obviously make them yourself: once you’ve gone to all the trouble of cutting them in half, you could certainly butt-magnetize the other halves!
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious!
xo,
s
Kim M says
Neeeeed this kitchen blind for my home. Any ideas where it came from?
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s hoping Jessie drops in with that info!
xo
s
Jessie @ Cape 27 says
We DIYed the shade in the kitchen. It was a no-sew project. Super easy! More on that here (http://www.cape27blog.com/2012/05/kitchen-sources/). Hope that helps!
Jessie
Amanda says
Love this blog – humour splashed throughout it, makes it all fun. The renos are beautiful. I feel inspired. Thank you
Joseph says
OMG, this is the prettiest house crashing I think I’ve ever seen.
Marie says
Loved the tour! Thanks!! Are the grey wall colors the same throughout the house (nursery, dining, hall with the ruler)? I would love to know what they are! Had trouble finding them on Jessie’s blog.
YoungHouseLove says
Hope she drops in with that info!
xo
s
Jessie @ Cape 27 says
Hi Marie,
Yep, the walls are the same throughout those areas. The color is Ben Moore’s Gray Husky :)
Jessie