Before the Homearama show concluded this weekend, we slipped through on Friday with Teddy strapped into our baby carrier (Clara was with the grandparents) so we could check out the homes with visitors in them. It was fun to chat with show-goers, see our pantry getting filled up with food donations, and we even spotted a note someone left us on a notepad in the girl’s room of our house. But perhaps the most exciting thing we got to see in person was the People’s Choice Award that our house won! The votes were very close, and all of the other homes were so well done. It’s hard to put into words how much we’ve learned from this year-long experience. It has been such an honor to be involved.
Even though the show is over, we’ve still got more of our virtual tour to complete. Today we’re tackling the most playful spaces in the home: the kids’ bedrooms, their shared bathroom, and the playroom/reading room.
Let’s kick things off in the boys room (i.e. “Bedroom 3” on the floor plan). The walls are Moonshine by Benjamin Moore and the major focal point of the room is the built-in bed area. As a reminder, the show was really all about showing what the builder and his team could do (so specific carpentry updates were encouraged, just to keep the show interesting and showcase the possibilities to customize each home – even though they’re hardly one-size-fits-all modifications). This built-in fits a twin bed, which we covered with Target bedding, plus a couple of pillows from Ikea. If the future homeowner eventually wants a larger bed, a full or a queen could stick out into the room with the addition of a simple platform – and some rolling under-bed drawer storage could be added to offset those two drawers under the twin mattress that would no longer be accessible.
This desk is from Ikea but we scored it second-hand thanks to craigslist. The orange stool and wire basket are from Target (we wish the stool were a little shorter, but since it’s for an imaginary kid and we loved the bright color we let it be). The rope lamp and the star light are both HomeGoods finds – and the Legos throughout the room are from my own childhood collection (thanks for saving them all these years mom!).
The wood crate around the star was actually just its packaging from HomeGoods, but when we held it up we liked it there so we kept it. It filled out the space more and created a little ledge for a Lego meeting.
Our favorite part of the built-in bed was this raised nook area, which we all started calling the “Crow’s Nest” for some reason. We brainstormed these built-ins with John the Builder and John the Carpenter (not to be confused with me, John the Lego Hoarder) and they were instrumental in making it happen. Seriously, John the Carpenter and his crew are amazing. In fact, he found the rolling library ladder online somewhere and even used some old pipe fittings when we learned that top rail was going to put us over budget. The bug pillow and blue fabric up in the nook are both from Ikea. We didn’t have a chance to get something custom upholstered for that space, but a dog bed at HomeGoods miraculously fit the area nearly perfectly (which we wrapped in that Ikea bug fabric). The overhead light is from our Shades of Light collection.
We stocked the bookshelves with random stuff, but my favorite was the “Viking Octopus” plush toy that was loaned to us by our friend Phil Barbato. Because why wouldn’t an octopus also be a bearded viking?
You can see our fun patterned carpet pretty nicely in this shot. It’s from a local place called ProSource, but the style is Stanton’s Revere in Silver. We thought it’d be fun to do something interesting with the carpet in at least one of the rooms since most of the spaces had hardwoods except for a few of the bedrooms (John the Builder said his average buyer seems to prefer that mix).
On the other end of the bed there’s more drawer storage, plus a big wardrobe. We left it empty so the future owners could decide if they wanted more shelving in there or an extra clothing bar. There’s a closet on the other wall, so it’s bonus storage space either way.
The two kids bedrooms are connected by a shared Jack-and-Jill bathroom, which is pretty light/neutral itself (so that it flows between the two distinct bedrooms without feeling too disjointed). The walls are Simply White, the floors are a white lantern tile (found locally at a Mosaic tile) with gray grout so they hold up to kids a little better, and our colorful “moment” in here was the big vanity cabinet which was painted Courtyard Green by Benjamin Moore.
There’s also a wall-to-wall mirror with the light fixture and faucets coming through it. The faucets sit above a double trough sink that’s recessed into the white corian counter top (which makes it look shallow in this photo, but it’s plenty deep). It was awesome to hear from a bunch of show-goers that the big sink and those mirror-mounted faucets were their favorite things since they were definitely one of the more specific choices we made. Oh and the towels and bath accessories are from Target.
As you can see reflected in the picture above, behind the sink area is the bath/shower/toilet part of the bathroom, and we added some bonus storage via this shelf above the toilet. Once again, it was built by John the Carpenter (way back when the house was being roughed in last fall we had to plan for this shelving and have them set the toilet plumbing further from the wall to make room for it). The framed poster is from Help Ink.
John also added this slatted wainscoting for us, which we thought contrasted nicely with the more ornate tile floor.
You saw a sneak peek of the shower back when it was half done, but we use two colors of glass tile (Snow Glass and Glass Winter from The Tile Shop) to create chunky stripes. The showerhead is one of these bluetooth connected speakers from Kohler since we figured kids would get a kick out of that. Heck, now we want one.
Here’s the other added sliver of storage that we worked into the room: a little towel nook behind the shower that we filled out with some rolled Target towels.
Let’s move on to our girls room. Fun fact: one of the most interested buyers for this house has two sons, so they’d adjust this room to work for a son instead of a pretend daughter (and you know Sherry will beg them to let us house crash them down the line). Anyway, we got our big window cornice installed, which was built by U-Fab in this fabric. We also mixed up the beside table situation (going for a blue Target side table and a yellow garden stool from HomeGoods), scooted the bed further into the middle of the room, added more pillows and a blue throw to the bed, hung some casual art, and even added some surprise string lights (more on those in a second).
We can’t forget “Princess Truthful” (the chicken painting loaned by our friend Lesli Devito) who is perched above the thrift store headboard (painted Hydrangea Flowers by Benjamin Moore), which is all against the Royal Design Studio stenciled wall (it’s Hibiscus over Simply White walls). Here’s a closer shot of the wall pattern, plus a glass based lamp from Target.
Now let’s shift over to our double desk. Not only does it add some nice concealed cabinet storage to the room (along with a big double closet that’s on the wall across from the bed) but it’s a nice big work surface. A lot of you weighed in on which two stations we should style it with (people tossed out things like a makeup area, a spot for art, a sewing zone, a homework area, etc) and we settled on an art station on one side (complete with a terrible tree painting by yours truly) and a homework side with notebooks and room for a laptop or desktop monitor but it’s really flexible so we’re interested to hear how the future owners use it down the line. You might remember that the chairs were rescued from a thrift store (we painted and upholstered them) and the pillows were from HomeGoods.
Now let’s get into the string lights. We wanted to do something with the small vaulted area of the ceiling above the desk, so we ordered a 50-foot strand of white cafe lights and strung them up on white cup hooks.
We had the electrician add an outlet up there for them to plug into, which connects to a switch by the door. They’re barely noticeable when they’re off, but are a fun surprise when they’re turned on. It was awesome to hear people’s reactions when they stepped into the room and noticed them during the show.
Speaking of the door, here’s a quick shot of that side of the room. It has some casual art taped up with washi tape, a framed poster from Ikea over the dresser, and one of our rail hooks from Target that we customized by the door.
When you head out that door, you end up back in the hallway near the playroom / reading room which sits behind two sliding french pocket doors. That way it can be an open family space when needed, or it can be closed off for quiet reading.
The prints in the hallway next to the door are from Ikea (they came in a pair).
The playroom walls are painted Dragonfly (by Ben Moore) and we originally planned to have the built-ins that were made by John the Carpenter painted that color too, but the painters missed that memo and they ended up white. When we walked though we decided the room felt good that way, so in the end it was a happy accident. The art on the wall to the right is from World Market and the wood plaque on the left is a thrift store find.
We also contemplated staging this space with a media console to look like a video game room, but decided to keep the layout a little simpler – just a low table (this one donated by West Elm) and two poufs that we bought from Target for playing games of the non-video variety. The rug in here is from Dash & Albert.
Fun fact #2: we actually crazy glued the Monopoly pieces down after worrying that small kids might end up swallowing them (a prospective buyer with four kids came through before the show and her youngest daughter “taught” us that lesson – thank goodness she didn’t actually succeed in her mission to digest a few houses).
This room also has a big shelved closet off to the left-hand side for game storage and what-not. Clearly we went light on the styling, but we clutter up enough closets in our own house that I didn’t feel the need to demonstrate that “skill” here.
And with that dramatic game closet conclusion (I kid) we’ll end this 30-picture post. We hoped to include the other six remaining spaces, but we’re 2,000 words in and it’s clear that we need one more post to wrap this thing up – so that’s coming up for you next week, along with a video walk-thru that we shot.
Thanks to everyone who came to check out the showhouse in person, donated money to Habitat, left canned goods in our pantry, and cheered us on during this decorating marathon of sorts. Couldn’t have done it without you. Oh and as for what Teddy thought of the showhouse when we took him to check it out for the first time outside of the womb… the kid slept the whole time.
Psst – Wanna see more showhouse info & photos? Click here for Our Full Showhouse Tour, which includes final pictures of every room, the floor plan, budget info, a video walk-through, and shoppable showhouse furniture & accessories.
Loey says
The house is gorgeous. So now that it’s over, would you ever want to build your own house? Also What happens to all the accessories? Do you return them to the store or does the home owner get to purchase? Curious how that works? And it sounds like from the post someone has bought the house? That will be cool to see how the house looks after a real family moves in.
YoungHouseLove says
There’s an interested buyer (a few I think, but one who seems the most gung-ho) but nothing is signed yet or anything. As for if we’d ever build, we’re in love with our current house for the long haul, but building was fun too. Completely new ballgame to fixing up an older home. As for the furniture and accessories, they either get returned to vendors who loaned them out, given to charity (the Habitat Humanity ReStore) or the builder might reuse things that came out of his budget for future homes.
xo
s
Phoebe K says
Y’all, this house is out of hand. It’s so gorgeous, and good for you for doing it for charity. Wish I lived closer, I would have loved seeing it in person!
Do you happen to know what kind of plants you have in the window boxes out front? I saw them in the video and I love the vine-y tendrils.
YoungHouseLove says
Aren’t those pretty?! They’re some sort of vine, but I forget the name. Anyone recognize them for Phoebe?
xo
s
Carrie K says
They look like vinca vines to me!
Roxanne M says
WOW! Absolutely stunning. Really enjoyed the video too, gave a great sense of the whole house and all the amazing work you did. Well done! :) I want to live in every single room!
Andrea Enright says
I’m dying over that video of Clara in the Crow’s Nest! What a cutie! And can’t wait for the full walk-thru!
Kristin says
My husband and I made a Friday-night-after-work last minute decision to roadtrip to Richmond from WV this weekend. I’m so glad we did. After months of reading your posts about the showhouse and imagining how neat it would be to see in person, I swear all I could think while we walked through is, “IT’s HAAAAAPPENING!”. We really had a great time. Our very favorite part? The animal prints in the kids’ bathroom. While other people were busy looking at the sink and tile (also great), we were the nerds in the bathroom giggling about the rhino with a pipe. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny?! John loves those too. So glad you guys could make it out!
xo
s
Kim says
Very cute, guys! Just to let you know, I think you have a typo talking about the playroom. You said it can me closet off. I was thinking, “It can be made into a closet???”
Love the floor tiles in the bathroom!
And also, if Max and Clara were in the same preschool, they would be two peas in a pod! He totally does the wiggle his head make silly noises, talk in a high-pitched voice thing too. Though he already has bunk beds, I’m trying to figure out where we could build a crow’s nest somewhere in our house for him!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Kim! Fixed that typo – and Max sounds adorable.
xo
s
Sarah @ Sarah's Daybook says
I realllllllllyyyyyy loved your showhouse. I was so impressed by everything! I loved that in the boy’s room the notebook said “Joey Petersik” and the girl’s room the metal things said Alice, got that reference immediately! So sweet. I swear, if the dining room was a little bit bigger, my mom would have bought it. Well, happy for the soon-to-be actual buyers! I would also have to agree with Clara that the “crow’s nest” was the best part of the house. It was awesome.
Designing everything seems like so much fun. I hope to one day do something like that! You guys are such and inspiration to me and I want to thank you so much for working so hard for sharing all that you do. Oh, and thanks to your suggestion on the color I FINALLY got my bathroom painted! Holla!
Sarah
http://www.sarahsdaybook.wordpress.com
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Sarah!
xo
s
Liz || Shopping My Closet says
Love what you did with the built in bed and the storage area. And, love the faucets in the bathroom!
Liz @ http://www.shoppingmycloset.com
Brooke says
I am so impressed with this house! You guys should be very proud of yourself! My husband and I just finished building our home and we ran the project ourselves and it was So. Hard. Very worth it, but I’m not sure I’d ever do it again! :) There are a million decisions to make and it’s so easy to second guess yourself. I question a handful of our choices everyday. That said, I truly think you guys hit it out of the park! I wouldn’t change a single thing. What you just accomplished was a HUGE undertaking and you guys should both feel very proud.
xoxo,
Brooke
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Brooke!
xo
s
McCaulie says
Beautiful!! Just curious…when a lucky family buys this creatiful and lovely home, are they also purchasing all the furnishings and decor? I know you mentioned that some things were “borrowed”
YoungHouseLove says
They’re just buying the house itself, since most of the furniture and stuff was borrowed or donated (which will then be paid forward to Habitat, etc). Although, since we outfitted the house with a lot of mainstream store items (from West Elm, Green Front Furniture here in VA, HomeGoods, Target, etc) it could be replicated I think! And even the art is for sale (so the new buyer can purchase that).
xo
s
Berry says
Looks fantastic ! May I ask where you found this cute yellow French mailman van ?
YoungHouseLove says
That was HomeGoods!
xo
s
Joseph says
Possibly long comment incoming:
As a fellow Lego hoarder I need you to please tell me you took those Legos back home with you. I didn’t check to see if they were glued down but when I saw them I wondered if some kid would make off with them.
Speaking of gluing things down my wife was appreciative of the Monopoly board pieces. Less because she was concerned our son might swallow them and more because it meant we didn’t have to worry that he would make a mess in there.
I talked with someone from Biringer Builders (I got the feeling it might have been John though I neglected to get his name) and have to say that if I ever get the privilege of getting a house built (an option I would love) I will definitely be looking their direction. I was so impressed with how much they care about good design.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet Joseph! So glad you guys could make it out to see everything. We didn’t take the legos home yet but from what we hear (and what we saw on Friday) nothing seemed to be missing! And I bet you talked to John the Builder while you were there (young-ish, dark hair, really friendly). He’s the man.
xo
s
Joseph says
Yep, that was him! He seemed like he would be really cool to work with. We were talking about the rain chains and about the choice to go shutterless and use that awesome chunky trim around the windows instead.
Phew, glad the Legos made it. Those are from the golden age.
Roxine says
Love that “the People” agree with all of us — the house is amazing! Now, you should autograph that Monopoly board and put a frame around it for the new owners of the house. It would make a great piece of art with the glued-on game pieces.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Sandy says
Congratulations on the People’s Choice award! So well deserved!
BeccaK says
Contrasted nicely *with*, not *from* (sorry – just wanted to point that out!). I absolutely adore the playroom – love the color, the built-ins, everything!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Becca, all fixed!
xo
s
Trudy says
Hey guys. AWESOME space! Totally fresh, fun, and still sophisticated and polished. Love the kitchen island accordion lights! I hope you’ll do a whole “show house” page on your House Tour page. First House, Second House, Current House, Show House! So it’s easy to find when your fans are doing rooms?
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to do that!
xo
s
Minna says
The built ins in the play/reading room are EXACTLY what I want in my daughters room. Think we could get John the Carpenter to come up to NY?
YoungHouseLove says
I’ll send him right up ;)
xo
s
Sally G says
I’m glad that you left the playroom a quiet space. I feel like the opportunities for quiet are so few and far between. I love TV as much as the next person, but sometimes I wish I had an inviting, TV free space like that in my house. Love this house. It’s just all around genius. :)
Bailey says
It’s a dream house, guys. I would feel like royalty if I lived there!!
Stephanie says
I love the playroom! Im really glad there was a happy accident. I also love the turquoise pillows in there! If you ever tire of them I will totally buy them from you guys! I have loved them for oh so long! But seriously I will pay you for them!
Ashley says
You guys did a great job and I’m so jealous! I love the choice you made on the doorknobs. I am a huge advocate of keeping the old look with the new and these doorknobs are perfect- I even heard an older man in his 60’s comment on them while I was touring the home. Can you post the link to where the doorknobs were purchased? Also, do you have any plans to add a tab or section where all of the Homerama posts can be found(maybe under house crashing or home tour)? Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Ashley! We’d love to add the showhouse to our House Tour page (hopefully in the next few weeks) and as for the knobs, we got those through a local company called Interiors 2K.
xo
s
Carly says
I love it! Can’t wait to see more of the dining room, laundry room, and guest room! You did a great job!
Mary | Lemon Grove Blog says
Man alive, I like this house more and more with every post. Loving the playroom and the details (that door!) in the space. Kudos to y’all on a job well done!
Heather says
The string of lights in the girls room was one of my favorite surprises throughout the house. Such a sweet room.
It was also fun to count how may copies of your book I saw throughout. I counted 4 ;) The colorful spine worked so well with the décor. I ask that your next book have a similar colored spine so I can keep them together in my house. =)
Your house totally deserved that award. It was simply amazing.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks Heather!
xo
s
Stephanie says
Your house is gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the dining room before watching that video, but I love it!!!
Robyn Hudson says
Congratulations on the awards! You deserve them! I LOVE this house; of all the houses in the show it definitely looks like the most fun and homely. If I was ever in a position to build a house (awaiting that lottery win…) I’d be using this as inspiration- it would probably stick out like a sore thumb in my little English town but it is so fabulous I wouldn’t even care! ;-)
Will you being doing the show again next year?
YoungHouseLove says
They’ve already started working on next year’s show, but with little Teddy we’re not ready to bite that off quite yet, so maybe another year down the line!
xo
s
Diane says
We drove down from DC this weekend to go to the show. I was able to make it a family trip since my brother lives in Richmond. It was great actually seeing what you wrote about in your blog live. I told my sister-in-law, “that’s Burger, their dog in the picture over the fireplace”. Your outdoor living space was the best!! Little girl’s room. Loved it!! Congratulations on winning the People’s Choice award. You deserved it.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Diane! So glad you could make it down!
xo
s
BarbaraBee says
John/Sherry
I drove all the way from Washington, DC to see your showhouse and it did not disappoint. Your pictures are nice but they really do not do the house justice. It was fabulous, fresh and fun! I could see and feel all the time and attention put into it. Out of all the houses this one made my top two. The one to the right of yours was the other house I liked.
There were a couple of homes that were impeccable on the main level but the upstairs level(s) fell flat. Overall, the drive was well worth it.
I SO wish I could have bought your showhouse house and brought it back to DC with me.
Cheers.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much BarbaraBee! So glad you could make it down to see everything!
xo
s
Sloan says
I LOVE what you guys did in all the rooms, such great inspiration! I am a local and remember you saying that you might be donating some of the furniture and/or accessories to the Habitat Restore here in Richmond? Are you guys still planning on doing that? If so, when? Thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s definitely still the plan, although we’re not sure when they’ll get there (or if it’ll be over a few shipments). We’d love to post a head up when we know more!
xo
s
Meghan says
Can you please incorporate these gems into your next show home? Or your own home for that matter! I’m sure Burger would be pleased.
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Tito-Chihuahua-Taco-Holder-Set/2011182/product.html
YoungHouseLove says
Bahahaha!
xo
s
Penny says
AAHHHHH I am mesmerized and repelled all at the same time.
Valerie says
I love that the Monopoly dice add up to seven- coincidence? ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Totally on purpose ;)
xo
s
Julianne says
Every detail is simply gorgeous! Absolutely love the built-in shelves, bed & crow’s nest in the boy’s room. I sense a project for the hubby to complete once we settle in our new home!! ;O)
Jen says
I toured your house with my 2 year old and she played with the legos and tried to play Monopoly…I am very happy the pieces were glued down! The house is beautiful and congrats on baby Teddy.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Jen!
xo
s
Jen says
Me too! My 16-month-old went straight for those Monopoly pieces and I panicked for half a second before we both realized he couldn’t pick them up! The look on his face was great – he was like ‘whaaaaaaaaat?!’ So clever of you guys to glue them!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Meg says
LURVE it!! The video definitely helps one visualize the space as a whole (even though it leaves some stuff out). :-) You deserve the award!
Particularly love the reading/play room. I SO want one now. With poufs. Yay, poufs!
Rachel says
When you paint furniture (ie thrift store finds like the bedroom headboard and chairs), how do you do it–with a brush, spraypaint, get it sprayed by someone? Is there a trick to getting it done so it looks ship-shape like yours???
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s a post with some pretty good details for you. Typically we follow this method (although sometimes we’ll do something else): https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/02/how-to-paint-furniture/
xo
s
Lina says
I watched the Homearama video with some hip-hop playing, and it was like an episode of MTV Cribs :)
The house is beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
I love it. Should have opened the fridge for you!
xo
s
Aylin says
Congratulations on the win, you guys deserve it! I loved the show house, it was my favorite house out of all the 7 houses! I’ve been following your blog for a while now and it’s been really inspiring and fun. I was wondering, you mentioned that after the Homearama show, some of the items from inside the houses would go to the Habitat Store to be sold there… do you know when that might be? Should we start going over there?
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure when, but they’re not going out yet. Will try to give you a heads up when they do! Might be a few shipments over time, but we’ll keep you posted!
xo
s
Joanna @ TheNestbook says
You guys did such an amazing job with this house! I love all of the unique architectural details!
Leslie @ Oh, the Fun of It says
The lights in the girl’s room are so cute (and I bet they look really neat at night)!
Liz says
So beautiful! I don’t know if you’ve discussed this before, but are you allowed to share how much this home is listed for? I don’t live in Richmond, just curious :)
YoungHouseLove says
There’s quite a range of prices for the showhouses (ours is in the 600s and the one with the pool is in the 800-900 range!).
xo
s
stephanie says
Every time you do a show house post I want to move in! Wow, so beautiful.
Renee says
My husband and I were in RVA this past weekend from St. Louis, and your house was sooo much fun to look at. We are currently building our own home (my husband is a “John the builder” also), and we got several fun ideas for our own house. Also, I have to say meeting you two, and Teddy was probably the most awesome thing that has happened to me this year. Unfortunately I can’t hang the picture I got with you three in our new house because my camera was left on the plane coming home. Hopefully it is found and returned, but I’m not counting on it.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no, so sorry about the lost phone Renee! But so glad to meet you guys. Hope someone returns that phone!
xo
s
Fio says
Ok people, listen to this song while watching the video:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/744747/built-to-last
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds good!
xo
s
paige says
love everything! aaand maybe I’m just imagining things, but the carpet in the boys room is like a muted version of the hallway carpet in The Shining. :)
LN says
Beautiful house. Love the boy’s room with the crow’s nest.
Lorri says
Oh man, as a mum to boys, the slated wainscoting near the toilet in a Jack and Jill would be a nightmare to keep clean. It is asthetically pleasing but in reality…
I am, however, digging the stripped tile in the bathroom.
Cindy A says
Is the wall art from World Market still being sold? I went to their website but could not find it. Just love what you did!
Thanks!
Cindy
YoungHouseLove says
We found ours in the store so maybe that’s your best bet? You could call a store too!
xo
s
Jen S. says
This is seriously my dream house! I love everything about it, the color on the outside with the beautiful would detail of the front porch, the colors and finishes on the inside. If I ever win the lottery I’ll be contacting you guys and the builder to build this house for me :) Great job!!!
becky says
LOVE this house! Great job. :)
Where is the little art station from that is on the desk in the kids room?
YoungHouseLove says
That’s from Target.
xo
s
Liz says
I loved seeing you guys do a new house, but I am so glad you’ll be working on your new old house for a good while! I am always inspired by your renovations as I keep working on gradually fixing up my old house (built in the 30s!). I know we are all going to get so much joy from watching you transform each room over time!
http://functionaladult.blogspot.com/2014/04/fifty-shades-of-white.html