Welcome to our 2014 home tour as part of the Canadian Blogger Home Tour 2014! I’m excited to be co-organizing this tour with Shannon of AKA Design + Life, and I’m happy to be giving you a tour of my own home today. In case you are new here, here’s a quick background on Our DIY House: We started building our home by ourselves in 2012 (we lived in an 800 square foot garage on our property previously). We moved in July 2013 and have been puttering around since then and working on the finishing details. You can see our basic floor plan here. We love our new home, but it’s definitely been a challenge to finish it on a budget and while we are raising 3 kids and while Hubby has his contracting business. Welcome to our work-in-progress!
Disclaimer #1: My house is never this clean all at once. These photos were all taken at different times. One of the reasons that I can tackle so many projects is because I put housecleaning on the back burner. Often. My motto is: “As long as it’s not filthy…!” I realize that this is a HORRIBLE housekeeping motto.
Disclaimer #2: I love my home, but I love my family more. When we were in our tiny house, we were perfectly happy. (Squished, but happy.) No matter the size or the state of your home, please know that it’s not your house that ultimately matters, but it’s the people inside. Designing and decorating my house are passions of mine, but if it ever burned to the ground (aaaaah!) I hope I’d remember that it’s just a THING.
Sometimes, I try to describe my decorating style in one or two words. I really can’t. (If you can, please comment at the bottom and tell me what it is!) My house’s style is some combination of vintage industrial, modern french county, and bohemian. I would also describe our home decor as very family and budget friendly. It’s all about happy colours, thrifty finds and unbreakables.
Welcome to Our DIY House in 2014! I’ll link to related detail & tutorial posts underneath the photos.
Exterior:
I chose a simple four square style house plan for it’s heritage look and for the fact that it’s simpler to build.
You’ll quickly learn that I’m a huge fan of teals and turquoises…
Our Front Entry:
When you walk in the door, you’re instantly greeted by a craftsman style staircase with dark ebony stained railings and white painted posts. My parents did all of the beautiful finishing trim work on the stair treads and sides.
We recently installed a shoe cupboard at our entrance and painted our door a striking black.
Our Living Room:
Our living room is the first room to the right of our entry that you see. It’s where we hang out the most. We have our TV and fireplace in this room, and I recently put a gallery wall around our TV.
The flooring throughout our home is a laminate by Allen + Roth from Lowe’s called “Provence Oak”. We totally love it and it’s great for pets and kids.
All of the furniture in this room is from our old house, and I’ve tried to give it new life with new DIY throw pillows and a light wall colour.
You can see the doors to my craft room / office at the end of the living room, and we have a little corner there with some chalkboard art and a wee craft table for the girls. Our fireplace and mantel were designed by me and my mom, and we built it ourselves.
My Office & Craft Room:
I love having an office & craft room on our main floor where I can supervise the kids or close the doors if needed. I love the unique pendant light in this room (here’s a post about all of the light fixtures in our home).
It houses my sewing machines and all of my crafty supplies.
Our Kitchen & Breakfast Nook:
Our vintage industrial kitchen is one of my favourite parts of our home, and we certainly spend a lot of time here! The cupboard are from Ikea and we designed the layout and installed them ourselves.
I made the colourful drapes, and the kid’s art wall is a curtain rod and clip rings.
The table was passed down to me from my mom and I painted it with DIY chalk paint, and the stools were also painted with chalk paint.
Coffee Nook:
There’s a fun little nook across from our powder room and between our kitchen & formal room that I’ve made into a dedicated coffee area. I love it! It’s my little oasis in a houseful of babies and kids.
Our Formal Front Room:
This room is still a work in progress, but here’s a shot of a side of it that is done. It’s the room you see as you walk in our home to the left of our entry.
My vision for this room is to have it be a formal, pretty room that’s mostly for adults. All of the other rooms in our home are very kid-friendly, so I thought it’d be OK if there was one that was more for us adults.
The settee is from Henry’s in Edmonton, and the table was upcycled and painted. I have two vintage side chairs that I need to paint and reupholster to go in this room too.
Little C’s Bedroom:
Little C’s room is one of the most… electric in our home. She chose the jaw-dropping purple paint, and we worked on the hot pink and turquoise accessories together.
The dresser is upcycled and painted, I glued fabric to the black-out shades, and we modified her bed slightly.
Little A’s Bedroom:
I secretly love Little A’s bedroom the best out of all of our bedrooms. It’s just so darn cute, and I love the colours!
I made her teepee play tent, recovered the rocking chair, and made the monogram artwork.
Baby B’s Bedroom:
I also love Baby B’s boho-inspired nursery. We found out we were pregnant with her the same weekend we moved into Our DIY House, so we were certainly thankful we had built a four bedroom home!
The quilt was made by me, and inspired the colours in the room.
I moved the rocking chair from Little A’s room to Baby B’s room, and did the same treatment to the black out shades as I did to Little C’s shades.
Our Master Bedroom:
Our master bedroom is also still a work in progress, but I recently did a quick finishing of our bed and side table area.
I find the neutral tones so calming and serene. We are currently working on finishing our walk-in closet and ensuite, and hopefully we’ll have those done soon so we can enjoy our little “retreat” fully! It’s wonderful so far considering we didn’t really have any space for ourselves in our little house.
Other current “in progress” rooms in our home include our front porch, laundry room, powder room, and kid’s bathroom. We also still need to caulk and paint all of our trim and doors (a job I find incredibly boring, but I know it will make the house look even better).
Thanks for coming along for my home tour! I’m sure we’ll be working on it bit-by-bit for a while, but we are enjoying the process of making it truly ours.
Please follow along with the Canadian Bloggers Home Tour, and visit each of these talented bloggers on their home tour days:
Omg what an amazing house….I am on a similar journey to yours…these things take time. thanks for putting on a great house tour…
Chris
Thanks, Chris! Yes, it sure does seem like it takes FOREVER!
Your house is just stunning! What a dream to be able to build exactly what you want! I love your whimsical style too. 🙂
Thank you, Courtenay. Yes, we were so incredibly grateful to be able to build after living in such a squishy house for so long! I’m looking forward to seeing your home soon!
Gorgeous home! I love your front door! Everything looks so welcoming – and that kitchen is fab!
Jenn
Thanks a bunch, Jenn! Looking forward to your tour!
Your home is so beautiful and welcoming! I love all the DIY touches and the teal. I know how difficult it is to get work on the house done with kids underfoot but you’ve done a wonderful job. The kids rooms are so precious. Thanks for hosting the tour!
Thank you, Jen! It sure is tricky to work with little ones, but some of the best moments have been when they’ve helped with their room designs and were excited with the finished product. So special! I’m looking forward to seeing your space!
I love how colourful and welcoming your home is, especially that kitchen! Truly gorgeous! Thanks to you and Shannon for including me on the tour! -Kerri
Thank you, Kerri! You are so welcome – I can’t wait to see your space this week.
Your home is absolutely stunning. I love everything about it.
Thanks so much, Megan! You’re so sweet!
So beautiful Christina!! We share the same love of turquoise and teal…I love all your accents throughout the house and your drapery is amazing!! We don’t have any drapes yet…my husband isn’t a fan. Our old house had beautiful floral drapes that I made, much like yours…I miss them greatly and am plotting ways to get them back:) lol. So great to meet you through this tour- thanks for organizing it. I am following you across the board now!
Thank you so much, Krista. Yes, turquoise is just so gorgeous. You use it so well in your home from what I’ve seen! Maybe you can just put some up one day and not say anything and see if he notices an what he says? 😉 That’s usually my tactic. Thanks so much for following me and sharing my tour; I can’t wait to see yours!
Your home is lovely and I especially enjoy the kitchen area with the pretty colours and contrast. Thanks for the tour.
Thanks so much, Elizabeth. The kitchen is one of my favourite spots too!
I love it all! That shoe cupboard is brilliant! Fits right in! I love how well you mix patterns and colours!
Thanks so much, Julie. Yes, the shoe cupboard was a great find and the dimensions happened to be perfect for that spot! I’m excited to see your home tour this week!
Found you thru AKA Design…It’s great to find other Canadian blogs – I am a new follower!
Thanks so much for visiting, Cheryl! Great to meet you!
BEAUTIFUL HOME!!! You totally deserve all the caps, love the colors and patterns. Your kiddos rooms are so sweet!
Thank you, Virginia! Decorating the girls’ rooms was so fun!
Love your home tour, girl!! Off to share on my FB page 😉
Hugs,
Jamie
Thanks so much, Jamie. I appreciate you sharing, too! 🙂
Love your home. It is beautiful!
Thanks, Marijean!
I absolutely LOVE your home! It’s GORGEOUS! I’m so glad Krista from The Happy Housie shared it on her FB page. I’m pinning a bunch of stuff from your home right now!! 🙂
Thank you so much. I love Krista’s home too!
I love every inch of your house! I feel I am in a constant decorating project in every room of my house right now, I wish it looked as polished and complete as yours! This gives me inspiration!
Thank you so much, Carrie! I know how you feel. I found that the only way I could stay sane with our house is to focus on one room at a time, get it “mostly” done, and then move on to the next room!
Your home just has the best personality and is decorated so cozy and welcoming!
Thanks so much, Terry!
I adore your new home Christina! The colors and decor are fabulous! You are so talented! And the touches of turquoise….love, love, love! Angie xo
Thanks bunches, Angie! I loved your home tour too- it was so happy and colourful and inspiring. Thanks for being a part of this!
Your house is STUNNING! Those curtains in your dining area are gorgeous and I am totally crushing on your lovely craft room – how could you not feel inspired in there?
This is SOOOOO much fun! I can’t wait to peek inside of all of these brilliant Canadian homes!!!
Thanks, Kristi! My curtains are one of my favourite things, and I LOVE my craft room (though it is REALLY messy right now). Thanks for the kind comment!
Your home is beautiful, Christina! Love everything from your front door to the kitchen and the little touches! 🙂
Thank you SO much, Kendra!
How did you manage to make your house look stunningly gorgeous and cozy comfortable at the same time?! Love how you have a great mix of industrial and vintage looks. It all comes together beautifully!!
Aw, thanks so much Amy! I am really happy with our home so far and we do really love it and it finally is feeling like OURS. Thanks for the lovely comment!
Love your home!! Can you tell me where you got the floral pillows or fabric on the white sofa?
Thank you so much. The floral pillows were purchased along with the settee at Henryès in Edmonton.
Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. 🙂 Do you know the color y’all used for the stair trim? It is stunning!
Thanks so much, Kelsey! The stairs are stained in Minwax Ebony and painted in Valspar Ultra White.
Hello! I absolutely love your home! We are looking at building something similar right now and I’m so inspired by your floor plan and decor! I do have a question though, I’m coming from a small home and I don’t like how small my living room is, and it’s looks similar to yours. Do you find that it feels too small or does it seem larger than the picture shows? Thanks for the inspiration!! -Rebekah
Thanks so much, Rebekah! The living room is quite large in my opinion – about 20 x 14 feet. Our furniture is very large scale and is centered in the room, so it could look smaller than it is. It’s a great size!
Hey there! Happy Holidays! Your home is stunning decorated in teal & green. I love the DIY house home tour with all you wonderful Canadian bloggers!
Thanks for the link up!
Michelle
Thanks so much, Michelle! Happy New Year!
Hey there! Beautiful and inspiring. Will be copying the window trims 🙂 Please tell me the colour you used for the neutral shade (the grey? beige? paint in your bedroom, for example). I’ve been looking for just that shade…
Your house is beautiful! I can’t believe you created that fireplace! What talented ladies you and your mom are! I live on the east side of the prairies in the beautiful city of Winnipeg.
Thanks so much, Cindy! It’s wonderful to meet a fellow Canadian. I’ve been to Winnipeg before!
What a gorgeous home! I love all the colors and especially the teal door! May I ask the paint name of your front door and also the exterior? It’s a perfect welcome! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Teri! The door is “Gypsy Teal” by Valspar.