Crash! Personality Infused Vintage Home

Several months back, while perusing the Being Boss facebook group, I realized that there were several "bosses" (as we call ourselves in the group) here in my little Boston suburb.  2 of those bosses are Karen and Zandra of Little Yellow Couch and the podcast Style Matters.  Considering their podcast is all about making your home personal and stylish, I knew they'd be a perfect fit for a Crash! home tour!  Karen's in the midst of a renovation currently, but Zandra welcomed my camera and me into her home with open arms!!  Zandra lives in her 100+ year old home with her husband and 2 sons and has created such a charming home infused with personal touches.

Without wanting to jump into a complete gut kitchen reno just yet, Zandra's infused life back into this dated kitchen in creative ways.

The velvet chair below was chatted about in their recent podcast interview with Mary Randolph Carter.  She snatched this adorable caned chair up for just $30 with no plan for where it would go.  It's found it's way into the kitchen seating area and feels like it's meant to be there all along- happy design accidents!

The vignette in the dining room is one of many wonderful design 'moments' in the house.  The sweet painting was created custom from a photograph of her boys at a beach that their family has been going to for generations.

While I snapped pics around the house, Zandra (left) and Karen (right) tried to stay out of the way of the lens, but I just couldn't help grab this candid shot framed by the architecture of the home.

My favorite part of any home is the stories and Zandra has some great ones!  The biscuit themed items in the living room are no random antique store decor- her family once owned Huston's Biscuit which was eventually bought out by Nation Biscuit Company... better known now as Nabisco.

The home is filled with original art from their travels, vintage pieces, and DIY items.  Check out their blog for a DIY of those fantastic mod pillows.

This is also the room where their company name-sake lives: the little yellow couch.  Don't you just want to curl up on it?

In the guestroom, Zandra displays a swoon-worthy collection of paint by numbers.  Individually, these paintings aren't head-turners, but that instantly changes when they're surrounded by friends.  I'm such a sucker for paint by number gallery walls!

Thank you, Zandra so much for letting me share your wonderful home!!!  Be sure to check out the Little Yellow Couch Style Matters podcast for even more design inspiration!!

Crash! Modern Cozy Chic

My friend Jen graciously let me come Crash! her home just before she started packing it all up for her impending move.  As an interior designer too, she definitely has a natural talent for an effortlessly chic space, but guys, you're gonna die over her little guys nursery! (*metaphorically only- please don't actually die over a room*) As this living room clearly shows- the key to using several colors in a room cohesively is to have something to unify them all.  In here it's the center pillow and the artwork.  And hello 6 patterns?  It doesn't look crazy or busy, just modern, cozy, and welcoming.  Well done, Jen!

Statement lights and large artwork are my current fave for any dining room- the right art and lighting can make a space!  And who are we kidding, I'm always a sucker for antique home details and molding.

I'll stop beating around the bush, though, the real show-stopper in the home is the dwelling of the littlest resident.

I dare you to try and find a more stunning crib!  He's a lucky little man.

Mod crib and a vintage dresser?  He'll be the coolest kid on the playground.

Thanks Jen for letting me share!  Pop over to her new site, Vibrant Way Interiors and say HI.  Good luck with the move, Jen and I can't wait to see what the next home looks like!

Crash! A NEW Era

It's been quite a while since I posted a "Crash!" feature- almost a year actually!  Let's not do that again.  This time, I was a house crash-er at my parent's new (ish) house. About 3 years ago, I shared a mini home tour (which was looking back was mostly vignettes) with you just before my parents moved out of the home I grew up in.

For some silly reason, they wanted to live closer to their children and grandchildren.  So they sorted through 30 years of living in one home, held a huge tag sale, packed up the rest, and moved about 2 hours away.

Flashing to the present, Mom is just about as addicted to blogs as I am.  She decided to take the new house as an opportunity to reinvent her style, and reinvent she did!  She used to gravitate toward antique and Americana and now, while the antiques are still present, the home has a fresh, airy feel.

I am definitely a product of both my parents.  Example: the white bookcase above.  The base of the bookcase showed up in the last tour, but looking a bit differently:

My dad built the hutch top/bookshelf and my mom refinished and painted the whole thing.  I kind of love it.  Like the true librarian she is, Mom uses stacked books throughout the house to tell a story with the titles. Notice: Homes, Not so Big House, Living in New England, and House of Dreams

Mom's most recent furniture refinishing project shows up in the dining room.  The antique table that I grew up abusing using, got a fresh coat of paint on the base with some light distressing.  It looks like it was meant to be this way all along!

Mr. Fiddle Leaf Fig there is the sibling to my dying IKEA one.  Clearly Mom's doing something right because he's more than doubled in height!

Mom's styling stamp is all throughout the house (with Dad's approval of course), but his styling is evident on his dresser: vintage toy car, cut book "P" that he and Mom made a la Anthro, and a vintage cast iron mailbox bank.  Mom might have had her hand in the pile of books, though.  I believe one of the books is titled Man of my Dreams.  How delightfully cheesy are they?? (xoxo)

Even the outside has their touches all over it.  A pop of color door with new, beefier trim around it, neutral shutter, a bountiful garden and a sweet house number sign off etsy (if my mind serves me right).

While they had 30 years to personalize their last home, I think my parents have done quite nicely in the relatively short amount of time they've been in this house- isn't it beautiful??

If you live in the central MA or Boston area and want to see your home Crash!ed on the blog, e-mail me (karen@yearofserendipity.com) a few pics and a bit of the story of your home.  I'd love to make this a regular feature! 

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