Welcome to Holland Avenue!
This blog is an invitation to thoughtful homemaking, and it is my goal to encourage resourcefulness and good stewardship in all areas of home life. I want to use my love for design as a way to serve others, and your support of this blog makes that possible. Thank you.
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(Disclaimer before you jump into the home tour: These photos were all taken at different times. I like to switch accessories and art around, so you might see some of the same accessories in different places! One day soon I’d like to clean and style the whole house to take some nice photos, but I’ve had so many more important things to do recently- like live my actual unstyled life. These photos are a very close representation of what each room looks like right this second, but if you want to know what my house actually looks like right now, just picture junk on the dining room table and laundry on the bedroom floor and general unstyled, lived-in, real life happening everywhere.)
I’ve linked furniture and decor where I can on the Shop My Home page, and I linked similar items for some of my favorite secondhand finds. If you have questions about sources, feel free to send me a message through my Contact form (but just know that the answer is probably, “Goodwill” 🙂 )
With so much love,
Now that we’ve been properly introduced, come on in!
We live in a 1910 craftsman home with as much charm as there is woodwork. Living in our first house has helped me learn the importance of intention, the joy behind simple tasks, and the pleasure of making a house a home. I’ve painted nearly every wall in this house, and pulled up more carpet staples than I could count. Besides fresh paint and hours of restoring original wood features, all we’ve done to this home is fill it with pieces that tell our story. The majority of furniture and decor in our home is thrifted or secondhand, but I’ll tag sources when I can. My husband and I love living in this big old house, and I’ve loved sharing the journey of discovering my home style.
Front Porch
I recently transformed our front porch in just six weeks for the Spring 2019 One Room Challenge! Want to follow the progress and learn more about my DIY projects?
Week 1: High Style, Low Budget Sunroom Transformation
Week 2: DIY Tree Stump Coffee Tables
Week 4: DIY $150 Bed Swing and Painted Concrete Floors
Week 6: Before & After High Style, Low Budget Sunroom
Let’s go inside!
Living Room
The living room and office are separated by this gorgeous, solid oak pocket door. 
Let’s head into the office!
The Office
The office is where I work on my blog, and do graphic design work for Biaka Works.
Let’s go to the dining room!
The dining and living rooms are separated by BEAUTIFUL built-ins that store our dishes.
We have an 8 foot farm table that was made by one of my high school small group leaders at my home church in Louisville. It is one of the first things people notice when they come into our house. It is either spotless or covered in random junk like sewing projects and board games and random things that need to be put away. There is no in between.
The Kitchen
This kitchen… What do I say? I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint almost two years ago, and it has led to some crazy opportunities. The Before & After post went viral, and has over 50,000 views. It’s been featured by Apartment Therapy, The Today Show, Country Living, Buzzfeed, Popsugar, and Better Homes & Gardens. (what the actual heck you guys all I did was paint the cabinets) My dad and I installed subway tile, and I’m still in love with every little detail. There is usually an “island” in the middle (the bottom of my hoosier cabinet that I painted to match the cupboards), but I moved it out of the way to take photos for a magazine feature.
If you’re wondering how they’re holding up, check out my update, Chalk Painted Kitchen Cabinets Two Years Later .
From the kitchen, we go to the mudroom! I don’t have any pictures of it- and there isn’t anything special about it. Next to the basement stairs is our “Airplane Bathroom”. We call it that because it is approximately the size of an airplane bathroom!
One day I might paint the linoleum floor in here. Ben and I joke that I should do a dramatic “before and after” post for this bathroom. Or try to do as big of a renovation as possible for $20. It could be done.
Next to the powder room door is the door to our basement. It used to be a creepy, unfinished, dungeon like space. We completely finished it for the Fall 2019 One Room Challenge.
There used to be two solid doors like the bathroom door, but I found this beautiful French door on Facebook Marketplace for $30 and lovingly restored it.
I also gave it a fun, unexpected pop of color on the side that faces the basement!
Before we take a look at the new basement, I have to show you a few before photos. Brace yourself.
As you can see, finishing this gross space was no small task. I documented the progress over the six weeks, which you can follow through the links below.
Basement on a Budget: One Room Challenge Week One
Basement Demo and Waterproofing with Drylok: One Room Challenge Week 2
Catch-up and Ketchup: One Room Challenge Week Three
The Power of Paint: One Room Challenge Week Four
Flooring, Trim, and Furniture: One Room Challenge Week Five
Basement Family Game Room Reveal: One Room Challenge Week Six
And now, the cozy, clean, incredible “after”:
Let’s go up, upstairs to the second story!
The Bathroom
I painted the builder grade vanity with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite, and replaced the hardware with leftover knobs from our kitchen update. (You can find links to the hardware on my Holland Avenue Home Amazon storefront)
Guest Bedroom
Our guest bedroom was recently published in the June 2019 issue of Country Living Magazine for their Country Coast to Coast story.
(The first photo is the one that was featured by Country Living. I’ve since changed things around, and even painted the black wall.)
This room has been so much fun to put together. I was going for a vintage bed and breakfast vibe with modern touches. We took up the wall to wall carpet and it COMPLETELY changed this room. I knew it would make a difference, but WOW.
Small Guest Bedroom
This July/August issue of Country Living Magazine featured “summer camp” style spaces. I read it cover to cover, and was inspired to give a space in my home a similar vibe. I’ve majorly simplified the “decor” on our main floor, which left me with a small guest room closet full of vintage treasures. I decided to see if I could create my own “vintage summer camp” style in this guest room to display the vintage goodies instead of hiding them away in the closet. This room was previously empty except for the bed and nightstand. All white bedding, nothing hanging on the walls, and nowhere for guests to sit. I gathered my favorite vintage treasures and a bunch of thrifted landscape paintings, and now this room feels like a journey back in time! The quilt on the bed was hand quilted by my great grandma. The yellow chair and green table were both free on our town’s junk day. The landscape gallery wall cost a total of $27. I’ve lovingly named this room “Camp Holland”.
Master Bedroom
I finished this room for the Fall 2018 One Room Challenge as a Guest Participant. The full Before & After Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom post contains links to all six weeks of the challenge at the very beginning! The first step to the transformation was painting a moody accent wall.
I recently built the DIY Upholstered Wingback headboard for $60 by following this tutorial from Angela Rose Home.
We bought the basic Ikea Tarva dresser and gave it new life with walnut stain and modern hardware!
But my favorite part of this update was the transformation of the attached sunroom…
Master Bedroom Sunroom
This room has three walls of windows and beautiful original hardwood floors, but the damaged wood trim and dated wallpaper made it feel sad. I completely transformed this room with the power of paint, and a hand-painted mural!
This mural cost $10 in acrylic craft paint, and I spent four days sketching and painting. I shared more about the sunroom transformation in my Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom Before & After: One Room Challenge Week 6 post.
Back Porch
Here are the posts for a few of my favorite room transformations we’ve completed!
Before & After: A Bright, Affordable DIY Kitchen Update (and the update, Chalk Painted Kitchen Cabinets Two Years Later )
Before & After High Style, Low Budget Sunroom: One Room Challenge Week 6
Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom Before & After: One Room Challenge Week 6
Our Guest Room Has New Floors! (Kind of)
You’re invited to follow the Holland Avenue Home instagram for daily snapshots of life and work.
Thank you for visiting, and come back soon!
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