The House

The House Built in: 2011. Size: 4,250 sq. ft. "Even though we built our house, it's in a historical area, so we wanted it to match in. We adore all of its cottage-y touches, such as the window boxes, the brick path as well as also the cutouts on the shutters," say homeowners Chris and Colleen Austin.



Portico Surprise! The ceiling of the portico is finished with tongue-and-groove planks painted to match the shutters and the door.



Front Door Threshold Exploded Floral coir doormat, $13, target.com



Shutters Hampton Bay 1-Light 16"H x 6"-diameter resin hanging lantern, $30, homedepot.com



Doormat Octagon brass and crystal doorknob place, $110, houseofantiquehardware.com



Light Fixture Chesnier 3" x 1" brass doorbell, $18, signaturehardware.com



Doorknob House: Pebble White by Glidden; Shutters and Front Door: Wedgewood Gray by Benjamin Moore; Trim: White Dove by Benjamin Moore



Doorbell Constructed in: 1935; Bought in: 2009; Size: 3,100 sq. ft additional resources hop over to this site. "We dreaded the notion of buying a home that needed a complete renovation, and this one was in poor form check my source. But we had been mesmerized with its old-fashioned slate roof and the oversize window box, and we could see the property's potential, even though it would take lots of work," say homeowners Chris and Bethann Williams.



Planters In 2011, the Williamses replaced the cracked slate tiles with fresh ones, which have grown a patina that feels in sync with all the 82-year-old residence.



Paint Colors Kaleen Matira Stripe allmodern.com, polypropylene rug, $ 37



The Home Hinkley Lighting Bingham 12"-tall brass wall lantern in sienna, $229, wayfair.com



Roof Baldwin Baltimore handleset in Venetian bronze finish, $276.50, build.com



Front Door Spanish 9"H x 11"-diameter ceramic flowerpot in parrot green, $70, bauerpottery.com



Doormat 30"W x 8"D x 7"H galvanized metal window box in white, $38, hooksandlattice.com



Light Fixtures Front Door and Trim: Pashmina from Benjamin Moore



Doorknob Built in: 1920; Bought in: 2002: Size: 2,000 sq. ft. "Once I purchased this house, the whole thing was painted white. Choosing a few distinct shades of beige for the siding additional dimension and highlighted the house's charming Craftsman style," says homeowner Tim Helton.



Flowerpot Tim wanted a flagstone path leading to the entrance door, but it was too pricey. His choice concrete.



Window Box Asbury 3"-tall ceramic tile house numbers, $11 each, and 6" x 3" steel bracket, $28, all schoolhouseelectric.com



Paint Color Cerberus brass handleset finish, $53



The Home A1 Home Collections Chevron coir doormat in indigo, $31.50, amazon.com



Pathway Exteriors Craftmade Mission 1-Light 10"-tall brass wall lantern in burnished copper finish, $99, bellacor.com



Front Door House: Safari Bisque Beige from Glidden; Trim: Meeting House White from Glidden; Trim: Grey Squirrel by Glidden



House Numbers Built in: 1920; Bought in: 2008; Size: 3,000 sq go to this web-site. ft. "Many homes on our street are registered as historical locations. It's so picturesque, such as living in a Norman Rockwell painting he said additional resources. We love the way the buttery yellow of our house looks against all the greenery around it,"say homeowners Kim and Shannon McCullock.



Door Handle $35, coir doormat, amalsroom.com



Doormat Arts and Crafts 5"-tall aluminum house numbers, $28 each, houseofantiquehardware.com



Light Fixture Harbor Breeze Tilghman 52"-diameter vinyl, wood and metal ceiling fan in new bronze end, $100, lowes.com



Planters Grid copper wall-mount mailbox in classic finish, $149, signaturehardware.com



Paint Colors Addison Park 12"-tall aluminum wall lighting in bronze end, $120, lampsplus.com



The House Southern Patio Ceramix Sydney 17"H x 16"-diameter resin bowl kettle, $20, homedepot.com



Decorative Window Polka Dot 18" x 18" pillows in red, $66 for a set of 2, pillowperfect.com



Front Door International Concepts acacia porch rocker in unfinished wood, $114, hayneedle.com



Doormat House (top): Sail Material by Behr; House (bottom): Summer Bliss from Behr; Front Door: Spanish Tile by Valspar; Trim: Antique White by Sherwin-Williams

A Family Home

A Family Home When Megan and Casey Collins moved into their four-bedroom Minneapolis home four years back, it was dark with dated everything. "The challenge was to turn it into a bright, fresh location without spending lots of money on a significant reno," says Megan, a freelance author, that shares the house with her husband and their children (from left) Liva, 3, Isla, 5, along with Mia, seven.



Personal Touches After painting nearly every square inch and searching for budget-friendly furnishings, she found ways to weave in creative tricks at every turn. There's the deed to the home, blown up and framed in the entryway; the high chairs converted into seats for the kids at the kitchen table; an inexpensive upholstery movement in the living area.



Living Room Megan purchased the ivory leather couch in the nearby Room & Board outlet with some trepidation. "With young kids, I thought, Uh-oh, this could be a tragedy," she states. "I use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on it, which is likely not what leather specialists would imply, but it works"



A String of Tables Two identical wood cubes painted steely grey stand in to get a coffee table recommended you read. When friends come over, Megan pushes them together, throws a small tablecloth at the top, and uses them as a mini buffet for beverages and snacks.



Thrifty Fabric Trick Angled Initial Having a piece of leftover cloth (Chiang Mai Dragon by Schumacher), Megan covered only the chair backs of a $50 pair of Craigslist chairs. The rest is upholstered in cheap linen click over here. This gold-painted wood C is by an antiques store . Find similar ones at ballarddesigns.com.



Bowls on a Mantel When Megan spotted this collection at a junk shop and recognized they matched each of the colors in the room, she put the dishes on screen.



Art Hung Low Paintings do not need to be at an adult's eye level websites check this site out take a look at the site here. Megan often hangs art where her children can enjoy it. It's easier to love when you are seated, also.



Entryway The old floor was blue laminate webpage. "We could not stand it, but we didn't budget for a new flooring," says Megan. Instead she had the original one painted and sanded in a checkerboard pattern with a protective epoxy finish Get the facts. "It cost about $800, but it would have been thousands to replace it."



Enormous Memento Animal Hooks The previous homeowners gave Megan the first deed for the 1907 home. She had it discounted to about 20 inches by 40 inches at an art supply store, then framed it great site. Rather than a coatrack, the family hangs coats and bags on a set of metal hooks from Anthropologie.



Scripty Rug The wrought iron rug from ballarddesigns.com features a French poem about an ant and a cricket.



Clear Console An acrylic dining table out of CB2 practically disappears in the corner. The woven bins, from West Elm (green) and shopmille.com (gloomy), maintain bike helmets and dog leashes.



Dining Room To match the entire family for holidays, Megan found a wood table Craigslist that could extend to seat 12. She paired it with modern white Anziano chairs by Donghia (to get a similar appearance, try allmodern.com) and two leather host seats which were available at a local design centre.



Straightforward Centerpiece Soft Chairs Megan's trick for a fairly, long-lasting arrangement: Queen Anne's lace (normally a bouquet filler) in a transparent glass vase. A scrap of cloth is layered over the dining table runner. White cushions from IKEA (roughly $7 each) create the timber side seats comfier top article blog here.



A Tree Inside Curvy Pendant The big bay window gives the fiddle leaf fig tree the bright, indirect sunlight it needs. Megan's sister loved this sculpture-like glass fixture from Artemide so much that she hung the same one in her master tub.



Kitchen Though the kitchen's tight, Megan wanted the family to use it for meals. "I could not locate a desk which match the awkward area, therefore my neighbor, who assembles furniture, made one out of reclaimed barn wood," she says. The countertops are speckled brown/beige granite, along with the cabinets, painted White Dove from Benjamin Moore, have knobs from Restoration Hardware.



Right-Height Chairs Rather than giving the kids adult chairs that are too low, Megan purchased high seats at an antiques shop. One had an attached tray, which she eliminated so that they could be pulled near the table.



DIY Drapes The drapes are made from a lightweight 38-inch-by-78-inch Turkish towel (scentsandfeel.com) cut in half, with 1-inch pockets stitched at the top to fit a pressure rod.



Playroom The bright room right off the kitchen is where the children play and watch TV. The TV stand and nearly 8-foot-long sofa are equally from the Room & Board outlet, and the reddish cast aluminum dining table is from West Elm. Megan left the bank of windows, which overlooks the backyard, bare to let as much light as you possibly can.



Magnet Art Wall The wall behind the sofa is coated with magnetic paint (Magic Wall magnetic paint by Kling Magnetics) with a coating of latex paint visit this page. The kids' pictures stay put with miniature Mighty Magnets from The Container Store.



Replaceable Carpet The area's Flor carpet squares (Mild Mannered from peacock, flor.com) could be picked up and swapped out if they become stained.



Photo Grid Polaroids of the children taken in their birthdays and half birthdays act as a crafty development graph.



Girls' Bedroom "My sister and I shared a room growing up, and I desired Mia and Isla to have the same bonding experience," says Megan. To maintain floor area open in the little room, she had a carpenter build a loft bed using a real staircase in lieu of a ladder for Mia. Isla's toddler mattress fits snugly underneath. The vibrant hooked rug is from Dash & Albert, and Megan found the look-alike doll bunk bed on Amazon.



Party Decorations Crepe paper flowers left over from a buddy's birthday are hung from fishing cord and ceiling hooks the original source.



Hidden Bookcase Adjustable shelves line one side of the staircase up into the top bunk. "Proof that it can be fun to work with a really small area!" says Megan.



Guest Bedroom When Casey's family and other out-of-towners see, they stay in this guest room painted green. The queen-size black leather bed with white linens gets some color with throw pillows from Etsy (Megan's favorite source for designer fabric pillows on the cheap) plus a coral wool throw by Zuzunaga (kcolette.com for purchasing info).



Cool Hardware The dresser, which Megan spotted sitting out a thrift store in New York City, was formerly drab green. White paint and new glass knobs from Anthropologie totally turned it all around.



Fuzzy Bedside Rug "I love the feel of sheepskin on your feet once you first escape bed," says Megan.



Photo Shelf A framed photograph of Megan and Casey stays on a shell-shaped shelf just below a photograph of Casey's grandparents as a young bunch.