I love decorating and good design. I always have, even though I grew up in a small English Tudor filled to the brim with dark antiques, old velvet covered furniture, and doilies everywhere. As a child I remember visiting friend's homes feeling envious of their light and bright decor, clutter free family rooms, and cute 80's Chintz window treatments!
Fast forward to 1993...23 years old and newly married to my high school sweet heart. Our first home in Phoenix, AZ was a small 3 bedroom Adobe style ranch with dingy walls, brown carpeting and the ugliest linoleum I've ever seen. I was so excited to start decorating, but soon realized it wouldn't be easy as I was still finishing up college at Arizona State and my husband's paychecks were slim to say the least. It soon became clear we needed to do the work ourselves in order to save money. So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work!
First things first, we painted those dingy walls a clean cream color and tore up the brown carpeting and hideous linoleum. Then we tackled our first major DIY project and tiled the kitchen floor using a rustic Saltillo Mexican tile. It was back breaking work, and not an easy task for two crazy kids with no experience in home improvement! But the transformation was amazing, just what our little adobe needed...some Mexican charm! And from that moment forward we were tried and true DIYer's and have been ever since.
Today, my husband takes the lead on the building projects and I concentrate on the design and decorating. I also love a good Diy project such as painting and refinishing furniture. To this day I can't look at a doilie in a flea market without smiling. And how funny is it that my favorite pieces of furniture are an old farm table hand made by my husband's Great Grandfather and a century old mahogany blanket chest...I guess I'm drawn to the history and charm of these old pieces. Well, I can assure you I don't have a velvet covered Victorian settee in my great room...but I do have some velvet throw pillows from Pottery Barn...I guess some things never change!
Fast forward to 1993...23 years old and newly married to my high school sweet heart. Our first home in Phoenix, AZ was a small 3 bedroom Adobe style ranch with dingy walls, brown carpeting and the ugliest linoleum I've ever seen. I was so excited to start decorating, but soon realized it wouldn't be easy as I was still finishing up college at Arizona State and my husband's paychecks were slim to say the least. It soon became clear we needed to do the work ourselves in order to save money. So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work!
First things first, we painted those dingy walls a clean cream color and tore up the brown carpeting and hideous linoleum. Then we tackled our first major DIY project and tiled the kitchen floor using a rustic Saltillo Mexican tile. It was back breaking work, and not an easy task for two crazy kids with no experience in home improvement! But the transformation was amazing, just what our little adobe needed...some Mexican charm! And from that moment forward we were tried and true DIYer's and have been ever since.
Today, my husband takes the lead on the building projects and I concentrate on the design and decorating. I also love a good Diy project such as painting and refinishing furniture. To this day I can't look at a doilie in a flea market without smiling. And how funny is it that my favorite pieces of furniture are an old farm table hand made by my husband's Great Grandfather and a century old mahogany blanket chest...I guess I'm drawn to the history and charm of these old pieces. Well, I can assure you I don't have a velvet covered Victorian settee in my great room...but I do have some velvet throw pillows from Pottery Barn...I guess some things never change!
