The married couple spent a whole year studying the intricacies of renovation and decorating their dream home. See what came out of it and compare with the photos before the renovation.
Isabella Simons and her family moved into a house built in the 40s and started a major renovation. By the way, nothing has been updated here for decades, and there was plenty of work.
At the time of the move, Isabella had a newborn son and a daughter who was barely four years old. So the task became even more difficult.
When we bought the house, it was in terrible condition: the parents of Brandon, Isabella’s husband, refused to even go inside. The entire space was littered with belongings from the previous owners and smelled of mold.
The family hired a team of builders and got to work. Since the guys had no experience, the experiment was not easy and the work took about a year.
Isabella loves minimalist Scandinavian interiors, so she tried to recreate something similar in her home. The walls were painted white, but they decided to leave the flooring. The only thing that confused me was the shade – red oak. So I had to bleach the floors three times to achieve the right tone.
An open space was left in the living room – there is a lot of light thanks to panoramic windows and glass swing doors that lead directly to the courtyard.
Most of the furniture was sanded, painted and reupholstered. For example, the steel coffee table was here originally. They just removed the top layer of old paint. Decorative items were sought at flea markets and antique stores. And we did some things ourselves: for example, decorative pillows on the sofa.
They even made a small redevelopment in the dining area: they removed several partitions and connected the space with the library, living room and kitchen.
Isabella found the gilded vintage mirror (you can see it in the photo) at an estate sale in Chicago. It was in terrible condition: the bottom had rotted and had to be restored. The dining table was also found in one of the Chicago attics and put in order. The girl made the pendants above the table herself.
The kitchen was decorated in black and white, and even the dishes were color matched. Open shelves were preferred to closed storage systems – they add airiness to the interior.
One of the rooms was given over to a library and shelves were installed from floor to ceiling, so as not to fill the entire space with shelving.
Isabella bought a four-poster bed for her bedroom and asked a carpenter to make a new headboard. The girl’s husband painted the frame himself. Isabella’s mother sewed the curtains, and the cornices were made from copper pipes.
And this is a vintage Swedish couch, made back in the 19th century. It fits perfectly into the interior of the nursery.
The attic was converted into Brandon’s home office, adding another 42 square meters of living space. Here we had to work hard and even make large panoramic windows to let in natural light.
The facade of the house was changed: it was covered with siding, a canopy was built over the porch and the roof was replaced, and street lighting was installed. The site was also transformed to match the house.
