Welcome to Brit's cheerful family friendly home!
Seattle, Washington, US

From Brit:

We live in a 1924 home in Seattle.  When we bought it, two sisters had been living here together for nearly 50 years.  Many rooms were stuck in the 60s and 70s and we've been spending the last 5 years eradicating pink carpeted bathrooms, turning a second kitchen back into a bedroom, tearing down walls, building built-ins, and generally using every tool available to make our house a fun spot to raise our family and entertain. 

With two young kids, we are inspired to really make our home work for us.  Function is always our top priority but making it look good is a close second.  Over the years we've been working on blending our home's traditional style with brighter and more modern features. We have plaster walls and a lot of beadboard throughout, and it is so fun adding more modern elements to those traditional textures.  We've used white or gray as a backdrop in most rooms and on top of that we've mixed in lots of black and bright colors.  In our guest bath, we even went super textured by adding wall-to-wall gray penny tile. 

I'm actually horrible at finding great finds in thrift stores or online, so end up making a lot of custom pieces of furniture or built-ins to really make our spaces work for us.  Ikea-hacks are my middle name.  Just about every room has some custom piece we've built. 

Our most recent project was finishing our dining room, where we paired our very traditional black table with lighter, more modern chairs, a modern light fixture, and colorful art.  This room, along with every other one in the house, has got DIY elements and fun finds.  We love the function and simplicity of our DIY buffet but maybe our favorite item in the room is our kilim rug, scored off of ebay.

We already had a similar look in our master bedroom, (closet pictured); we added another colorful kilim, and used beadboard for the walls and ceilings.

Our entry is probably the most traditional space in the house and we added to it by building in an entry bench, hooks, and cubby storage unit.  That thing is usually filled to the max with jackets, scarves, backpacks, and sports gear.  It is one of our best examples of how we make function look good.

For our kids, we really try to keep their spaces especially playful.  We recently updated my son's room and also carved out an art and play area in the basement.  Maybe a little color overload in those spots, but we really try to give our kids what they want and they do love color.

Overall, we hope to make our home a place where no one feels too formal, where kids (and adults) can put their feet on the furniture and feel relaxed.