Name: Jaclyn & Brian
Location: Graduate Hospital &mdash Philadelphia
Size: 850 square feet, 2 bedrooms
Years lived in: 1.5 years

We were initially introduced to Jaclyn and Brian's home when they entered the Small Cool 2010 competition (Jaclyn's Rowhouse Pride). As it turns out, they ended up winning the Small Division and we knew we had to share the rest of their bright, bold and boisterous home!

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There are few feelings quite like the one you get when you walk into a really great home. You suddenly feel relaxed and happy, knowing you could stay a while &mdash that's exactly how Jaclyn and Brian's home makes you feel.

The combination of the rustic original yellow pine flooring and exposed brick bring the home down to earth, while the bright and bold colors and geometry raise it to a whole new level. It's such a unique and successful mix &mdash one we're not privy to enough! We're impressed by the modern and sleek renovated kitchen teamed with the exposed brick and chalkboard wall &mdash the mixture of textures and colors is certainly eye catching and inspiring. The kitchen renovation was the first project the couple tackled when they closed on the house &mdash it was only a matter of hours before they showed up with hammers and their game faces. Their hard work and enthusiasm certainly paid off.

The backyard is their pride and joy. When they first moved in it was literally a pile of dirt. They knew they needed to take full advantage of the additional square footage and it's a good thing they did. The weather in Philadelphia has been off the charts and we're sure they've been basking in the sun while lounging in their beautiful backyard.

Upstairs is the bathroom, guest and master bedrooms. Sunlight pours into the room like you couldn't imagine. The bright colors pop and the white even more so! And then there's the master bedroom wallpaper &mdash there's nothing quite like a successful bold and beautiful wallpaper to make a room come alive. The dark blue, white and green were made to be paired with a dark, rustic floor and amazing vintage furniture. It doesn't get much better than that!

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

How would you define your style? I’d say our style (like many) is eclectic. We don’t have one specific style in our house and it is constantly changing. We frequently change colors, switch out furniture pieces, put things away and replace with new decorations. Our style I guess is a patchwork in progress.

What is your greatest inspiration? We find inspiration in a lot of places. Dwell and Sunset magazines, HGTV, Apartment Therapy, www.ohjoy.blogs.com, family and friends’ homes, Philly rowhomes in general, local boutiques, interesting people we meet.

What is your favorite element of your home? The exposed brick throughout the house.

What is the biggest challenge of your home? The biggest challenge we have faced is combining our style with the old bones of our rowhome. When we bought our place, we were moving from a new construction loft apartment and had a modern clean space. Our house is not modern and clean, and thus, we struggled trying to find what worked best for us in this new, foreign space. We have been renovating, painting, doing DIY projects, rearranging, and exhausted since we’ve moved in.

What do friends say about your home? Our friends say that they love what we’ve done in our house and that it is different every time they come over. We also get lots of comments on the chalkboard walls.

What is your home's biggest embarrassment? The unfinished projects that we still haven’t gotten around to and our fridge that turned out to be much too deep for our small kitchen…rookie mistake &mdash one day we will save up for a counter depth one.

What DIY project are you most proud of? It is a toss up between our kitchen and our backyard. An hour after closing, we were equipped with sledgehammers tearing down the cabinets and counters. Within about 2 months, we somehow managed to completely (or almost completely) renovate our kitchen. And similarly, we designed and redid our backyard from a pit to the space that it is now.

What is your Biggest Indulgence, when furnishing your home? The biggest indulgence was probably our kitchen appliances. We love to cook, so it was important to us to have great cooking/food storage gear.

Best Advice: Don’t be afraid to go for it and try new things out. Most things can be changed if need be. We have done many projects that we wound up not liking after all but were glad that we tried.

Dream Source: Terrain at Styer’s for outside, ABC Carpet and Home for inside.

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Resources:

Appliances: Sears, Best Buy, Ebay

Hardware: Anthropologie.

Furniture: Material Culture, Gus Modern Furniture, Thrift Stores, Fosters Homewares, trash finds, Shag, Villa & Hut, high school salvage

Accessories: Local boutiques, Anthropologie, Horrible Adorables, flea markets, Construction Junction.

Lighting: Vintage, Anthropologie, trash find, flea markets, Open House.

Rugs & Carpets: Material Culture, FLOR, Urban Outfitters.

Tiles & Stone: Bathroom tile: Home Depot.

Window Treatments: DIY valances using fabric from Spool.

Beds: IKEA.

Artwork: Brian, local artists, flea markets, local boutiques.

Paint: MAB, Home Depot.

Flooring: Kitchen tiles: Original to the house – yellow pine planks.

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Thanks Jaclyn & Brian!

Images: Kristen Lubbe

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