Jenia & Sergey’s Victorian Row House

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published Sep 5, 2015

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About this tour

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Home Type

House

Location

Washington, D.C., Washington

Style

Colorful

Bedrooms

Square feet

1600

Sq ft

1600

Name: Jenia and Sergey
Location: Bloomingdale; Washington, D.C.
Size: 1,600 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years; Owned

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Jenia and Sergey bought this Victorian row house in D.C.’s Bloomingdale neighborhood five years ago. They’ve spent the intervening years giving it love: tearing up carpet, painting the walls, gutting the kitchen and bathrooms, and documenting it all on their home renovation blog, Victorian in Bloom.

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

A case of wanderlust set in midway through the renovation, so they put their brushes down and took off on an 14-month trip around the world, which they documented on a separate blog, House to Laos. Back stateside for the foreseeable future, they’re about to begin the third and final phase of their renovation, which includes the master bedroom and the basement (which aren’t pictured here, but fear not: they’ll be documenting it all on their blog, which also includes a few fun before-and-afters of the finished rooms, featured herein).

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

Jenia and Sergey in their kitchen. (Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

Apartment Therapy Survey

Our Style: Blend of historic and modern, with a lot of Eurasian influence and elements.

Inspiration: Our friends’ homes — we have a lot of friends with great taste! And I am kind of obsessed with sneak peeks into the front windows of beautiful row houses around DC. Central Asian textiles for pattern and color combinations. Travel.

Virtually, I do a lot of blog stalking. Also, running our own home renovation blog — which is about to pick up pace as we kick off phase three of renovation — has actually kept me more on track and inspired to keep on going than I would have ever guessed when we first logged on back in March 2010.

Favorite Element: The original details in our house: heart of pine floors, moldings, pocket doors. We love, love, love the layout of our house. We entertain a lot, and the first floor has such a great flow to it.

Biggest Challenge: Dreaming up the space. When we moved in, there was a rather large half bathroom on the first floor, a small door into the kitchen, and another small door leading to the patio. We talked for years about how to best change things up, and then spent hours thinking of the best layout. The opening from dining room to the kitchen is new, as are the patio doors. The kitchen layout is completely different as is the powder bath.

What Friends Say: A dear friend recently told us that when he helped us move into the house back in March 2010, he secretly thought we were making a pretty big mistake. He has since changed his mind! I think what our friends have enjoyed the most about our home is watching it evolve from an unloved eyesore to something cozy and comfortable.

Biggest Embarrassment: Unfinished projects. Our master bedroom is in dire need of improvements, but we held off for the last five years in order to really do it right and add a master bathroom. Another big one is the halfway done paint strip job on the newel post for the staircase. But stripping paint is such a pain!

Proudest DIY: Built-in shelf in the dining room, which hides our ginormous A/C vent. Sergey designed and built everything from scratch. Same with the storage trunk in the living room bay window, which fits just perfectly and stores so much stuff. I am responsible for the house “vision” and do all of our GC duties, which I am pretty proud of.

Biggest Indulgence: Heated floors in the two bathrooms and the kitchen.

Best Advice: “Every room needs a bit of ugly”. This quote pops up from time to time in design magazines and blogs, and we really take it to heart. Yes, we love our beautiful home, but we don’t obsess over all the details being just so perfect. We would much rather have an ugly (but useful) media console for years, rather than spend a ton of money on a new piece, or buy something more reasonable that we don’t love. Plus that way there is always room for improvement!

Dream Sources: Off the Beaten Track is a treasure trove and our go-to for special pieces— they have the BEST rugs (among wonderful everything else). Furniture and art auctions for awesome bargains. Picking up mementos when we travel — rugs, textiles, homewares — we’ve brought something back pretty much from every trip we’ve taken. We have been very lucky to travel (and blog about it) quite a bit in recent years, and we literally pack and ship boxes as we go.

Resources

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

PAINT & COLORS

Entry: Benjamin Moore Deep River
Living room: Farrow & Ball Elephant’s Breath
Dining room: Benjamin Moore Tucson Red
Kitchen: Farrow & Ball Cornforth White on the walls; whitewash on the brick
Office/small guest bedroom (above): custom-tinted Benjamin Moore
Guest bedroom: Martha Stewart Mouse Gray
Bathroom ceiling: Benjamin Moore Aura Bath Midnight Dream

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

ENTRY

Wallpaper: Anthropologie
Vintage changing screen: Craigslist
Coat tree: Ikea
Storage system: Ikea
Light fixture: modified Ikea hack originally seen on Little Green Notebook
Runner remnant: Off the Beaten Track Warehouse
Brass stool: Craigslist

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

LIVING ROOM

Trunk: custom-made by Sergey
Sculpture bust: found in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Lamps: Ruff & Ready
Eames-style chair: Off the Beaten Track
Berber rug: found in Morocco
Kilim: from Afghanistan, purchased in India
Coffee table: Ikea
Wall sconces: Ikea
Sofa: Craigslist freebie
Pillow covers: made by Sergey’s mom from fabric purchased at Miss Pixie’s
Tall side tables: Weschler’s Auctioneer
Korean inlaid bench: Weschler’s Auctioneer
Stacking tables: Georgia Ave. Thrift Store
Lacquer tray: found in Myanmar

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

DINING ROOM

Light fixture: assembled ourselves with directions from One Kings Lane
Pfeiffer-style dining table: Craigslist
Mid-century chairs: Craigslist
Barrister bookcase: Craigslist
Pillow covers: made by Sergey’s mom with fabric from Miss Pixie’s
Mirror: found on a street corner
Pouf: Ruff & Ready, reupholstered by Jenia
Side table: Weschler’s Auctioneer
Custom built-in: made by Sergey
Painting of St. Basil’s Cathedral: Ruff & Ready
Street scene art: purchased on the street in Belgrade
Photograph of a fairy blowing gold dust on the mantle: Geordie Wood

(Image credit: Natalie Grasso)

KITCHEN

Floor tiles: Luxetile
Ceiling tin tiles: bought salvaged from now-defunct Brass Knob Warehouse
Cornice: purchased new from Tin Ceiling Xpress
Cabinets: Ikea Applad
Cabinet hardware: Liberty Artesia line in Sedona Bronze
Countertops: Ikea butcher block stained with India ink and sealed with poly
Island countertop and under-cabinet shelves: reclaimed wood from the original joists that used to support our house
Faucet: vintage from the now-defunct Brass Knob Warehouse
Sink: Blanco Precis
Banquette: custom-designed by Jenia, built by contractors
Kilim pillows: purchased in Ankara, Turkey
Over-the-island lights: West Elm
French doors: Weathershield from Quality Window and Door
1960s map: sourced at Ruff & Ready