Kelly’s Darling Dutch Colonial

Name: Kelly Millspaugh Thompson
Location: Falls Church, Virginia (right outside of Washington DC)

Our dutch colonial is located in Falls Church Virginia which is about 10 miles outside of Washington DC. We are located in a little area called Sleepy Hollow, an older mature neighborhood with big lots and lots of trees. When we bought our home it was the ugly duckling on the block but my husband and I saw the potential. I own a vintage furniture and home decor store called Stylish Patina and write a blog. (Editor’s note: If you liked the before and after of an eat-in kitchen we posted earlier today — you’ll like this house call; Kelly shows us the rest of her house!)

We chose this house because it had almost a half acre lot and we have four large dogs! We met at the dog park and we both had two dogs at the time making us a family of four dogs. We both love the charm of an older home and this one was our diamond in the rough. We bought the home in 2009 and since then we have renovated almost very square inch of it.

My husband and I share a love for vintage charm with modern function and I feel that rings true throughout our home. We love the character of an older home like ours, however we made design decisions such as opening up walls and such to give it an open floor plan. When selecting furnishings for the home we combined items we both had and then filled in with elements that spoke to us. In general we enjoyed a relaxed home environment that is livable and stylish.

We really enjoy our eat-in kitchen area that opens out onto an amazing deck overlooking our big backyard. We have kept the house as light and bright as possible and enjoy letting the outside stream in.

Thanks, Kelly Millspaugh Thompson!

• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.