Mae & BJ’s Pretty Chic Pet-Friendly Pad

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Name: BJ and Mae, and their family of rescued animals
Location: Highland Square — Akron, Ohio
Size: 1,800 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years — owned

Mae and BJ’s dedication to living life to its fullest has resulted in a home that is welcoming to all and party-ready at a moment’s notice. Their ability to ballance their brood of rescued animals with a pleasing aesthetic has developed through years of trial and error. After finding and losing some pretty rad furniture, Mae and BJ have settled on pieces that are pleasing to them, and also hold up well in their pet-friendly home.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

The style of the couple’s home meets somewhere in between Mae’s softer, feminine touches of elegance and BJ’s bold vintage-car inspired sensibilities. Both of their hearts are reflected in the fun animal art which can be seen throughout the house.

After fixing up the inside of their home, BJ and Mae have spent a couple of years working on the exterior. Outdoor living is very important to them, as well has having somewhere for the dogs to roam about without bringing too much mud back inside. The back yard features hardscaping and various seating areas which are put to use during the many parties the couple hosts throughout the warmer months of the year.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: Eclectic to sum it up. Our home is a Dutch Colonial Revival which offers extraordinary flexibility to work with several styles. BJ is definitely more into modern styling and clean lines. Mae likes antiques, anything French country inspired, incorporating the several pieces she has had passed down to her from both her mother and grandmother from Southeastern Europe.

Inspiration: Comfort, ease, transition, animals and Vintage BMWs. We are always entertaining. We host large dinner parties in the dining room and outside on the front and back patios. We have dance parties and Karaoke in the living room. We need to be able to transform our home for several different functions.

Favorite Element: Large plastered moldings, a circular floor plan, and the original hardwood floors throughout.

Biggest Challenge: keeping a neat, some-what styled home while having several large dogs. We’ve been rescuing, fostering, and rehabilitating abused and neglected dogs for years, making it difficult to have furniture in any other shade but brown and made of anything other than leather (easy clean up). Having all hardwood floors throughout, it would be wonderful to have beautiful rugs of all different textures and colors…we just can’t do it with the dogs. Every time I attempt to purchase a rug, BJ asks for my money and pretends to throw it away. I get his point…

Biggest Embarrassment: Tumbleweeds from the dogs and too much brown in the living room.

Biggest Indulgence: flowers and plants. We truly see the exterior of our home as an extension of our décor and style.

Best advice: Don’t forget indoor plants. They make the gray gloomy winters in the Midwest just a little bit easier to handle.

Proudest DYI: Our backyard. We hardscaped the entire area by ourselves from a drawing BJ did with colored pencils. We had no real hardscape experience. It’s amazing that it turned out exactly like his drawing. Total sweat equity. It’s a great space to entertain adults. It’s also great for the dogs. No muddy paw prints in this house!

Dream source: Purchasing a large piece of land with a small farm house and starting all over again.

Reality source: Staying put for a couple years unless someone wants to purchase our home!?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Resources:

PAINT & COLORS

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

KITCHEN

SUNROOM

BEDROOM

OFFICE

GARAGE

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Thanks, Mae & BJ!

Images: Amanda Johnson

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