My Style: The journey to finding my style has been interesting. For a long time, I kept chasing trends and trying to “keep up” with what was popular. I would describe my current style as “modern eclectic,” because I use a lot of elements from different styles. I have a little bit of boho, mixed with touches of transitional style, a dash of mid-century, and a splash of vintage — all with a modern flair. 

Favorite Element: I love our renter-friendly box trim molding in our living room and dining room. It was such a small DIY that really added so much to the boring white walls that we can’t paint.

Biggest Challenge: Renting in itself presents lots of challenges, because everything you do needs to be removable, temporary, or easily repaired. It really forces you to think outside the box and be creative. Our biggest challenge with this house, specifically, has been not being able to paint our walls. In past rentals, we’ve been able to get permission to paint as long as we painted everything back before moving, but we were not given the same leniency here. And our living room layout has been a struggle for me. It was hard to find a flow that made sense, and even now I’m not super ecstatic to have our couch in front of the window. But it was the only thing that made sense with this small space.

Proudest DIY: I have so many that I love and am proud of, so this one is hard. I will have to say our latest fireplace build would be my proudest, though. We built an electric fireplace frame from scrap wood we had in our garage, covered it in thick particle board, and I did a DIY roman clay finish over it using paint and joint compound mixed. It added a lovely focal point to our living room and was the perfect place to hang stockings at Christmas.

Biggest Indulgence: We are pretty thrifty when it comes to home decor and furnishings —90 percent of our home is from Facebook Marketplace or thrift finds that we fix up ourselves. The one thing we splurged on was our couch. It’s the Albany Park sectional in olive green, and we love it!

Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? Not necessarily unique, but we don’t have a lot of extra space, so our daughter’s bedroom doubles as the playroom. Her room is the biggest in the house, so we got her a loft bed so that the floors would be clear and the kids would have all that space to play.

What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? I love our Facebook Marketplace coffee table that we flipped; it’s probably my favorite piece. I’m also a sucker for candles, and my current favorites are from a local small shop, Evergreen Roots NW.

Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: Utilize multi-purpose furniture! Our TV stand doubles as toy storage and holds miscellaneous extra items. Decorative cabinets are great for extra storage, too, as is anything with doors that can hide the clutter. And use baskets — lots of baskets! 

Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? Don’t let renting hold you back from creating spaces that you love. And you don’t need a huge budget to create your dream space! I rarely, if ever, buy things new. We are a one-income household, so our purchases have to be intentional. A lot of our home is secondhand goods that we’ve turned into our dream pieces. Seeing the potential in things is key, and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty! DIY is for anyone, and if we can do it, you can, too! You learn a lot and fail just as much along the way. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!

• Shoe Cabinet — IKEA Hemnes shoe cabinet hack
• Wallpaper — Etsy
• Sconces — Amazon

• Rug — Overstock 
• Couch — Albany Park 
• Coffee Table — Thrifted 
• TV Stand — Thrifted DIY
• Mirrors — Hobby Lobby 

• Table — Thrifted DIY
• Hutch — Thrifted DIY,
• Paint — Benjamin Moore “Fresco Urbain”
• Rug — Botique Rugs 
• Chairs — Amazon  
• Light— IKEA 
• Barstools — Poly and Bark

• Wallpaper — Amazon
• Beadboard Wallpaper — Amazon
• Crib — IKEA
• Rug — Overstock 

• Bed Frame — Amazon 
• Headboard — Thrifted room divider
• Rug — Rugs USA 
• Ceiling Pendants — Overstock 
• Nightstands — IKEA Rasts
• Bedding — H&M 
• Curtains — Amazon  
• Bench — Poly and Bark
• Wallpaper — Love vs Design 

Thanks Kelby!

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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