Pennsylvania Home Tour: A Quirky, Elegant, Family-Friendly Makeover

When Julia invited us to tour her home—an outwardly typical, cookie-cutter Pennsylvania house whose exterior details (even the front door color) are tightly restricted—we fell in love the moment she welcomed us inside. What starts as a conventional suburban shell unfolds into a warm, inventive interior full of personality, clever DIYs, and thrifty treasures.

Julia shares the house with her husband Jarrid, their 10-year-old son, their 6-year-old daughter, and three cats. Their home manages to balance whimsy with refinement: soft neutral walls and crisp white molding set a calm backdrop for playful accents like a cardboard deer head and a crystal chandelier.

The living room peeks down the hall and showcases the house’s signature contrasts: classic lines and traditional shapes paired with bold graphic patterns. A round mirror, a tufted sofa, and a white pedestal table read timeless next to a geometric rug and hand-painted striped curtains—Julia painted those stripes on plain white IKEA panels. A transparent acrylic coffee table keeps the space feeling light and airy.

Julia favors thrifted finds and estate-auction bargains for most of her pieces. She points out that the only major splurges in the home were the kitchen countertops, their sofas, and their bed; otherwise, she leans into secondhand shopping and creative upcycling. IKEA also plays a big role—everything from basics to panels that become canvas for her painted designs.

She keeps orchids alive (a skill many of us envy) and chooses mostly indoor/outdoor rugs because they’re easy to clean with two kids and three cats underfoot. Practical choices like that show how style and family life can coexist without constant worry about spills or pet hair.

Julia describes herself as a big fan of silly, unexpected items—cuckoo clocks, gnomes, and decorative deer—which pepper the house and keep the tone playful. Those whimsical touches are balanced by thoughtful details and a consistent palette, so the home feels curated rather than chaotic.

She repurposed a lamp into the chandelier over the sink and splurged on the kitchen countertops; she also painted a blue stripe on the kitchen stools for a personal pop of color. These small, custom touches—hand-painted stripes, a DIY chandelier—make the home uniquely hers.

Heading upstairs from the living room, you’ll find a hallway punctuated by a ceiling fixture Julia fashioned from a bowl. She also repainted a dresser and lamps to fit the palette. A family painting with ties to Julia’s grandmother is one of the home’s most treasured objects, and it’s displayed with care.

In her daughter’s bedroom, Julia rescued a headboard from a neighbor’s trash and gave it new life. She painted horizontal stripes on the wall and used thinner black-and-white stripes on the headboard and bedding, creating a layered, graphic look that feels both bold and cozy.

An art wall across from the bed uses a simple wire-and-clip system that makes the gallery easy to update—perfect for a growing child’s changing tastes. Julia even painted a cuckoo clock with her daughter and hung it in the room, turning a decorative object into a collaborative craft.

Julia is still hunting for bedside tables of the right scale and is considering reupholstering a chaise herself later this year—another example of her hands-on, DIY spirit. In the master bedroom, lofted ceilings and a chandelier read elegant, while framed family portraits above the bed were DIY projects that add warmth and intimacy.

Julia painted a dresser and swapped in neon drawer pulls for an unexpected, playful twist. She mounted white animal heads on wood slices from the craft store to create a more substantial wall display—an inventive way to combine store-bought and handmade elements. One of the mounted animals is affectionately called Ramsey.

The backyard is lush and inviting, and Julia even built a cat enclosure: a wire tunnel the cats access through a cat door in the living room window above the couch. It’s a brilliant, pet-friendly addition that gives the cats outdoor time while keeping them safe.

Thanks to Julia and Jarrid for opening their home. Jarrid doesn’t dive into most DIY projects, but he contributes by baking, cooking, and tending the yard—a fair and complementary division of labor. For readers seeking inspiration, the home offers many approachable ideas: painted IKEA curtains, thrift and auction finds, repurposed lighting, and pet-friendly outdoor solutions. Favorite features include the bowl-made light fixture, the striped curtains, and the cat tunnel—though the combination of playful quirks and elegant details is what truly defines this family’s home.