A Striking House Tour In North Carolina

We are back with another house crashing adventure from our recent road trip through Charlotte, North Carolina. You already caught a sneak peek of the remarkable kitchen, so we are back to fill in the blanks. And oh man, this family could not have been sweeter if they were made of sugar. Seriously. And their fully transformed 60’s ranch could not have been more charming. Even the outside had us at hello (you know we enjoy a brick ranch).

Since they tackled such an remarkable makeover, we chose to toss in some before pictures to show you simply how far Kristen, Stan, and their one year old son Davis have taken it (well, Davis was in the belly most of the time- they worked hard to complete their renovations simply days before he was born). And in baby compatibility news, he and Clara got along swimmingly. Cute, huh?

Here is the photo we shared in last week’s sneak peek, but now we have actual info for ya. Like that vivid oversized lantern above the island is by Troy Lighting (here is a link), the vent hood is a GE Profile 36″ island hood, and the butcher block counter is from Locust Lumber (right outside of Charlotte).

And look at the spread they tossed together to greet us! Nuts, chocolate candies, ice cold grapefruit drinks, and even animal crackers for the kids. Did I mention this family was sweeter than sweet?

Of course I played the role of Debbie Downer by suggesting that we wait to eat/drink so we could snap our photos beforehand. You do not wanna know what that island looked like after we snacked (simply picture scrunched up napkins full of half nibbled animal crackers, a few matchbox cars, and a bunch of empty glasses).

So we ran around grabbing photos as fast as we could (animal crackers awaited!). Here is a wider view of the lovely kitchen that leads out into their family room:

And this is what the kitchen looked like from the same angle before they began their renovations about a year and a half ago:

Fairly darn remarkable, eh? Here is the other view of the kitchen from the now-adjoined family room (well, I guess it was consistently adjoined, it simply had a compact door and now has a pleasant wide opening).

Here is the same angle before the makeover:

Any open jaws? Ours totally were when we checked out those before pics. Here is a pleasant shot of the whole family room now, complete with pillows and table lamps from Target and a handsome worn leather chair from the Mitchell Gold outlet in Hickory, NC.

Simply for lively, here is a before shot of that room. Is not it stunning how much some light paint (with primer) on that paneling did for the room (Kristen in fact followed our walkthrough). And of course that big opening to the kitchen changed the space immensely too.

But back to the room as it looks now, I was in love with the casual and welcoming mix of textures and furnishings. Nothing was matchy-matchy but it all felt layered and inviting. Like the big patterned rug (handed down from Stan’s mom and dad) along with the old chair that Kristen recovered using this navy geometric fabric. The red side table was a an old secondhand wood one that she transformed with red spray paint (True Red from Lowe’s) and some spray on high-gloss finish (for a lacquered look).

Kristen also let us poke through some other rooms in the house, even though they are still a work in progress. Look how sweetly this little guest room is coming along. I enjoy the matching headboards (another lucky hand-me-down from Stan’s parents) along with those lively pillows from West Elm and the cheerful rug from Crate & Barrel. I am sure when Kristen finishes up in there it’ll look even more remarkable.

We also snuck some shots of Davis’ nursery because there were strong ideas all over the place. See the lively patterned curtains? Kristen made them with fabric from Duralee. And since she’s such a fan of layering cheerful textiles, she brought in another pattern (from Etsy, called Teeny Compact Zoo, in the color “Pool” by Alexander Henry) for the pillow and even covered her drum shade with it (for anyone who wants to cover their own lampshade with fabric, here is a walkthrough we wrote a while back).

We also enjoyed the Hands-on-ability of these excellent painted canvases. Kristen got them from this lively boutique (in fact as a gift from a friend), but you could print out animals, cut out their silhouettes, trace them onto canvases, and fill in the space around them with paint in varying tones for a similar look.

The mobile was also adorbs. Yup, I said adorbs. Anyway, it was made of felt by Eleni Creative, and worked so well with the lively animal fabric… which Kristen used as mats behind some sweet baby photos that she framed above the crib. Genius.

So there you have Kristen, Stan, and sweet little Davis’ lovely house in Charlotte. Thanks so much for letting us swing by and share the photos! Let us bring down the house for the whole fam and play our usual what is-your-go-to-part game. Ours were that amaaazing lantern hanging above the island in the kitchen, the fabric covered shade in the nursery, and that excellent navy chair and red end table in the family room.

Psst- Still in a snooping mood? Check out a ton of other houses that we have crashed right here.

Psssst- John and I saw Bridesmaids this weekend (our second movie at a theatre since Clara was born!). 1) It was hilarious. 2) I had plenty of lively noticing a heart shaped earring and short skirt pattern when it came to Kristen Wiig’s wardrobe. 3) I hoped every single dress that her rival was wearing. Anyone else?