A Stellar House Tour (It is For Sale!)

When Danielle and her husband Nick sent us a link of their newly listed home in vivid and charming Church Hill we could not simply ogle the listing and let it go. We knew we had to house crash them in the flesh and share all of the eye candy with you. They picked up it in fairly rough shape in 2003 and they worked with one of our go-to local organizations, Better Housing Coalition, to restore it to a livable condition. Records trace it back to existence as early as 1855 (although it is unclear whether it was burned to the ground in 1865 and rebuilt then). Either way it is extremely old and it needed plenty of work when Nick and Danielle purchased it.

After two years of renovation (!) they at last moved in back in 2005 – and they’ve been loving their first place ever since. Now that her two boys are older they are moving into our neck of the woods (Bon Air) for the schools, but they’ll consistently have a special place in their hearts for the home that they so lovingly revived after years of work. So without further ado, here is Danielle’s remarkable house (if you wanna move in, click here to contact her realtor).

This stately foyer is crowned with a classic Restoration Hardware light fixture. And how remarkable are those transom windows above the double door?

Danielle snagged this stunning mirror from Pier 1 on clearance thanks to a small missing mirrored disk around the perimeter (which she repaired by gluing on a new one). Paired with that showstopping green cabinet it is simply about my go-to entryway idea ever. She got that excellent piece from a local thrift store called Class & Trash, painted it Palmetto by Martha Stewart, and then brought in an antique glaze from Lowe’s for depth. Genius right? I am so in love.

Here is the living room with cheerful yellow accents. We especially enjoyed the side table (snagged on sale from Serena and Lily) and those dramatic floor to ceiling curtain panels (from Pottery Barn).

The kitchen is dreamy and Paris-like, complete with granite counters that look like marble, ornate wooden brackets under the counter lip, a classic subway tile backsplash, and charming metal stools from Overstock (which are straightforward to wipe down when her boys get something sticky on them).

Oh and that rug is in fact two runners from Ballard Designs that Danielle stuck together with rug tape to create one larger “custom sized” mat for that area of the kitchen.

And check out their fantastically deep double sink and that vivid vintage looking faucet (both from Overstock, seen here and here).

Here is a wider shot of the kitchen which includes the giant bulletin board that Danielle made to showcase all of the sweet art work that her sons whip up. And check out the lovely and industrial pendant light above the sink.

This is the playroom, which is right off of the kitchen. We enjoy the wall to wall seagrass carpet that she had installed – especially paired with the charming patterned area rug from Ikea on top. And the use of those sleek white Ikea bookshelves for toy/magazine/book wrangling (look at all that storage!) was so smart.

See those lovely prints of planes hanging in a pleasant neat grid? Danielle’s late grandfather was a pilot in the Navy, so her husband surprised her with this vivid set of vintage watercolor prints by Nixon Galloway. We are nothing short of obsessed with the whole arrangement. Especially because it is so meaningful to their family.

When you travel upstairs there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms (and a charming pooch if you are lucky).

We enjoyed this little “moment” that Danielle created along that diagonal wall with a cabinet and a collection of frames full of meaningful objects like an ultrasound photo, inked baby footprints from the hospital, wedding photos, childrens portraits, etc. And the bold black color in the table and the lamp shade coupled with the black and white prints was the ideal amount of drama and contrast. We also enjoy how the white frames make the thermostat fit right in instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.

Here is the hall bathroom complete with vivid floor to ceiling subway tile (which masked some unsightly wall issues that they had to deal with during the renovation). We enjoyed how the tile goes behind the mirror, which is hung in front of it. Such a fairly look that you do not see every day.

And yes, that is a fireplace mantel in the corner of the shot above. It is non-working but still a stunning architectural detail. Especially for a bathroom!

Here is Nick and Danielle’s bedroom, which is warm and welcoming thanks to breezy gray-blue curtains…

… and a vivid printed headboard that Danielle snagged on sale from Pottery Barn (the headboard’s patterned slipcover, also from Pottery Barn, was something she found on eBay along with the Crate & Barrel lamps).

Here is their older son’s bedroom, complete with a charming nailhead & denim headboard (from Target) and a lively orange patterned rug (from West Elm).

We also thought the planet mobile (from Pottery Barn Kids) and those especially lively greek key curtains (from Pottery Barn) were strong graphic touches.

And the long Ikea dresser provided tons of storage while the driftwood lamp on top of it totally had me drooling. Cutest thing ever? There was a little white owl ornament tucked into the lamp’s branchy base by Danielle’s mom (she did it the last time she came over and they left it there because it made them smile).

This is the corner of the guest bedroom. Everything from the bold green curtains to that fairly scroll art work on the wall (from Pottery Barn) and the West Elm mini parsons desk was totally speaking my language.

So there you have Nick & Danielle’s lovely Church Hill home. We are sending them a big wet kiss for letting us run through and snap some pics for you folks.

Now let us play the what is-your-go-to-part game. I was enamored with those plane prints in the playroom and the two runners that Danielle rug-taped together in the kitchen. John enjoyed the pops of yellow in the living room and the lively planet mobile in the kids room. Now you.

Psst- Check out tons of other House Crashing adventures here.