JA Home Tour + Guest Post

I'm so excited to bring you a guest post by my friend JA. Her home is gorgeous and filled to the brim with inspiration! Enjoy!

I recently had the honor of inviting C to my house a few weeks back. A design expert at heart, I was looking forward to her first impressions of my humble abode. I was most pleasantly surprised when she commented on the “do it yourself” projects in my space. As a teacher with little money to spare, I often turn to HGTV or other design blogs and books for advice or “how to’s”, and with some elbow grease and a few hours, I am often pleasantly surprised.

The media unit and adjoining bookshelves are Ikea. We purchased the salvaged windows (on either side of the bookshelves) from Second Chance, a Baltimore-based architectural rehab series of warehouses. It is always jam-packed with cool finds! When we bought them, the paint was in rough shape and needed sanding and a fresh coat. Onto the books…

I have to admit I don’t really have the best collection yet…still working on adding classics. So, as you probably guessed, displaying their ratty or otherwise un-noteworthy spines didn’t exactly inspire me. With this said, I decided to cover the books in brown butcher paper (purchased from Michael’s) and label them with clear adhesive printable stickers. I now find the look to not only be more cohesive, but quite inspiring!

The flour-de-lil stencil was additionally purchased from Michael’s and I painted it by eye. It adds a little something, doesn’t it?

One of my favorite things about the dining room are the ceiling lights- Moroccan stars- purchased from Arhaus.

We decided on three instead of one because they don’t give off a ton of light. The parsons chairs are also Ikea- I love the fact that the white slipcovers can be washed! The boat was purchased in consignment, along with the hutch, which stores all of our china and glassware- the shelving on the top is open which is great for “self-service” when company is over.

All globes were purchased in consignment for under $30 each. To go with the nautical theme, we decided to purchase a large wall map and frame it, but in a quite unusual way.

Underneath of the map is foam board and there is no protective glass, as normally comes with an item being framed. We wanted to incorporate all of the places my husband and I travel with flag pins. The blue pins are places we have been together, the red separate.”

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Thank you so much, JA, for sharing your home with us! I'm dying to cover my books, and start a map documenting my travels!