House Tour Boston: Jeanine’s Sun-Filled House

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I’m going to get it from you guys, but this House Tour is of my house. Believe me, its not that I think my house is the best I can come up with, but my friend Deborah is out of town, Dorinda has to work, and Camilla says I can’t photograph her house until she does something about the kitchen.

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I’m a Somerville gal who moved to Wellesley last year. We’ve been in this house a year and it’s definitely a work in progress. But I’ve always thought that design should change as much as we do.

The first thing I did when we moved in was to paint all of the dark wood white. I think that something most Bostonians face is whether or not to do this with the beautiful dark wood trim and moldings in so many of Boston’s apartments and houses (this should be a future AT Boston thread- whether to paint it or not!). Now the house is flooded with light and feels larger and happier.

When we moved in, there was no kitchen, literally just a sink and a broken stove. Not even cabinets. We opened up the wall to the dining room and now I spend most of my time in here!

AT SURVEY

Style:Casual, industrial, whimsical

Inspiration:My son. His toys give me ideas, and he reminds me that decorating isn’t about having things look perfect.

Favorite Element:I love everything about the kitchen

Biggest Challenge:Keeping things clean. You should see the pictures of this place 10 minutes after the photos were taken.

What Friends Say:Where did you get THAT?

Biggest Embarrassment:The windows. As you can see, they are filthy!

Proudest DIY:Restraining myself from painting the kitchen cabinets that our carpenter Guy made for us. I intended to paint them white but now love them unpainted.

Best Advice:You don’t have to use things for what they were made for.

Just Got:I bought the big blue cabinet for $175 on craigslist a few weeks ago. Amazingly enough, me and this guy Tom Mann carried it in by ourselves.

Dream Source:An unpicked-over barn sale.

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RESOURCES

Most everything in our house is from yard sales, flea markets, and craigslist. Another proud DIY was upholstering the desk chair in some canvas Chinese mailbags I got from Pod in Brookline Village. My friend Karen Audette painted the wonderful red-line “T” painting in Sam’s room.

Refrigerator:Its one of those that is supposed to have a panel on it, but we just fit a piece of plywood in there and painted it with chalkboard paint. This summer I plan to wallpaper it.

Bear Chair:I found all of the stuffed animals and even the bertoia chair at the Wellesley dump! It’s very comfortable and the bears are attached with long twist-ties. It was my homage to the Campagna brothers who did it first and whose furniture makes me smile.

Industrial Canvas baskets:These are made by an old factory in East Boston (they supply Goodwill), that doesn’t sell to the trade. But if you email industrialhome@yahoo.com you can buy one locally.

Countertops:Fireslate. It’s made in Wareham and looks like concrete (but much cheaper!).

Rugs:IKEA

Sinks:I found both the kitchen and bathroom sinks in architectural salvage shops- there are so many good ones around Boston!

– Jeanine

(Thanks, Jeanine!)

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