Guest Blogger: Emily of Our House Now a Home

Hello everyone! My name is Emily and I blog over at Our house now a home where I share all about my home, creating a space that works for my family of 5, and helping others find and create a dream space for their home. I like to celebrate all homes. I enjoy creating new pieces, up-cycling, and anything DIY. I am so excited that Erin is letting me guest post. I have been a fan for a long time and have always wanted to have my home featured on her site. I adore putting the color turquoise in my home, there is pops of it everywhere. I was always nervous to submit my home, but I took the plunge and Erin was amazing and so encouraging. Anyways, lets talk home decor!

I grew up in sunny southern California. I spent my days swimming, boogie boarding. I was barefoot or flip flops, sun kissed skin 365 days a year. Then when I was 18 I moved to Wisconsin to go to school. I met my husband three weeks after moving here, fell in love, got married, bought a house and had three babies. Usual story. Eleven years later we have settled down here in a small town. My husband is a Midwestern boy. He likes fishing, farms, and the country. When we purchased our home and began creating it for our family I wanted to blend the two styles together. Without throwing down and marital squabbles in the aisles of Target over a piece of furniture that only one of us likes. Make it work for him and I as well as our kids, peacefully. That means there is a lot of styles, needs, wants, and function.

Come on into my home...

If he had it his way we would be living in a log cabin with dark wood furniture everywhere. If I had it my way we would be living in a beach cottage with painted white wood floors. See how the two are differing? I have managed to find the balance and will walk you through some of the elements that make our home work for both styles.

I had to get creative, make things on my own or flip items. creating a home for us meant there is a lot of custom pieces. That is the first and easiest way to blend styles. Finding the right piece in a store can be time consuming and expensive. Working with what you have or redoing something is the budget way of making a dream home work for all dwellers in the dwelling.

There is one thing we both agreed on when we decided to decorate our home. We wanted to make it custom. So adding wood details, new ceiling lights and wood floors was essential. Turning this builders grade, built in the 90's home into a classic but updated version.

The above picture of the console table and wainscoting is the best example of blending the coastal and rustic looks together. The console table was created from a piece of wood purchased at a barn sale and galvanized pipes. The table paired with the white wainscoting and light walls brings the element of coastal, cottage and rustic into a perfect partnership. 

Mixing the dark and black hardware with the light walls and white wood brings the two styles together in a way that both flows and compliments each other. 

This wall art piece was a new addition. Scrap wood was used to give this space a more rustic feel. The coastal and cottage side was winning out in this area of the living room. 

The stone fireplace is not something I would have chosen had I built this house from the ground up. My husband however adores it. This is rustic to the extreme. I softened it up by painting the mantle white. 

The coffee table in the living room was created using wood planks. This was initially a standard small dinner table. It was too small for our home and family so I up-cycled it, cut the legs and added the wood. Wood on it's own would have been very rustic, but painting it a light gray helps more of my style come out. As you can see, there is small mixes of both throughout the home. 

Our dining room has gone through a lot of transformations, and is still not done. This farmhouse table was the thing of dreams for my husband. It is chunky, big, bulky, with wood and galvanized pipes. The plan was to go all out and do farmhouse with a dark stain. But, our floors are a dark wood and I did not want to have them blend together. Both need to stand out on their own. So we chose a dark gray wood stain finish. It was just what was needed for this table. 

Creating this shell display and coastal gallery wall took some effort to make it work for both my husband and I. I mean, obviously it is going to scream coastal. It is all about where I grew up and our yearly vacations back to the beach. I struggled with how to bring in some rustic elements to this. Then I found these frames, with the natural wood. They seem to have been picked up off of the forest floor and dusted off. They were just what was needed to make this a place where both of us can feel at home.

Our hallway very much screams cottage. I am aware of that, going full on rustic with this space was hard. There is no windows in this hallway and can appear very dark. With the wood floors already toning down any natural light that seeps into here, I needed to keep everything else light and bright. We made this barn door which brings in a obvious farmhouse feel. Also adding the black ceiling light, door hardware and coat hooks makes the space feel more of the rustic and farmhouse that my husband adores. Blending the two can feel like a big give and take. Sometimes one has to give more than the other. In a naturally dark space, letting in the light of a cottage style helps.

This spot in our laundry room which we call the "organization station" is a work in progress. Still transitioning. However, again mixing the light pieces with dark wood accents makes the mix of styles work together. I actually have grown to adore pops of dark walnut in the home. It brings a sense of grounding and warmth to a sometimes cold color palette. 

This is in our study, where our kids read and have a art table. We made the art supply holder out of a 4x4 and just used a mineral wax to bring out the natural color of the wood. The turquoise bench was a old barn bench purchased at a flea market. This and the stools that appear to have a industrial feel blend our two styles together. 

Who does not love a gallery wall? I have added so many personal elements of us, and our family into this little wall that each of us is very represented. My family is a bustling, loud, bright and colorful bunch. Our home is full of life and I like to decorate in ways that showcase this. 

The old spool that was turned into a bookshelf for my kids books was all my husband. We got this for free and I had no clue what to do with it. It was really rough looking. He is the one that saw the potential in it. The chair was reupholstered without using any sewing techniques. With the dark gray of the chair next to the rustic spool bookshelf is a prime example of coastal/cottage with rustic working together. Sometimes you can blend them so well that one would be incomplete without the other. 

The kitchen is where we struggled the most. When we painted the cabinets so many colors were thought about and considered. This is a obvious ode to my love for all things coastal. The mint or light sea green color has chosen a side, and it is not rustic. 

I think a kitchen is very chaotic and cluttered. No matter how neat and on top of things you are messes happen. Picking one style and going with it for the kitchen was what was needed. With it being such a small space for us both my husband and I agreed that light and airy was the way to go. When we were redoing it blowing out a wall and making it twice its size was not a option. So a light back splash, and painted cabinets was what we found works. 

Having the dark wood floor be throughout our living area is what sets the room up to be as rustic as possible in this small space. 

This picture ledge is a great way to display items without having to put them on the wall, or taking up some much needed floor space. Also layering them on the ledge makes for a great focal point. By using the dark walnut stain and the large canvas pictures of the beach it what blends our two styles together. 

Wood pallets! You really cannot get more rustic than that. My husband adores everything having to do with wood furniture. This garden bench is all things rustic in the best way. The unfinished edges, uneven lines, exposed nail heads. If my husband could have wood pallet furniture in our whole home he would be so happy. Kids, and comfort can be ignored.

By adding the bright colors on the bench is what makes this stand out and pop. Giving a playful feel to this rustic bench. 

On our front porch, it is hard to hide the fact that our home is your standard suburban house. We have not one rustic element to the exterior. Or even coastal for that matter. By bringing out the bright colors, wood table and the black iron chair it introduces people to us and our style. 

Once we were able to blend these two together it has been perfect harmony. When we first began our journey together there was a lot of hodge-podge mixture. We had a bed that appeared to be actual tree trunks. Our room has a definite rustic style. The living room had all white or brightly colored painted furniture. Showing off my coastal side. But, the whole house needs to work together, in style and personally. The people, as well as the home need to flow. After 11 years together we have finally gotten it down. A little him and a little me. With a whole lot of our three kids, two dogs, and the crazy life we lead thrown in.

Thank you so much for sticking around, touring some of my home and getting the story of how I made our home work for us. If you want to follow along with my decorating journey visit me here. I like to incorporate my home and ideas as well as fellow bloggers and readers homes. I hope it becomes a place where all homes can be celebrated! Thank you so much Erin for letting me check off this humble dream of mine to be featured at House of Turquoise!

Love turquoise? Visit my shopping blog Everything Turquoise...updated several times throughout the day! Check out Decor by Color for even more color-themed shopping!