My Daughter’s House… Creating a Home with Meaning On A Budget

Mother-daughter relationships can be complex.  Some are best friends. Some fight regularly. Some avoid conflict. Others talk through everything… perhaps too much? Undoubtedly there is a hint of these things in all relationships. My daughter was a bit of a challenge growing up, not because she got into trouble or had trouble in school.  She always knew who she was and wasn’t afraid to take on a challenge.  If that meant making everyone’s life a little miserable in the process so be it. She wasn’t afraid to struggle or work hard for whatever she wanted to achieve.  She never allowed herself to be labeled.  She was friends with the popular kids but wasn’t afraid to befriend the “nerds”.  She was often the one that stood up to protect the little guy and definitely  had no fear of  bullies. She wasn’t afraid to be different or to seek out friends that were different than her even at a young age. She has always had great insight about who her real friends are and has great friends to this day.    I don’t share “personal” things very often on this blog . My son loathes the thought of me ever mentioning him . I am very proud of all she has achieved and was thrilled when she asked me to come up and help them get their house together.


They recently moved to the burbs from their condo in the City and bought their first house. The house was a flipper lacking the architectural details that Jen & Darius prefer. They were hoping to find an older house with character but in their area they come at a high price and require lot's of work. Time is a luxury that neither of them have with their busy careers. Those of you who are regular readers know that I am not a fan of instant décor but prefer a look collected over time.  My daughter (who is not in the design industry but manages  high end commercial properties) created this gallery wall without any help from me of her wedding photos.  The table was an inheritance from my husband’s family.  When I got up there we hit Home Goods and found this great task lamp (score!!) The brass Hookah was from her husband’s family.  All of the other treasures were collected by them.

My daughter and her husband have collected interesting art, flea market finds,and artifacts that have personal meaning to them.  Her husband is half Iranian and inherited a lovely Persian rug (that has about a gazillion thread counts to the inch).  Jen didn’t love the color but they wanted to use it and worked their decor around it.  I bought her the “Cindy” sofa and loveseat from Best Slipcover Company when they first moved into their former condo in the city.  We recently had Best Slipcover make a set of new white slips so they could move them into their new living room.  Their coffee table is a table that we purchased on one of our East Coast buying trips that was once our coffee table.  The rope tray was another Home Goods find.  Everything else (whoops sorry about the empty beer bottle) are things they have collected themselves. The pillows on the sofa were found on Etsy constructed of old kilim rug fragments.


The table below came from their old place and was a cast off from our good friend who redecorates her house on a regular basis (lucky Jen).  We bought the ottomans on Overstock.com and had them covered in old grain sacks (also from their former place).  The map on the wall is an old map of San Francisco that they found and had framed.

This is the “pretty” fireplace that came with the house.  They have plans to do something to improve it at a later date.  Any suggestions? You guys always have great suggestions!

In the meantime Jenna had a picture of  the truck (that was the centerpiece of their wedding ) blown up and transferred to canvas. You can read about that here http://roughluxeperspective.blogspot.com/2013/06/three-weddings-and.html ,  in case you missed it. Sorry this picture is so terrible.

Her antique hutch table was my husband’s parents dining table.  The Mainly Baskets chairs were another castoff from our friend.  The cushions were made by the amazing Katie Baker of Katie Baker Slipcovers out of old grain sack fabric.   The vintage fish prints Darius had collected before they were married.  The mirror on the wall was something I purchased for our lake house and didn’t work out. The chandelier was an inexpensive fix.  The burlap shade is from World Market.

Her family room is still a work in progress. The gorgeous Brazilian coffee table was another score from our good friend.  The new sofas are from Best Slipcover.  They still wear the old pillows from their former condo. The floor lamp was a castoff from us. 


The table in the corner was something from our garage (we have a lot of treasures in our garage).  The lamp in the corner is from Pottery Barn.  The shade was handmade in Mexico and sourced from our closet.  The books are from Darius’s amazing collection of vintage books.  The bottle is from Home Goods.

We live in a fast paced acquisition driven world.  I am glad that Jenna & Darius did not fall under the spell of the instant décor/ big box look.  Instead they have put together an assemblage of things that have special meaning to them in a stylish way. Sure they have picked up things at the usual places, but the majority of their things have been sourced from flea markets and salvage yards, and brought back from their travels. These are the things that give a home a heart.
I will post more pics of the rest of the house in another post.  In the meantime if you are looking for more inspiration stop by Linda’s blog http://www.callingithome.com/.  It is time for the One Room Challenge.
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