When we first moved into our new home/old house last July, there were a few quick and easy updates that we wanted to take care of right away. But quick and easy is relative, because for something to be quick and easy, you have to make quick decisions. And quick decisions are not my forte.

I would find myself sucked into an online shopping vortex skimming endless pages of butt-ugly light fixtures certain that “THE ONE” I was searching for must be on the next page…just…keep…scrolling.

I folded, and hired a design team to help me. I had seen Homepolish popping up in my Instagram feed and thought, what the heck? It’s a service that matches you with a local designer and you can then book their time in packages. It was reasonably priced and available in Philadelphia. Plus, I loathe picking paint colors.

If they could just narrow down the world to three or four choices, maybe we could make some progress. And we did. I hired them for 10 hours and they helped me pick colors, light fixtures, rugs, a few pieces of furniture,  and “poof!” our house started to feel like our home.

And then they asked if they could take some pics and feature our home on their website, and I said, “Why not?”

Here’s our home tour.

And here’s a special sneak peek of the unedited interview with sources at the end. Enjoy!

Kevin, Kaly, and their two sons Cameron (age 10) and Colin (age 9) live in Narberth, a community outside of Philadelphia with a small town feel and easy access to the city. Kevin commutes into the city to his publishing job and Kaly is a freelance writer working primarily from home but heads into an office two days a week. Kevin grew up in a rural town without public transportation and still geeks out about the fact there is a train station two blocks from his house.

“Living with growing and active boys and hoards of their friends in and out on a regular basis, we can’t have anything too precious. I don’t want to have to worry about coasters, or throw pillows being used as grenades, or eating at the coffee table. I don’t want to spend time or energy cringing about our furniture or spills. We need to be able to really live in this space.

Even though I’ve come to accept the fact that I live in a frat house, I will not give up on style.

Kevin and I have always loved midcentury modern, but the challenge is to make it look updated and not like a Mad Men set. I’m certainly not bringing Kevin his pipe and slippers at the end of the day. Even as our kids get older and their schedules get busier, we work to preserve family time. We still pile on the couch to watch movies and eat pizza and gather around the dining room to play games – which these days the adults are winning less and less.

We moved into our home last July and hired Homepolish pretty much immediately. There were some easy cosmetic updates that I knew would make the house feel more like our home, but I tend to get caught up in the “research phase.” I spend a ton of time shopping but never pull the trigger on anything. I thought if I someone could put three choices in front of me and force me to pick, it would move the process along.

After living in a rental for two years, we were ready to put some work into making our new house feel more like us. I thought a coat of paint and some new light fixtures could get us well on our way. Barrette and Christina were also able to recommend some furniture and rugs to breath some new life into our living and dining areas. We weren’t in a position to start from scratch but the few changes they recommended made a huge difference. Having a fresh set of eyes was incredibly helpful.

The house is a 2200 square foot, three story twin built in 1901. The first floor is foyer, living, dining, kitchen, and utility room. The boys have their own floor with a central hang out room (which they call Middle Earth) bedrooms and bathroom. Kevin and I have a master suite and my office on the third floor. It’s a house that will work for us for the next 10+ years.

Most of our vintage furniture has been collected slowly over the last thirteen years–a lot of it found before midcentury came back into style. Now we’re starting to collect art that fits into our new dining and living room. We like art with a personal connection – we’re not in the habit of buying stuff because it looks pretty or “goes with a room”. In fact, the more offbeat the better. I have a paint by number collection and a serious thing for vintage postcards and maps. I’m drawn to things that have soul, that have interesting former lives, and that can be repurposed in new interesting ways.

I recently found an ocean painting that reminds me of the coast of Massachusetts where we used to live. I hung it next to my favorite reading chair so that I can always have an ocean view.

Also in our stairwell, I made a collage of Instagram prints that is my personal ode to old school hallways that were lined with family portraits from Olan Mills.

But I love bare walls and uncluttered surfaces. I fight a tough war on clutter. There’s a joke in our house when something goes missing, Mom probably recycled it.”

Sourced by Homepolish:

Living Room

• Geometric light, Candelabra
• Rug, Overstock
• Paint, Grey Owl, Benjamin Moore

Entryway

• Console table, Urban Wood Goods
• Bench, West Elm
• Light, Restoration Hardware (not pictured)

Dining Room

• Rug, All Modern
• Paint, Rooftop Garden, Benjamin Moore

Sourced by Kaly:

Living Room

• Couch, West Elm
• Lamp, Wayfair
• Throw pillows, Home Goods & Target
• TV cabinet, Vintage found on CraigsList
• Coffee table, Vintage found on CraigsList
• Side table, Home Goods
• Candle holders, Home Goods
• Side chair, Vintage found in thrift store
• Red chair, Vintage found in Boston
• Ocean painting, Vintage found in thrift store
• Sheepskin throw, Home Goods
• Footstool, IKEA

Entryway

• Lamp, Home Goods
• Map, Vintage found at N3RD Collective, Old City, Philly
• Concrete succulent planter, Clover Market
• Colorful basket, Found in thrift store

Dining Room

• Light fixture, Dot & Bo
• Mirror, Pottery Barn (circa 2007)
• Table and chairs, IKEA
• End chairs, Vintage found in thrift store
• Buffet, Vintage found on CraigsList
• Black and white tray, West Elm
• Candlesticks, Vintage found in thrift store
• Elephant, Christmas Tree Shop

If you have any questions, let me know. I’d be happy to share with you more specifics about working with Homepolish or any of the items listed above.

When Kaly doesn’t have her nose in a book, she wrangles and referees two elementary age boys and blogs about her humorous efforts to lead a mindful, connected life. She’s the author of Good Move: Strategy and Advice for Your Family’s Relocation, a book about the craziness of moving with kids. Her writing has been featured on sites such as Mamalode, The Mid, In The Powder Room, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Scary Mommy to name a few. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.