Radcliff
Radcliff is a little brick cottage built in 1941, with wonderful light and most of the original features intact. I wanted to be a little bolder with color, dive into a floral cottage aesthetic, and perhaps even dip a tiny toe into a corner of English maximalism.
The original crown molding, baseboards, and window trim are a light historic blue, resting beside cream walls and ceiling. In the living room, I intended the mantle to be painted cream, but the blue was a fun surprise; I'm keeping it awhile!
I fell for the couch's violet-red shade on Facebook Marketplace, and the lamp is one of Mom’s last Christmas gifts, which makes it eternally special. The three rugs may eventually be replaced by a single rug, but the right one hasn’t found me yet!
Books are well-loved by the Horsley girls, a value passed down from Mom, and each one on the shelves is part of my story. Seeing them every day is a delight.
Before move-in, Cristy dropped off a surprise bouquet of hydrangeas that have since dried, and now live atop a Facebook Marketplace bookcase. A neighboring trashcan illustrates the foundational design tenet of beautiful functionality.
Color drenching and painted trim were common in the late Victorian and Art Deco periods. Blue trim wasn't even half formed as an idea before my mind saw the encased opening framing a tiny, color-drenched dining room, grounding the house's center.
While it's true I had certain design goals (more color, more cottage), details and instinct still led the way. I let the pieces tell me where they wanted to live. For example, I saw the mirror at a new-to-me vintage spot, and knew it would go above an encased opening. Once the perfect shade of blue was on the dining room walls, prints with peach-pink matts quickly found their place... And the room had a face!
I love this view from the kitchen- the color and pattern and texture and light all playing together. The mirror in the right corner of the far living room wall was placed there so my favorite floral lampshade could be seen from across the house. Peep an unexpected keepsake, Aunt Annie's plain, utilitarian step stool. Aunt Annie was the oldest of Mom's siblings and Mom was the youngest. They were very close, and us kids absolutely adored Aunt Annie.
I debated adding something to the wall left of the armchair, but I'll wait awhile, letting what's already there shine, and leaning into the serenity of slow design.
I needed depth and texture to balance framed prints. The box was a crusty find from a vintage spot, used more for display than to sell. I was delighted to take it home and see what little vignette it could anchor.
The kitchen's original floors, trim, and cabinets were refinished and painted, and Rub-n-Buff transformed brushed nickel knobs and hinges to a soft, antique gold. Cabinets were removed from above the stove and dishwasher, being very small and difficult to reach, creating the opportunity for a custom hood vent cover and open shelves. The new countertops are quartz and the under-sink cabinet doors were trimmed down to fit the larger farmhouse sink.
The globe lamp was a gift to Mom from one of her dialysis patients. The backsplash is hand painted in the style of Dutch Delft, developed by the Dutch and heavily influenced by China's historic blue and white Ming porcelain.
I don't sew myself, but I find other ways to honor Mom's artistry. The framed floral is fabric she used to make one of the dresses I remember her in most clearly.
My Aunt Annie crocheted this afghan for high school graduation, a gift as I headed off to college.
I didn't have a plan- I just popped on a podcast, started in the bottom right corner, and placed pieces by feel, balancing scale, frame material, and print content. I only wanted the one portrait, so she wouldn't have competition, and I positioned her to be visible from the hallway. The blue chair is another piece from Aunt Annie and the dresser I've had my entire life, an heirloom from the Horsley clan.
I found the portrait at Goodwill and switched it into a new frame; her eyes have a lot to say.
This wall was a real challenge. I wanted the left and right walls of the room to be places for the eye to rest after the immersiveness of the front and back walls. Bit by bit, we found the right outfit. The shade is slightly oversized for this lamp, but I love it; it's my little mushroom lamp!
These curtains were originally planned for the windows, but they were too heavy for the space and hid most of the trim. But I loved the pattern, and I wanted to look at it everyday! Behind the bed they went.
This print was the first to go on a wall after move-in, and the plates followed not long after. They were like little flowers in a dessert, grounding me with a little bit of pretty amongst all the boxes, chaos, and contractor dust.
When I saw this armchair at Hope Thrift, I sighed and bent over at the waist with my hands on my knees because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist, though I had no idea where it would live (aka designing by heart rather than certainty or trend).
The office happens to be where most of the portraits settled, including Frida Kahlo and the band Squirrel Nut Zippers. From this view, you can just make out the collection of pretty plates on the bottom shelf.
The radio was my very first thrift purchase, from a dilapidated shop beside a gas station on route 29 between Lovingston and Lynchburg, Va, when I was on a visit home from college.
Both lamps are Facebook Marketplace finds, the larger with a hand-painted shade and base. The basket-box is hiding internet wires and routers, and the floral hatbox is where Mom kept some of her sewing supplies, along with a few letters and pictures.
Thrifting in earnest started with redecorating my office as a middle school band director. This chair was a well-loved fixture, by students as well as myself, most often used as a cozy place to rest when the day became overwhelming. Peep the lampshade on the right- I covered it myself with thrifted fabric and ribbon.
Bottom: A family portrait at my sister's wedding (I'm the young girl in front, mom made the dresses). Middle: Cristy and I before a marching band competition, me as a trumpet player and she as color guard. Top: Decades-old drawing of me at our Sunday School class piano by classmate, Tristan Ashley.
I was determined to place the china cabinet where I could see it every day from the hallway, and I filled it with books after seeing Cristy do it with hers. I painted the little shelves and drawers unit a sage green after being offered it for free out of the blue from Mrs. Joy's Bakery in downtown Lynchburg, when I stopped by for one of her delicious cinnamon rolls.
The first order of business after closing was removing sliding glass shower doors. I pulled them out myself, tracks and all, much preferring to throw a shower curtain in the wash. Large beige floor tile was replaced by a smaller, subway-adjacent pattern and a thin, dark sage border. I generally avoid frosted glass, but here it let in such wonderful light, so I decided on lace curtains to soften the style. I've always wanted an antique dresser-turned vanity, so although this ol' gal threw up quite a few roadblocks to reach completion, I'm so glad she's here!
Keeping the original bathtub and tile was never in question. Instead, the tub was refinished, fixtures replaced, and a new pattern took tile the rest of the way to the ceiling, actually the third choice after glass material from option one proved too delicate and option two was backordered several months.
I thrifted, painted, and installed the little shelf myself. An in-wall medicine cabinet and over-sink light fixture, neither original to the house, were removed in favor of a little mirror from one of Lynchburg's vintage shops and affordable Home Depot sconces Rub 'n Buffed for a warmer, deeper gold finish than their original factory-brushed brass.
The over-sink light fixture wasn't my style, so in came a pair of affordable Home Depot sconces, Rub 'n Buffed for a warmer, deeper gold finish than their original factory-brushed brass. They look great with or without shades, but I love the dimension and slight color splash these two add to the vanity grouping.
The sink backsplash was originally intended for flooring, until I realized it was for wall-installation only. Instead, I used it to create a sidesplash, ultimately wrapping it around the sink for a full backsplash, showcasing the beautiful pattern and material.
Because the rest of the room was visually active, I wanted this spot to be still. Once the pieces found their way together, the anchor became a humble bit of painted wood, once unpainted and forgotten in the corner of a dusty antique shop. I might experiment with delicate hand painting around the shape's perimeter, to highlight its strangely lovely shape. That is, in essence, design: Spaces continuing to grow and evolve as we do the same. Design is never "finished" as long as the creative mind can dream.
This sewing machine traveled with us for two weeks every single summer on vacation to the cabin in West Virginia, where mom would make Cristy's and my entire wardrobe for the new school year. Hearing the whirring as we went to sleep with crickets chirping and the river gurgling was absolutely synonymous with peace and safety.