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Let’s Go Back. Way Back.

On Monday, we shared the front half of our home’s evolution for our four year home anniversary (holla!), most of which was not terribly embarrassing – but I’m gonna go ahead and call that foreshadowing. So, come on in again, and this time, we’ll detour the living room and head straight down the back hallway.

The hall was the last place we tackled with paint, figuring that the original khaki paint was sufficient enough (and by then, our arms were sore and aching, ow). And awesome, generous girl that I am, I actually bought Scott hallway paint for Christmas. You’d think that’s a joke, but nope. We chose Porpoise by Behr, and we finished it off with a few framed prints (that have since moved to our entryway).

But last year, after throwing the idea around for a few weeks, we got a wild hair and papered an accent wall. I remember stumbling across the pattern in Anthropologie’s sale section, then racing home to show Scott that it was just $25 a roll. And this is just one of the many (many!) reasons I love my man: He took one look at my computer screen and said order it!

The first stop off of the hall is our bathroom. It’s now on it’s third color (four if you count the original khaki), but oh my. I just have no words for our first two choices. We were a little all over the place in the beginning, and I fully believe that a bathroom is a place for a few more risks – after all, you’re not staring at it all day long (I hope). But that deep brownish-green? We were going for spa. And that bright ocean blue? Well, I don’t even know what that was about.

But we did begin our wall of photo strips during the blue phase, and you can see we also replaced that original contractor grade mirror with something more substantial.

And now, here we are three shower curtains later and a few fresh coats of Opal by Martha Stewart. (As for the too-red cabinetry, well, we like to daydream of something cleaner and brighter. For now, it’ll stay put as my purse strings are wound a bit too tight.)

All that black wasn’t safe for long, and while the photo frames got the white wash, we had a bit more fun with the mirror and got all Yolk-y on it.

Further down, our bedroom shoots off to the left. It’s pretty amazing how small it looks in this photo, but the truth is that it really is just that small.

And you know what we did? We went, uh, orange. It’s my favorite color, and I stand by that. But I almost have no words for this first round. The photography on the wall was a project I shot in college, and our obvious love for clean, white bed linens holds true. Aside from that, we sincerely apologize for that burning feeling in your eyes.

We later toned it down with a minty green strip (Behr’s Relaxing Green), moved the bed away from the window wall, and added a photo ledge to anchor it’s new placement. It was better, but it took me a while to work up the courage and tell Scott that, sorry, I was over the orange. (After all, I insisted on the pumpkin farm from the beginning.)

So rather than tell him, I acted as my usual self (we’ll call it strong-willed) and began painting it while he was away for a weekend. (You can read about that so-called drama right here.) While we love our color, we both agree this was ultimately a smart move (why, thank you), and although the room is small, we like to think of it as our little cocoon. It’s damn cozy.

Across the hall from our bedroom is our office, and yes, it’s even smaller than where we sleep, coming in around 8’x10.’

At first, this room was our afterthought. We put a desk in there and a small futon that could pull out for a quick, overnight guest. Because, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with an extra room? Maybe so, but in our case, it wasn’t working. And it was boring.

So we did what we do best – added color! We painted Behr’s Distance on opposite walls, upgraded our desk for something sleek, and added storage with our sideboard. Over time, we layered in a filing cabinet, pieced together a Flor rug, and added fun accents with Grandma’s side chair and vintage mirrors. Oh, and of course our guests are still welcome.

Most recently, we got our act together and got our jumbled tangle of mirrors just so, and even swapped out the lime desk chair for Scott’s almost-dumpster find.

But wait! There’s more. You might know by now that our patio is very precious square footage, but it didn’t always look so inviting:

This summer, we took full advantage by giving her the sprucing she deserved after an obnoxious, lengthy winter. The Old Man was vicious this year, and with the gorgeous weather we’re having this week, we’re still hanging on to our outdoor room until the first chill.

As you know, our home is barely 700 square feet, but we still (really) enjoy playing with color and pattern, even though we’ve done some toning down over the years. While we didn’t have any major reconstruction to deal with, we like to think we flipped that contractor’s box upside down, and we’ve created a home we enjoy and love – that is, with our usual tweaking and refining (!).

And if you hung in there for the whole tour, kudos. Is there anything you were surprised to see? Uh, the bathroom perhaps? (I cringe.) But how about you? Any past mistakes you’re willing to share, or maybe there’s an update on the horizon? Let’s hear.

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  • Lindsey d.10.5.11 - 8:28 AM

    Super cute! Y’all are such an inspiration… Great job with paint color upgrades and thrifty/antique finds…

    I feel you on the pumpkin. When I moved into my house, it was a sea of white walls in the bedrooms, dark khaki in the living room and pumpkin orange in the kitchen. The kitchen was the ONLY color that stayed and for two years, I’ve loved it. But now it’s time for it to go… Thinking about replacing it with a subtle pinky/rose. Paint samples this weekend!ReplyCancel

  • Susan @ Jubilee Furniture10.5.11 - 8:42 AM

    What a lovely stroll down memory lane! I had forgotten how much your bathroom, bedroom and office have changed over the last few years. I love seeing how they’ve evolved. Your whole place is so warm, inviting and yet fun, edgy and…cool! Artist. Amazing. Delightful eye candy at every turn. Okay, I’ll stop now.

    Really, though, the only thing missing is a painted retro camera. Just kidding, Kim! Are you smiling? You know I think you and Scott are wonderful!ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.5.11 - 8:49 AM

    Susan, YES, this made me smile! It’s still not painted, so maybe this is a sign that I just may never do it! You make me laugh.

    Also, we were just talking about you this weekend to Take 2 Vintage. We were bonding over our shared love of Jubilee Furniture!ReplyCancel

  • Elisa @ What the Vita10.5.11 - 8:58 AM

    Love the changes and that you’re not afraid to switch things up. I think you’ve used the small space that you have very well!

    I have a question – how do you hold up the curtain to your bedroom? I want a curtain for one of the closets in our home, but we can’t figure out a good solution – tension rod? But would it be secure enough? Let me know! :)ReplyCancel

  • Kate10.5.11 - 9:14 AM

    I love your house. It’s really neat to see how your work on it has progressed.ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.5.11 - 9:22 AM

    Hi Elisa,

    We use curtain-tracks.com for all the curtain tracks in our home! They’re very well made and much sturdier than any tension rod. You have to order them in long lengths (and then we cut them down ourselves), but you could find more uses in your home that way! Here’s a post where we go into more detail:

    https://yellowbrickhome.com/2009/10/26/the-tracks-in-our-home/

    We pair our tracks with Ikea hooks, but if there isn’t an Ikea near you, they have many, many solutions on their site.ReplyCancel

  • Kim and Scott, It’s come a long way! And, it looks better than ever! Thank you so much for sharing your awful paint choices. :) I just went through that drama in our master bathroom. Haha. But really, I love everything you’ve done to jazz up the place.ReplyCancel

  • Amanda- Hip House Girl10.5.11 - 9:45 AM

    You’re so hard on yourself! The thing I love about your home is how colorful it is- I even loved the orange and mint bedroom! I wish I could be so bold/comfortable/knowledgeable about color. I love how you’ve experimented throughout the years (if nothing else, it’s given me some much-needed color inspiration). Aaaaand I love that you like Ratatat.

    This has nothing to do with anything, but my friend Wendy got a picture of her dearly-departed Sidney from you (which was totally great) and gave your business card to my friend Kristin, for whom you painted Diesel- who is now on the back of your business card! She showed it to her last night and we all thought it was so adorable. We love how you love our little hot-pink-loving pitty friend!ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.5.11 - 9:52 AM

    Amanda, yes, those record choices in the former office confirm a lot of our major music loves: Ratatat (we saw them live and it was AMAZING – do it if you can!), Queen, Rolling Stones, Heart (yes, I admit it), The Talking Heads…

    Anyway, YES. I have a ton of cards with different portfolio images on the back, and of course Diesel made the cut! I’m also working on Kristin’s Siamese kitties right now, too. So fun!ReplyCancel

  • Emma10.5.11 - 10:11 AM

    Awesome job! I love your colors. Your deck was so hot before – why did you change it? I love paint can chic – I have that look going on in my own deck. Thanks for sharing :)ReplyCancel

  • courtneyoutloud10.5.11 - 10:28 AM

    I love your office the most – it is so inviting!!!!ReplyCancel

  • Monique10.5.11 - 3:53 PM

    Love the room changes. Are there TWO TV’s on your bedroom wall? So cool! We enjoy having color in our small home. Ours has been quite a change from the dreary off white wall color in each room.

    And your dog is sooo cute. His face carries such expressions and he’s adorable.ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.5.11 - 4:00 PM

    Hi Monique, nope, it’s not 2 TVs… Rather, we flanked the television with black framed prints so that it sort of conceals the fact that we have a black box to stare it. You can see it better here (the third to last photo):

    https://yellowbrickhome.com/2010/07/13/the-bedroom-blahs-resolved/

    And how we mounted it, right here:

    https://yellowbrickhome.com/2010/02/25/diy-mount-up/ReplyCancel

  • Jen10.5.11 - 6:39 PM

    Love the tour! My only regret is painting the walls of our bedroom too light. I need more contrast with all our white furniture but the thought of repainting makes me lazy.ReplyCancel

  • erin10.6.11 - 6:59 AM

    love the tour! i’m new to the blog so it’s nice to see everything you guys have done! and our main floor is painted in BM’s porpoise. i love it.

    you’ve done a lot with your 700 sq ft!ReplyCancel

  • kirsten10.6.11 - 11:14 AM

    You guys truly make the most out of your space! LOVE everything you have done. Such pretty photos and rooms!ReplyCancel

  • Monique10.6.11 - 5:15 PM

    Kim, thanks for the DIY on mounting your TV. What a clever idea! The two pictures do take some of the sting out of looking at a TV screen.ReplyCancel

  • Chrissie10.13.11 - 4:28 AM

    Where did you get those bicycle ceiling mounts? We’re in a small house, and constantly tripping/climbing over our two bicycles, that could be a nifty way to get them out of the way!ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.13.11 - 9:20 AM

    Hi Chrissie! We got everything we needed at Home Depot and rigged up the system ourselves. Here’s more information on that:

    https://yellowbrickhome.com/2010/01/25/theres-a-bike-on-the-ceiling/ReplyCancel

  • Brittany11.15.11 - 11:33 AM

    I have to know where you got the hi/bye rug!!! My dog just ate my “Wipe Your Paws” rug made of similar material… and I’m struggling to find a replacement!!ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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