The One Thing That'll Make Sunny Weather Even Better
Condiment: Five Faves: Apt2b.com's Mat Herman
Kim Johnson, an Ottowa resident, has been renovating her 926 square foot home for over fifteen months and her hard work shines brighter than those stark white floors. With an eye for spatial design and architectural details, Kim has infused personality within every inch of the home, making her space into a home worthy of gracing the pages of Desire to Inspire itself.
Living Room
"I love my space because I own it and I can do whatever I want to it," Kim says. "I'm kind of enjoying the fact that because I live alone, I don't have to confer with anyone on decorating choices. So when I want to paint walls pink or wallpaper a wall with a forest, I don't have to beg anyone."
Kim's living room is greener than most. Photo: Kim Johnson
Kim worked hard on her DIY workspace: a white, bright corner of her home. Photo: Kim Johnson
And wallpaper her wall with a forest she did. "I found [the forest wallpaper] at designyourwalls.com and I love it, despite the pain I suffered trying to install it," she says. The sofa is one of her favorite possessions -- she and her boyfriend built it. The base cushions are from an IKEA sofabed (she was able to purchase just the cushions). She bought fabric and her mom's seamstress made her 13 throw pillows. "I am really proud of how it turned out and how SUPER comfortable it is," she says.
Home office
Kim also got her hands dirty in her home office. "The floors were a really pale and ugly oak-colored hardwood so I painted them white," she says. "I LOVE them." The desk was made from an IKEA table top and legs, and she covered it in fabric and had a piece of glass cut to fit on top. (Sweet!) She made the curtains from vintage fabric found on Etsy, and the art deco armoire was a flea market find. "I dry-brushed it with teal paint left over from my dressing room," says Kim.
We love Kim's backyard retreat. Photo: Kim Johnson
Another DIY area of her home? Her backyard. "I decided a couple of weeks ago I needed a little secluded spot away from neighbor's windows," she says. "The following Sunday, my boyfriend and I built this deck. I love floating decks that are close to ground level, and this one is shaded by the 2 huge trees in the corners of my yard so it's a prefect spot for some privacy and some relief from the sun." She outfitted it with a bunch of IKEA stuff she had around the house – the 2 white pots, the chairs and the stool in between, which she spray painted.
Kim recently renovated her kitchen into a modern/ethnic space. We love the transformation! Photo: Kim Johnson
Kim certainly has a knack for envisioning new spaces, as she recently demonstrated in her kitchen. "My kitchen, simply put, is a dream come true. When I bought this house, the kitchen cabinets were flat slabs of wood, painted white, the worst tile job ever on the floors, a nasty laminate countertop, cheap white appliances and a makeshift island," she says. She got her cabinets through a creative arrangement with Greentea Design -- they'd give her the cabinets if she created a blog around her kitchen renovation. "This was my first serious renovation project and it was a lot of fun," says Kim. "It turned out MUCH better than I ever imagined, and I love every bit of it."
So do we!
We certainly love it, too, Kim! We're, in a word, inspired.
