See Inside This Stunning Renovated Ranch

From the moment we stumbled across Chelsea Lyn’s beautiful home on Instagram, we couldn’t get enough. Natural, cozy and warm, oozing character and charm, this beautiful New Jersey home is what renovation dreams are made of. Take a sneak peek inside and find out her top tips for renovating, and sourcing one-of-a-kind vintage treasures…

Your home is absolutely beautiful! Can you tell us about the overall style?

Well first of all, thank you! My style really stems from my love of natural and reclaimed materials and old-world details. It's an eclectic mix of old and new that still feels cozy and liveable. I embrace wabi-sabi, which is centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection, when it comes to furnishings and finishes. The more weathered and loved by time, the more character it adds to each space, it's a balancing act of elements, both modern and vintage, that make a space for me, and it's a style I am very much trying to emulate with each room renovation.

You’re currently in the process of renovating. Can you tell us what the original house was like and how you’re finding the renovation process so far?

Our house is an expanded ranch that was built in 1949! So it has all the quirks and charm of an old home (which I love). My hope with each space is to add to the architectural charm while incorporating my own style in a way that feels fitting to the home's original details. The renovation process has been quite the learning experience, but I love the challenge each room brings me creatively. We've only scratched the surface of projects we want to tackle, but I always say making house home is a marathon and not a race. This was something I learned very quickly when budgeting for our first project (wow was that a wake up call). I realized if we wanted to make this our dream house I would need to be resourceful, which meant learning to do a lot myself! All of that takes a lot of time but lucky for me, I really fell in love with the process!

We’re obsessed with all the furnishings and styling elements in your home. Can you share some of your top places and stores?

For sofas and upholstery, Sixpenny has my heart, I'm not sponsored by them in any way but I really love their quality and all of their pieces are crazy comfortable. I also think Arhaus, Restoration Hardware (if it's within budget) and Cisco Brothers are great options too. I love easy linen performance fabrics and slipcovers make maintaining light colors a breeze. Etsy is a great way to shop small businesses from all around the world, I find some of my most coveted pieces there. I of course love the treasure hunt when looking for vintage and antiques, so if it's not antique fairs, or local shops and markets, it's chairish, 1st Dibs, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace.

Where do you draw inspiration from when it comes to designing and styling your home?

For color palettes, I love to pull from nature, organic, earthy and textural is what I gravitate towards most. I also pull inspiration from some of my favourite designers like Axel Vervoordt, Leanne Ford, Atelier AM, Darryl Carter, Sarah Solis (this list could go on and on). I love architecture and design books when it comes to inspiration, sometimes the internet can feel like stimulation overload so it's nice to sit down and focus on one particular designer or style.

Do you have a favourite room or space in your home, and what makes it special?

Oh this is hard but I think our living room, it's the closest to finished and it's the first space I started with when we moved into the house. I've made so many of the pieces in there, from the concrete planter, to the coffee table, and the oversized art, and it's taken a lot of creativity to make it what I envisioned on a budget we could afford. I still have some projects left to tackle but it fills me with a lot of pride seeing it all come together. The kitchen is a close second (maybe even a tie) but it's still a work in progress! We've made a lot of changes there as well, it was the first large renovation project I took on and I have learned SO much.

Do you have any words of advice that you’d like to share with fellow renovators?

Where there's a will there's a way! Renovation can feel discouraging at times, especially when you're seeing these beautiful homes and renovations all over Instagram, Pinterest, HGTV and you realize that's just not the reality for everybody. All of these rooms and spaces you see cost SO much money, but that doesn't mean you can't have a beautiful space on a budget. If it takes you more time, if you have to learn a skill or experiment with a new technique..that's okay! Making your house home is a journey, stick to your initial vision, budget and make a plan and you WILL get there, no matter the timeline!

What’s your next purchase or project for your home?

Next up, bathrooms! They all need an over-haul (literally every single one). We're starting with the guest bath in the coming months and I am SO excited to tackle something new.