The internet is full of incredible design content and it constantly keeps me/us inspired. The only downside of the “amount” of content is that it’s easy to miss projects that are really fun and special–ones that maybe even pertain more to you, your home, and your budget (like DIY projects) as opposed to the seemingly budgetless reveals in places like Elle Decor or Architectural Digest. I’m speaking to myself on this one:) It’s not that those aspirational homes don’t serve a purpose. I LOVE them and we all can get A TON of ideas from them. However, there are a few home projects/renovations from fellow designers/content creators that the EHD team and I are very excited to see develop. Some of them are just about to start so we can follow them from the jump! So that’s what these next eight projects are, projects to give you cool, realistic ideas, maybe teach you some new tricks, and ultimately get you inspired. Let’s start with one that we technically have talked about once before.
Bri Emery’s Upstate NY Dream Home
Bri Emery is an old friend of Emily’s (remember this project) and she and her husband have been renovating an A-frame home in Upstate New York in the MOST visually exciting way. I featured her incredible kitchen in our 2023 kitchen trends post under the “whimsical/design your kitchen just for you” category. It may not be a kitchen that everyone would want but boy is it a masterpiece for anyone who loves beautifully made, colorful, original kitchens. Bri has been slowly revealing bits and pieces of the rest of the home as they go and we think it’s a must-follow. Look at that cute corner built-in! Enjoy!
Kim And Scott From Yellow Brick Home’s Red House
Kim and Scott design thoughtful, clean, inviting spaces so when they announced this week that they were starting to slowly renovate a small mid-century modern home with the coolest front door and living room windows I was SO excited. They are DIY experts so this is going to be really fun to follow along!
Elsie Larson’s New Missouri Home
Elsie Larson from A Beautiful Mess is no stranger to happy, colorful design…or moving:) So while she and her husband (and two young daughters) have lived in Tennesee for eight years total, they are moving back to her hometown in Missouri. Given that their daughters were getting to the age when it becomes harder to move and that they want to be closer to family, it made the most sense to do it now. If you’ve followed along Elsie’s other homes you know you are in store for something very special. I mean, look at this secret kid library!
Amanda From Dellaware’s DIY Kitchen Reno
We got to meet Amanda at the Meridian Experience last year and she was so wonderful. Her DIYs are so inspiring and last year she decided to tackle her kitchen…and pregnant no less! So while this project started towards the end of last year, it went from just a facelift to a full gut job because something unexpected popped up…water damage. But it’s not done quite yet so go back to experience the progress and then we can all celebrate the reveal together!
Arvin Olano’s Mid-Century Modern Dream Home
I mean, if you want to see a dream MCM house then run to Arvin’s account! His home is spectacular and he has been carefully renovating bits and pieces while thoughtfully decorating each space. It’s minimal, natural, and with the perfect amount of vintage. He even did a little DIY removing paint for his wood beam ceiling!
Drew Michael Scott’s New DIY-Filled Home
I think the entire team is in awe of Drew’s wildly creative and ambitious DIYs. So when he bought his house last year all of us couldn’t wait to see what he was going to come up with. So far he has NOT disappointed. They are unique and special and you should start following him now if you don’t already.
Katie Saro’s Childhood Home
So this is not a “brand new project” but I still think that everyone should be following along. Katie got to buy back her beloved family home in Minnesota (built in the 1800s) and it’s such a special story. She seems to mainly document the process on her awesome show The Art of Vintage on the Magnolia Network but it’s still a must Instagram follow as well as a must-watch show. As an artist, she designs freely and has the deepest love for fun vintage treasures. As a reminder, this was the kitchen we featured a few years ago before she moved!
Racheal Jackson’s Murals
Ok, ok so while this reel isn’t exactly the project I was going to talk about you should know first and foremost that Racheal is an INCREDIBLE muralist. These “gummy worms” as she calls them are my favorite. But beyond her mural work, she is designing and renovating her 1970s home and it’s so awesome. Full of color, full of vintage, and full of love. 10/10. Must follow.
Mandi Johnson’s New Early ’00s Beauty
This one happened to pop up on my feed on Wednesday and I thought, “AH I have to add this to the list!” If you know Mandi then you know she too is an insanely talented designer/DIYer. We’ve featured her work before because they are always SO GOOD. So while I’m sad to see her leave her old home, I am more than excited to see where she takes this one. I am ready for the ride.
Now, there are many many more that could be added to this list because like I said at the top there is just so much good content out there! Please comment below any others that you are really excited about. This is the tip of the iceberg and if you like this post we will try to do more:)
Love you, mean it.
Opening Image Credits: Design by Katie Sarokhanian | Photos by Kelly Christine | From: “The Kitchen Coronavirus Built”: A Jaw-Dropping, DIY Kitchen That Truly Proves The Sky’s The Limit
These all look really cool, but it was a letdown for me that they are all Instagram links. I have chosen to not have Instagram for a variety of reasons, but I also would love to follow along with several of these. Any chance the post can be updated to include blog links if they exist? I know not everyone is using the blog format these days so my request might be unreasonable. Anyway, happy Friday!
Agree!!!
agree too!
I came to the comments to say the exact same thing! Don’t do Instagram, would welcome blog links!!
Don’t do Instagram? Don’t do what the industry platform has evolved to over the past few years? You may need to adjust your expectations.
Meta is a pretty creepy company. I can understand people’s hesitation.
I think most of these creators have blogs of the same name as their Instagram handle, so you could do a search.
S.a.m.e!
Yellow Brick home has an active blog!
LOVE that Kim & Scott are featured! Yellow Brick Home posts always make me smile and leave me feeling inspired.
This is great! Thanks so much.
BTW, am in the middle of a small kitchen update that forced us to clear our counters of random stuff. They look so much better this way! But how can I attractively store produce that needs to live outside the fridge, like tomatoes, onions, citrus and bananas? They seem to spoil quicker in a bowl, and the last hanging tiered basket I bought (from Williams Sonoma) was hideous…
Love the story of Katie buying back her family home! And such a “fun” backstory of ice and snow growing around the outlets!
I would also suggest the House of Brinson on instagram. (They also have a blog and web site but the renovation reels are all on Instagram.) At any rate, they are advocates of slow design, and they’ve been redoing an historic home in upstate New York. Lately this couple has been renovating the third floor of their home — and it’s an absolute mess. Holes in the ceiling, peeling paint, messy old wallpaper clinging to the walls. It’s been really interesting to see their very careful DIY. It’s going to be a beautiful space but my goodness, the amount of work involved in getting there. It’s fascinating to watch.
Sure are a lot of white people on this list.
Came here to say this….
I can’t presume to speak for any of these creators, but I see a gay Filipino, an Asian American, someone with a black father and an adoptive parent of children from China.
Laura, honestly, I get that you’re trying to be inclusive, but this is honestly a little racist and offensive to me. As it’s been mentioned, nearly half of these creators AREN’T white and it’s lazy and rude for you to assume based on…nothing? Everyone’s cultural history is pretty readily available if you actually clicked through to profiles instead of just assuming that all of this work was done by white people. (Maybe analyze why YOU think that is…are you implying that this kind of design is only for white folks? Did you need a project filled with cultural pieces to be able to acknowledge the diversity and individuality of each of these people?) It’s one thing to call out blogs when they are lacking inclusion, it’s another to call out blogs based on your own racist perceptions. Just something to think about.
Sorry to belabor the point, but this just really is making me angry. As a mixed woman, I am so used to hearing “well you don’t look THAT Asian” or “you’re basically white” and it’s so heartbreaking to have your identity stripped from you by other people. It’s even worse when it’s done by someone who thinks they’re doing a nice thing, like Laura did in this case. Hope this is a learning moment for everyone who reads these comments.
Wow!! I really like all the vintage stuff from Katie! There is so much unique stuff and style that you just don’t find at big box stores.
Lots of there designers and taking big risks and it really, really pays off in the end.
I mean she uses a huge wooden elephant with a witch hat from Goodwill!!
In her house.
I really like this post please do more vintage or similar design posts these designers are
Really inspiring,
Yes please more posts like this. Such an amazing variety you shared
Yes! Also would like to add the Makerista https://www.instagram.com/themakerista/?hl=en, just built a new house and for Jess: https://www.instagram.com/vivietmargot/?hl=en a new/old French countryside home
What about @mrorlandosoria?
https://www.instagram.com/mrorlandosoria/
Really love that you’re using your platform to showcase other creators! I know you’ve gotten feedback from folks that feel like their/your tastes have changed over time, and this is such a great way to give people more options. Thank you for pulling this together! (And I am not an instagram person, but will absolutely click on their insta pages and find their web links from there, which seems like a very reasonable amount of effort for me in thanks for your effort to find the creators, lol.)