House Archives - From New York City to New JerseyFrom New York City to New Jersey

A Builder-Basic Rental Home Got a Warm and Welcoming Makeover — House Tour

Name: Sarah Litvinchuk and Andy Litvinchuk, and our five kids are Apollo (10), Shaiden (7), Sailie (6), Abrie (3), and Adelaide (10 months). And our kitty, Jones.
Location: Mountain House, California
Size: 2,402 square feet
Years Lived In: 3 years, renting

Our home has always been my favorite place to be—over the past eight years we’ve lived in five different ones, and this one I’ve put the most of “my touch” into. I’ve come to know how important it is for me to love the home we’re in, and as a mom I’m better at my job if the place we spend most our time is pleasant. I’m a homebody, all the way, which is fitting as I stay at home with my kids. We do rent, but thankfully I’m married to a guy who not only supports my hobby/work as a mom and interior “insta blogger” but also gets my passion for design—and just happens to be a contractor (score!)! We both decided together that if we can’t buy right now due to the price of homes where we live, that we’d put our passions together to make our rental more functional and beautiful for our family.

A Couple With "Time and Enthusiasm" Completely Transformed This Cozy Catskills Cabin — House Tour

Name: Danielle and Ely Franko
Location: Tannersville, New York
Size: 1,529 square feet
Years Lived In: Every weekend for the past two years, owned

“We purchased our home two years ago, somewhat on a whim,” begins Ely Franko. He and his wife Danielle love living and working in New York City, but after five years of a hectic urban life, they had started to yearn for “greener pastures.” The couple weren’t very familar with Tannersville, or the Hunter Mountain area. “In fact, when we purchased our home we didn’t even know we were on a street that ends at North-South Lake, one of the biggest hiking destinations in the Catskills, or Kaaterskill Falls, the biggest hiking attraction in the Catskills.”

A Couple Built This Cozy Vermont Farmhouse Entirely By Hand — House Tour

Name: Sarah Priestap-Porter and Jeffrey Porter. Our land-mates are Arlo (rescue mutt) and Glaumur (Icelandic Horse)
Location: Tunbridge, Vermont (Central Vermont, for y’all who have no idea where this is)
Size: 1620 square feet
Years Lived In: 1 year, owned

When I started dating Jeff back in 2009, one of the first things he told me was how his dream was to build a house for his family some day. It was college, and the time when everyone talked about big dreams, so I never took it seriously. After all, he was a photography major with a little woodworking experience at the time, not some experienced builder. It wasn’t until 2011 when we moved to Vermont and he began to apprentice with a timber-framer that I realized how real his dream may be.

This 119-Year-Old Denver Home Is a Plant- and Animal-Filled Miniature Zoo — House Tour

Name: Madeleine Schaffner and roomie Lyndsey Mueller
Location: Denver, Colorado
Size: 1,231 square feet
Years Lived In: 1 year, renting

Residing in our 119-year-old home is a wide array of plants, animals, and two human beings (me, Madeleine, and my roommate Lyndsey). We think of our space as a miniature interactive zoo, with 70+ houseplants keeping every room company, plus one bearded dragon, two geckos, two snakes, two cats, two hermit crabs, and two fish that guests love to observe and handle. We have bounced around from place to place each year, never fully expanding our roots, so we intended on this house being a temporary haven like the others. However, the bright space begged for more plants and our love for all things living expanded to reptiles and other small critters that bring us so much joy. Gradually the house became more full, alive, and a passion project of creating sanctuary for as long as we have the opportunity to live here.

This Incredibly Cute and Colorful Cottage Used to be a 1950s Free-Standing Motel Room — House Tour

Name: Chris Murphy
Location: Saugatuck, Michigan
Size: 950 square feet
Years Lived In: 3 years, owned

I own a vintage (and new) home furnishings store in Chicago, District Chicago. Whenever I needed a break I found myself going up to Michigan to camp to de-stress and be in nature. A couple years into this routine, I started looking for a house that would help with my escape. I wanted a place that was quiet, but not too quiet (I am from a big city after all) and still had lots of trees and nature.

A Small Charleston Cottage Is Cute, Cozy and Calm — House Call

Name: Gillian Beach
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
Size: 975 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, owned

I bought my house three years ago. I was just about to give up on my search when this house that I had seen the previous year became available again. It was under contract but that fell through and I was at the right place at the right time. The number one reason for buying a home was to have my own garden. I have enjoyed slowly designing the garden how I envisioned.

A Once-Dull House is Now a Serene Retreat Thanks to the Power of Fresh Paint — House Tour

Name: Meredith and Luke Coe + our 1.5-year-old son, Nathan
Location: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Size: 1,830 square feet
Years Lived In: 1.5 years, owned

My husband and I bought this home (our first!) in May of 2017. It was very dull and slightly neglected when we first bought it—all of the walls were a shade of brown or yellow and the floors were in need of some serious TLC. We’ve been able to make several minor updates that have really helped turn it into a space we love! (The power of fresh paint is truly incredible!!)

A Professional Organizer Shares the Biggest Decluttering "Don'ts" — Home Organizing Tour

Name: Rachel Rosenthal and Jon Cowan, Ellie and Marin (age 11, identical twins), and Poppy (sheepadoodle puppy)
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Size: 3500 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, owned

Marie Kondo isn’t the only one with good home organizing advice. Rachel Rosenthal is the mother of identical twins, a busy entrepreneur, and an expert in home organizing. But she also wants to make it clear that the end game to decluttering isn’t necessarily an Instagram-worthy closet. “Getting organized is a way of life, and a realistic one at that, not a one time event that leads to a Pinterest-perfect world (unless you really want that!),” she writes on her website.

A Pro Organizer's Exceptionally Serene, Minimal Rowhouse — House Tour

Name: Kristen Ziegler
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Size: 1,020 square feet
Years lived in: 4 years, owned

Editor’s note: This is a house tour greatest hit that we first published last year. Even if minimalism isn’t your jam, there are still lots of smart and stylish organizing ideas to glean from her home. And, Kristen has recently let us know she’s made some updates, so take skim through her home today and get ready for an update later this spring.

Kristen is the founder and owner of Minima—a company that helps others declutter and organize their space (or spaces!), and she works with both residential and commercial clients (think Need Supply Co., Ledbury, Quirk, and Epiphany). Her dedication to minimalism as a philosophy and not just a style isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but that’s okay; she doesn’t expect her clients to live as simply as she does. Kristen just genuinely loves to help others lighten their load. And perhaps most impressively, she actually walks the walk of a simple and organized minimalist…there are no embarrassing hidden junk drawers or overflowing closets in this home (believe me, I looked). And while Kristen’s home style may be too sparse for some, her home is filled with inspiring ideas on how to get just a little bit more organized.

A Fun Swedish Home Has a Pink Kitchen and an Indoor Skate Ramp — House Tour

Name: Christin Haussman, my husband Lars, with our two kids Calle and Emma.
Location: Upplands Väsby — North of Stockholm, Sweden
Size: 2,000 square feet
Years Lived In: Myself 4 years, the hubby 12 years, owned

I am originally from Germany but have lived in England and Scotland, until moving to Sweden five years ago. Sweden is a bit of an outdoorsy-type country, so I was like let’s start a new hobby! I started skateboarding, because well, that just always looked real fun, right? Long story short, eventually I met my now-husband, Lars and his son Calle. Making another long story short—with a few years on and a baby added in the mix and a spontaneous elopement in Las Vegas—we are living a fun, not always easy, but exciting patchwork-family life.

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From New York City to New Jersey I Spcialize In NYC Commuter Home Buyers

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