Crash! Personality Infused Vintage Home

Several months back, while perusing the Being Boss facebook group, I realized that there were several "bosses" (as we call ourselves in the group) here in my little Boston suburb.  2 of those bosses are Karen and Zandra of Little Yellow Couch and the podcast Style Matters.  Considering their podcast is all about making your home personal and stylish, I knew they'd be a perfect fit for a Crash! home tour!  Karen's in the midst of a renovation currently, but Zandra welcomed my camera and me into her home with open arms!!  Zandra lives in her 100+ year old home with her husband and 2 sons and has created such a charming home infused with personal touches.

Without wanting to jump into a complete gut kitchen reno just yet, Zandra's infused life back into this dated kitchen in creative ways.

The velvet chair below was chatted about in their recent podcast interview with Mary Randolph Carter.  She snatched this adorable caned chair up for just $30 with no plan for where it would go.  It's found it's way into the kitchen seating area and feels like it's meant to be there all along- happy design accidents!

The vignette in the dining room is one of many wonderful design 'moments' in the house.  The sweet painting was created custom from a photograph of her boys at a beach that their family has been going to for generations.

While I snapped pics around the house, Zandra (left) and Karen (right) tried to stay out of the way of the lens, but I just couldn't help grab this candid shot framed by the architecture of the home.

My favorite part of any home is the stories and Zandra has some great ones!  The biscuit themed items in the living room are no random antique store decor- her family once owned Huston's Biscuit which was eventually bought out by Nation Biscuit Company... better known now as Nabisco.

The home is filled with original art from their travels, vintage pieces, and DIY items.  Check out their blog for a DIY of those fantastic mod pillows.

This is also the room where their company name-sake lives: the little yellow couch.  Don't you just want to curl up on it?

In the guestroom, Zandra displays a swoon-worthy collection of paint by numbers.  Individually, these paintings aren't head-turners, but that instantly changes when they're surrounded by friends.  I'm such a sucker for paint by number gallery walls!

Thank you, Zandra so much for letting me share your wonderful home!!!  Be sure to check out the Little Yellow Couch Style Matters podcast for even more design inspiration!!

Welcome!!

Welcome to the new home of Year of Serendipity and Copper Dot Interiors! For those of you who haven't been around since the beginning (basically all of you except my family.....) "Year of Serendipity" started out as a way to push myself out of my comfort zone back in 2010 and was only intended to be a year long project....  As I purchased my first home and my career evolved, so did this blog.  Now, 5 1/2 years later with my design business, Copper Dot Interiors and house flipping, it only made sense to combine it all and start fresh!

I've got some great goodies up my sleeve for you in the next few weeks!

Coming Friday, I have a pretty stellar Crash! Home Tour to share- here's a little teaser and a hint about who's house I crashed:

Also stay tuned on Monday for not only a DIY post, but an awesome give-away with several other talented bloggers!  After a bit of a DIY/project hiatus, the sun is shining, the days are longer and I've rediscovered my DIY mojo.

I have lots of grand plans on posts and topics to share with you guys, but I love your input too!  What would you love to see here to make this new online home even better??  Please comment or e-mail me with any questions or topics you'd like to see.  Don't be shy!

If you live in the Boston area and have a home you'd like me to Crash!, send me some images and a bit about your home's story.

I can't wait to see what this new 'home' has in store!

ORC Rooms to Watch

Are you guys familiar with the One Room Challenge?  If not, you totally should be! Linda at Calling it Home started this biannual phenomenon 5 years ago and it's been getting bigger and bigger ever since.  There are about 20 designers/design bloggers who are part of the official 6 week room transformation challenge, but hundreds of other bloggers join in the challenge on their own.  I've been aware of it the past few rounds and greatly enjoyed seeing the reveals after 6 weeks, but this time around, I'm enjoying all the weekly progress as well!  I would have joined in as an unofficial participant since my dining room could use a bit of love, however the timing didn't work out this time.  So this time, I'll just sit back and enjoy! The participants are just past the make over half-way point and I'm eager to see where everyone takes it!  A few of my favorite bloggers are part of it and I can't wait to see their results!

I am constantly jealous of Nicole Balch's Victorian home.  She always seems to achieve the ideal balance between historical architecture and modern elements, so why should this make-over be any different?  On Making it Lovely, for the One Room Challenge she's taking on her bedroom AND den and *gasp* painting the previously stained woodwork white.  I'm totally on board with the white woodwork- freshen it up while still highlighting the architecture.  I can't wait to see these 2 spaces come alive!!

I've got my eyes peeled to see what Gwen at The Makerista can pull our for her basement 'man cave.'

She's done some pretty spectacular make overs elsewhere in her '80s colonial, so I have no doubt that the final result will make all of our jaws drop.  Just check out her dining room!

Guys guys guys!  Orlando of Hommemaker is making over a tree house!  Like a real life tree house with a tree in the middle of the space!!

He's going for a cool and kid-friendly space and has shared 4 different design options that he's debating.  I'm voting for option #1, Desert Safari.  Whichever plan he goes with this is going to be one stunning space in the end!

Are you following along with the One Room Challenge?  I'd love to know which make over is your favorite so far!  Tomorrow they'll all be posting about their week 4 progress, so it should be exciting to see how they've progressed!  I just love a good room transformation, don't you??