Carolyn of Sweet Chaos Home shares her Williamsburg Colonial in this guest tour. Built in the late 1980s, it combines older-looking architectural details with rooms for a busy family of six. The photographs and first-person story below are Carolyn’s.
The house I admired before it became ours
This was the house I used to drive past and admire before picking up my children from preschool nearby. I loved the architecture, especially the cupola and weathervane. Although it was built in the late 1980s, it had the character of an older home.
When it went on the market, I attended the open house with my mother. Almost as soon as I walked through the door, I whispered that I loved it. My husband and I began planning how to sell our house and buy this one.
Two days later, at my first summer tennis practice, I discovered that the owner was on my team. She had three sons, just as I did then; we later added a fourth. She loved the house and was sad to leave it. A few months later, it became our home.
Hardwood floors and refinished stairs in the foyer
During the four years before this tour, we made several changes. In the foyer, we installed hardwood floors, removed the stair carpeting, refinished the stairs, and painted the walls.
Living and dining rooms still taking shape
We replaced the carpeting in these rooms with hardwood floors. In the dining room, grasscloth wallpaper took the place of toile wallpaper, and we removed the old curtains.
The living room’s red walls became white, and we added plantation shutters. At the time of the photographs, I was still trying furniture arrangements and choosing accessories. The pads beneath the piano legs were there to help with that rearranging.
The kitchen and family room: our everyday hub
The kitchen and family room are the center of daily life in our house.
A sunroom for relaxing
The sunroom is one of my favorite places, with seating and a table surrounded by windows.
A tranquil bedroom and an inherited guest-room suite
In our bedroom, I wanted a calm retreat from the activity of a house full of boys.
I hoped to give our guests the same feeling. The guest room grew out of the French Provincial furniture I inherited from my grandmother. With four sons, this was also a chance to use the softer, more decorative style I had never used in a daughter’s room.
Rooms for the boys
There is no shortage of spaces for the boys, from colorful twin beds to a nature-themed room and a bunk bed.
The bathroom renovation that started my blog
Our bathroom received the biggest makeover. We completely gutted it during our first major renovation, which began the year before this tour. I started my blog to document that work.
The finished bathroom became my favorite room in the house.
A basement hangout and summer by the pool
The basement is the children’s favorite hangout. It is home to plenty of Pop-A-Shot and ping-pong tournaments, along with the other games and seating shown here.
In summer, the pool is where the whole family wants to be.
For more of Carolyn’s home projects, visit Sweet Chaos Home.
Leave a Reply