Living Large In Small Spaces - Chatfield Court

Forty-eighth post in the series 
"Living Large in Small Spaces"


Hello, and thank you for joining me for another edition of Living Large In Small Spaces.

Today I have the privilege of welcoming Kristi of the blog Chatfield Court as my guest. I invited Kristi to come and show us the small home she owns with her husband and tell us the story behind it. I know you're going to enjoy the photos of her charming home and her tale of making this small space live large. 

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I really look forward to Nancy's Living Large in Small Spaces series every Saturday, so when she invited me to share our small space with her readers, I was absolutely thrilled. Hi, I'm Kristi from Chatfield Court, where I share the DIY's and home improvements that my handy husband and I do on our small brick ranch that we moved into 2 years ago.

  Living Large in Small Spaces  
We've lived in 10 homes during our marriage, with this being one of the smallest, and it's been a bit of an adjustment for both of us. Our home was built in the 50's, and was a foreclosure, so it needs tons of work, both inside and out, which is fine with me because I'm not happy unless I have a long to do list, although I can't say the hubs feels the same way. It comes in at a little under 1200 square feet with 3 small bedrooms and 1 really tiny bathroom. We do have a basement, that houses the laundry and all of our extra "stuff", but it's unfinished.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
It's just my husband and I, and our pup Finn, in our first house as empty nesters, so there were no sports themed or pink bedrooms to decorate this time around. Every room was all mine to fix up the way I wanted, which has been so much fun.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
I find that my decorating style is clean and casual and really pretty simple. I'm not one that follows trends or a particular style, if I see something that I like and I feel it will look good in my house, I go with it. One thing that I've learned about living in a small space is that you have to be creative with how you decorate. You can't move furniture around, because most of it only fits in one spot, and you don't have a whole lot of space for pretty decor. Challenging to be sure but a fun challenge, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
Every room in the house was painted in a pinky beige hue, not my favorite, so I started painting and decorating as soon as we moved in. I've touched every room in the house at this point in the game, and even painted a room twice, the biggest one in the house (of course).

Living Large in Small Spaces  
We've had a lot of big firsts in this small house. Besides it being our first as empty nesters and starting Chatfield Court, another big first was that I painted a whole room by myself. Sixteen years ago I seriously hurt my back and I've had to have multiple surgeries to try to help with the pain. When we moved in and I started Chatfield Court, I was determined to do the work myself (my blog=my work), so I started with our tiny bathroom and began painting. It took me a long time to finish, and it wasn't easy, but I'm proud to say I did it all by myself.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
From the bathroom, I moved into the master bedroom, where we added crown molding and painted the ceiling, walls and trim.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
Then it was on to the first of the guest bedrooms. In this room I went out of my comfort zone and painted the walls in a dark turquoise. I love the results and I'm so glad that I took a chance.

Living Large in Small Spaces



Living Large in Small Spaces  
The next room on the list was the combination living, dining and entry. This is the largest space in the house, which faces North and can be dark, so choosing a paint color was a little tricky. I finally settled on, what I thought was the perfect color, and painted the room. After living with it through the long and dark winter though, I knew it needed to be repainted a lighter color. I'll tell you, I was less than thrilled that I had to paint the room again after 6 months and, while it took me a long time to get all the walls covered, I'm really happy with the results.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
The 2nd guest bedroom is my favorite makeover so far, mainly because I love the platform bed we made and the plank wall we installed. This room was a huge challenge for us because it needed to fit a full size bed. It's a small room with 3 doors and it's also a walk-through to the back of the house, so a custom bed was definitely necessary.

Living Large in Small Spaces 
The hubs helped me put this room together by building the bed, which I primed, painted and, of course, decorated with pretty linens. Besides the bed and plank wall we also put up crown molding, made a new light fixture and painted the ceiling, walls, trim and doors. A lot of work for such a small room, but we love how it turned out.

Living Large in Small Spaces  
The last room to get done is the kitchen and right now we are in the middle of an epic reno. Epic because we are in month number 9, with no end in sight. We've already done a ton to this tiny galley kitchen, including ripping out the soffits, installing a tongue and groove ceiling, painting all the cabinets and building a new set of cabinets for a blank wall that had none, but we still have a lot more to do before we can call it done. Here is what it looked like before we took out our sledge hammer and paintbrushes.
Living Large in Small Spaces
Before Photo

Living Large in Small Spaces
Before Photo



Living Large in Small Spaces
Before Photo


Unfortunately, there are no pretty after photos of this space...yet. But we're getting there. The last project we completed in here was a hidden garbage and recycle bin cabinet, which is awesome, and we're currently working on our new countertops, a project we've never tackled before.


Living Large in Small Spaces kichen plank ceiling 17

That means that once this kitchen is done, I'll have finished all the rooms in our house. I'm not sure what I'll do after it's done but, even in a small house, there's always a project waiting on the to do list. Thanks so much for visiting with me and I hope you'll stop by Chatfield Court to say hi and to check out the new projects we're working on.     

Kristi Haight

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Thank you so much, Kristi, for being my guest today and sharing your lovely home.

Be sure to check out Kristi's blog here where you'll find lots of DIY inspiration, as well as the makeover of her pretty kitchen.



Join me next Saturday for another post in the special series

 Living Large in Small Spaces

See more home tours in the 
Living Large In Small Spaces Series here.


From the comments I've received, many
people have been encouraged by the homes and lives 
shared in this series.
If you live in or have designed a small space 
(approx. 1200 square feet or less),
 I'd love to feature your story, too.
Send me an email and let's collaborate.
(See the "Contact Me" page for my email address.)










30 comments

  1. I always enjoy your guests reno's. Small home but she did a fantastic job. Hope to see the kitchen done.

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  2. Hi Nancy truly enjoyed this post. kristi's home welcomes you in where all the walls are reflective of love and memories. They tell a story of family over the years, that's what emotionally warmed my heart viewing Kristi's charming home.
    xoxo,
    Vera

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  3. Hello Nancy! I consider Kristi a dear friend and it was so wonderful to see her lovely home and fabulous DIY talents featured here today. She certainly has the creative gene and her blog is one of my favorites. Plus she's a super sweet lady! I can't wait to see how her kitchen turns out! :) Happy Saturday!

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  4. I've enjoyed Kristi's blog for awhile now...fun to see her place featured here !: )

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad Kristi and I met. Her house is wonderful and so is her blog.

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  5. What an energetic lady! I've been in my house over 25 yrs & still haven't redone every room.

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  6. I have followed Kristi for a year and I love her simple casual style. I wish I was as energetic as she seems to be. LOL I love her front door color. Debbie

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  7. Kristi literally had me at hello--I love that front door! I'm popping over to her blog right now...

    Thanks so much for this fun series, Nancy. It always makes my Saturday!

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  8. Charming . . . to say the least. I like the unique color in one of the guest bedrooms . . . so sassy and classy. I really like the challenge of going from large square footage to minimal . . . I am just not sure if I am ready gorgeous the challenge . . .
    Great entry Nancy!

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  9. The word gorgeous is supposed to be FOR . . .
    CHEEEZZZ, this iPad makes me scream sometimes!

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  10. Lovely home and furnishings. The colored walls are very nice: all of the walls in my home are painted "eggshell." The platform bed is wonderful. I see its on casters: do they lock into position?

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    1. Hi there. Yes, the bed does have casters that lock. I can unlock them and move the bed away from the wall to change the linens. Hope that helped.

      Kristi

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  11. I like the colors in this one. Quite serene!

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  12. Hi Nancy. I want to thank you again for your gracious invitation to share my home with your readers. I always enjoy reading your Living Large in Small Spaces and I feel honored to be included with all the other inspirational homes. And, can I just say that you have some of the sweetest readers? My husband and I enjoyed reading all of their kind comments. They truly made my Saturday brighter.

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  13. What a pretty home! There are so many things I liked about the decor but that mason jar lamp really caught my eye!

    Have a wonderful weekend!!

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  14. Hi Nancy,
    Love Kristi's home. It is so charming and cozy. Love that she does not have a style but loves to surround herself with things she loves. So pretty thanks for sharing with all of us Kristi. You have a cute and lovely home.
    Kris

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  15. Hi Nancy and Kristi,

    What a beautifully decorated space! I really love the bright and cheery entry as this is the 'model' for what the rest of the house feels like, which is cozy, comfortable and very, very cute!

    Thanks for featuring Kristi's adorable home, Nancy. Wishing you both a wonderful weekend!

    Poppy

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  16. Nancy I just love all that Kristi and her hubby have done to this charming house. The darker paint in the guest room is perfect - now hopefully they will share the kitchen reno once completed, bet it will be awesome.

    Mary -

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  17. What a sweet home Kristi has shared! I picked up a couple of good ideas for my own place, (love that)! Thanks for sharing these small space homes! Blessings, Cindy

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  18. As an amateur photographer, I have to say that the lighting and styling of this humble home are wonderful, and highlight the space and all its potential! LOVELY and welcoming front door, and with lots of love, this house will become a very special place! LOVE IT!

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    Replies
    1. I agree. Kristi is as skilled in photography as she is in decorating.

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  19. What a sweet house! I just love the turquoise room and that hand made bed is just fabulous!

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  20. What a lovely home tour. I love the dark turquoise walls and wish I were brave enough to try something like that. It looks so fresh with the white woodwork and build-ins.
    Nancy, your blog is always so much fun and so inspiring. I love visiting.
    Connie :)

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  21. I love her style. And of course, I love smaller homes!
    Brenda

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  22. Nancy,
    She did a great job on the house....her decorating is simple but so pretty. I hope we get to see the kitchen some time. Thanks again for your great small space stories.
    Diane@babiesbridesandlavender

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  23. Hi Nancy,
    Thank you for sharing. Well done and I appreciate her I Can Do This attitude.

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  24. This is a lovely home and the kitchen is going to be perfect, I have no doubt!

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  25. What a pretty, welcoming home. I especially like the color of the front door and the hanging basket.
    Amalia
    xo

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  26. Kristi is a real sweetheart and I love her home. I'm so glad you featured her :)

    xo,
    rue

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  27. Thank you for sharing Kristi's darling home. She is such an inspiration - I'm about ready to dig out my paintbrushes and start painting my rooms again!
    ~Adrienne~

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