An industrious couple on the hunt for a new home happened upon a vacant industrial property on a residential street. They converted that bare-bones space into their own unique home, a labor of love that lasted five years.

Achieve real-life couple Per and Elena‘s flea-market chic decor without the dumpster diving!

Design-inclined couple Sarah and Jesse transformed a neglected Victorian home into a sophisticated abode by mixing original fixtures with modern decor. Channel their chic aesthetic with these must-have modern pieces.

Sometimes you have to wait for the right house to come along. That’s what Sarah Keenleyside and Jesse Boyer learned when they went searching for a home two and half years ago.

When I’m not blogging for Curious Citizen, I love dedicating time to another one of my passions, interior design. I’m always honored when I’m asked to help plan or make over a space, especially when it’s a project near and dear to someone’s heart.

Shacking up with your sweetie is an exciting milestone, but decorating your love nest can be challenging, especially if you have different definitions of “decor.” We asked Tonya Olsen, interior decorator and author of Room Recipes: A Creative and Stylish Guide to Interior Design, for tips for couples looking to spruce up their space.

It’s a timeless story: one partner fancies a room filled with brass accents and fresh-cut flowers, while the other thinks living-room decor consists of a flat-screen TV and a leather Lazy-Boy. Turns out the secret to making both parties happy might lie in the art of gender-neutral decor.

The first time Leon gave me a tour of his apartment, I noticed a plastic alligator in his bathroom and imagined it would find a respectable mate in my green rubber lizard. When I returned to spend the night, lizard in tow, the reptilian creatures instantly bonded.